Her Best Friend's Wedding

Chapter 15

"But it's the truth. I shouldn't have married him." Silence followed as her confession settled in Tamara. "Don't you love me anymore?"

"Please, say no," Virginia muttered to herself. "Please, say no."

"I'll always love you, Melody but it's different now. You made your choice."

"You know you're only with her because you can't have me."

Tamara scoffed at the words. "Don't flatter yourself, Melody." Virginia smiled at the words. "That may have been true years ago but not now. I'm with Virginia because I want to be with her. I'm with her because I love her and I'm sure of what I'm getting. I'm with her because I'm confident in her love for me. I'm with her because she says, 'I love you', she holds my hand in public and she doesn't pretend that I'm just her friend. I'm with her because everything feels right and it's not complicated, I can be myself with her and I finally understand what balance is. Do you need me to go on?" Even if Melody didn't want her to go on, Virginia did; all her doubts disappeared in that moment and she wanted nothing more than to run to Tamara and kiss her but she stayed hidden. "I think you should leave."

"So, that's it? We're over?"

"What we had before is over but maybe we can still be friends, only after you learn to respect and accept my relationship like I have with yours."

Tamara held the door open, awaiting Melody's exit but her best friend remained in her spot. "Do you regret waiting for me for so long?" She took a hold of Tamara's hand in hers and Tamara allowed the contact.

"No." The answer made Melody smile, if only for a moment. "I only wish I didn't have to."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes. Very."

"Then, I guess I have no choice but to be happy for you."

Virginia retreated back to the bedroom; she had heard all she needed to. Climbing into bed, she got comfortable; she wanted to create the illusion that she was there the entire time and not eavesdropping like she had been.

A few minutes passed before Tamara returned to the bedroom. In that time, Virginia wondered if they would talk about the encounter, filling Virginia in on what they discussed despite her already knowing.

"Are you awake?"

Tamara didn't wait for her to answer as she turned on the room light and Virginia sat up in bed to watch Tamara pace in front of the bed.

"Are you okay?" Tamara stopped, looked at her, and smiled but didn't say anything. "What?"

The smile faded from her face and she joined Virginia in bed. "I'm sorry she came here."

"She's still a part of your life so I understand."

"Not anymore. At least," Tamara sighed, "I don't know what's going to happen. She came here because she missed me and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel good or that I missed our friendship but my love for you is so cemented in my heart that not even hearing those words from her could shake it." Every time Tamara spoke, Virginia found herself falling deeper in love with the woman. Tamara's words tended to coax her heart into submission. "But I'm happy she came. I'm happy I got a chance to say everything I said." She took Virginia's hand in hers. "It made me realize just how much I love you."

"I have to be honest with you," Virginia's eyes reverted down to their joined hands. She didn't want there to be any secrets between them, "I heard the conversation you and Melody had. I snuck out to listen."

"Why? Don't you trust me?"

"I don't trust her," Virginia replied, "and, a small part of me still believed that you're not completely over her."

"Well, she'll always have a place in my heart but you're the one I want to build a life with." There was no room left for doubt with her words. "Now that that's settled, I have to ask, was that the reason why you didn't want to disclose our relationship to HR? Did you think we weren't going to make it?"

"Yes," Virginia admitted. She didn't want to suffer the embarrassment at work if everyone knew and it didn't work out and she didn't want her colleagues to think that because of the relationship she was getting special treatment. "I just didn't want to go through that publicly if we broke up."

"I can understand that but I'm not letting you go," Tamara declared, "You make me happy, happier than Melody ever has and if you keep this up, I'd be crazy enough not to marry you."

Virginia couldn't contain her shock. "You want to marry me?"

"It's something I put a substantial amount of thought into but if you're afraid to disclose our relationship to HR then," She feigned a sigh, "maybe I should stop thinking about it."

"I'll do it Monday, I promise."

THE END