Hunter tugged on the cord connecting his guitar to the amplifier and wrapped it around his arm, setting it aside and putting his guitar away next. It took him a few more minutes to get everything he was working on put back in its place, but he didn't try too hard. He was going over to Amanda's in a minute or two, and it didn't seem to matter too much if his home studio was a little messy for a few hours.
He hadn't been able to write anything really decent for what seemed like forever, and it was driving him crazy. It used to be that he was cranking out songs left and right, thinking of new tag lines and hooks every second almost. Now, he was dry as a sand dune, and he couldn't figure out why!
Hunter stood and stretched his arms over his head, knocking his hat askew in the process. He righted it, grabbed his keys and wallet off the counter, and headed toward the door. Amanda lived in the same complex as he did now that he had moved out of the place he'd shared with Bethany, and it only took him about three minutes to make it to her door. He greeted her with a warm hug and she smiled widely at him.
They moved into Amanda's kitchen, where she began brewing a pot of coffee for them to sip on. Hunter jumped up on her counter and grabbed an apple from a bowl beside her toaster. He held it up, asking her permission silently, and she nodded. He took a hearty bite and swallowed as quickly as he could.
"So how's life, Mandy? How's Markob?"
Amanda beamed, and Hunter laughed at her. But then Amanda held out her left hand and squealed. Hunter caught sight of the diamond wrapped around her ring finger and he jumped off the counter to grab her hand and hold it in front of his face.
"No way!" he exclaimed looking up at her ecstatic expression for confirmation. "No way! You're engaged?"
Amanda couldn't keep still, she was so excited. "Yeah! Markob asked last night!"
He snatched her up in another hug, this one much tighter and more congratulatory.
"Wow, Mandy, that's awesome! I can't believe it!"
"I was going to wait to tell you, but you asked and I just couldn't!" Amanda stared down at the ring for a moment, seeming in awe of the fact that it was on her finger.
Hunter considered asking for details, but the whole situation was much too familiar for him. He didn't want to know how Markob had asked, how she'd reacted, when or where the weddings would be, what flowers they would get, or anything else, really. It would only remind him that he'd almost had that very thing himself.
So they moved on to less dangerous topics, until Amanda's phone rang. She answered it chirpily and mouthed that it was her mom on the other line. She excused herself from the living room, leaving Hunter alone with his thoughts and about six pieces of furniture that all seemed to be staring at him.
He threw the rest of his luke warm coffee down and leaned his head on the back of the sofa.
He wondered if Stephanie ever thought about marrying him. They'd only been dating a few months, but girls were much quicker on the uptake when it came to marriage, or so he'd been told. The thought made his throat close up, and he coughed to try to right it. He was definitely not ready for that kind of step with Stephanie. It was way too soon for them.
Or, at least, for him.
Again his attention flitted to Bethany, and the way they'd left things the last time they'd spoken. Of course he hadn't meant what he'd said, at least not all of it. It was the easy thing to say. "I don't love you" is the quickest way to make a person move on. And that's what he wanted for Bethany. He wanted her to be happy, and since he wasn't sure he could bring her that himself, he had to give her every opportunity to get him out of her head.
Amanda returned to the living room, her eyes lit up like Christmas. There was also a glint in them that Hunter knew all too well. Amanda was about to ask him to do something.
"What is it?" he asked knowingly.
She quirked a smile and ran her hand up his arm, trying to entice him.
"Well....Hunter. My dearest Hunter." She batted her eyes at him. "I just spoke with Markob, and he kind of wants you to be....one of his groomsmen. And I told him that may be weird, since you two don't know each other very well, but it would mean a lot to me. Please?"
Her face had become adorably unsure, and Hunter laughed heartily.
"Of course I'll do it, Amanda. For you."
She squealed again. "Thank you so, so much, Hunter!!"
He accepted her excited hug, chuckling again.
"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I have another call to make." She looked over at Hunter with a guilty look and said, "But I can postpone it."
He shook his head reassuringly, and stared down into his coffee mug.
"No, it's cool, Amanda. I'm going to make some more coffee. You want some?"
She shook her head. "No, thanks, Hunter. I just need to call my maid of honor and ask her if she'll be my maid of honor." Amanda laughed at her own joke, though Hunter wasn't even sure if he understood it.
He patted her leg and gave her a quick, friendly kiss on the cheek as she pressed her now-ringing phone to her other cheek.
"Congratulations, Mandy," he said again, pushing off the couch and taking a moment to brush off his shirt.
As he was headed to the kitchen, his empty mug in hand, he heard Amanda talking excitedly. She was so loud he could almost distinguish individual words over the noise of the coffee maker!
It took about ten minutes until Hunter's coffee was ready. He blew on the hot surface gently and went back to the living room, where he heard Amanda finishing up her conversation, her eyes still glued to her engagement ring.
Amanda's eyes flickered up to Hunter's face and she took his presence as a cue to end her phone call.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I have company. I have to go. But thank you so much, again! I can't wait to start planning with you! It's going to be so much fun!"
She laughed at something the other girl said and replied once more. "Well, I really appreciate it, Beth. Thank you so much. Okay, I'll see you soon! Bye."
Hunter winced. Was it too much to hope it wasn't the Beth he was thinking of? Because, if he was groomsmen and Bethany was Amanda's maid of honor, didn't that mean he was going to have to see her soon?
But he didn't say anything, and Amanda was too caught up in her euphoria to be concerned with his petty problems. He immersed himself in her conversation, and pushed the Bethany issue to the side for the moment.
He did have to wonder, though, how long he could just pretend he didn't feel anything about that particular situation. He would have to face the fear and guilt and regret at some point.
Just not now.
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She couldn't believe it. It was only three months after Amanda had announced her engagement, and they were already ten leaps ahead of schedule on planning it. Amanda was chattering on about the flowers they'd just picked out, and Bethany paid strict attention. As her maid of honor, she was in charge of remembering the minute details on the day of the wedding, when Amanda would surely be too nervous to think of them herself.
They were on their way to Nashville's premiere bakery at the moment for their cake tasting appointment. This part was what Bethany had most been looking forward to. Spending an afternoon stuffing her face with delectable cake samples? Yes, please!
She didn't care about the calories, either. She had three new gym buddies, and they went three times a week to lift weights and do low impact cardio. Bethany often had trouble making it all the way through the cardio with her knee, but the physical therapy had helped immensely. Since she was back in town on a permanent basis, she had convinced Jordan to move her appointments to once a week instead of every two, and the increase had spurned amazing recovery. She was close to losing the brace altogether!
She was in the best shape of her life, though she still missed her daily run. Jordan still wasn't convinced she would ever be able to run again, but she was going to try her darndest to get to that point.
Amanda had even taken notice of the chance in Bethany. Her arms were more toned, her abs harder than they'd ever been, and there was a definite lift to her buttocks that had previously been just a dream. It was just in time, too, since Amanda had decided on a very quick wedding.
They were about ten minutes early for their appointment, so the lady behind the counter requested that they wait in the front. Bethany did so, sipping on the complimentary coffee they offered and wondering if Amanda had an 'off' button.
"Amanda, slow down please," Bethany laughed. "There's only so much information I can take in three minutes."
Amanda laughed, too, and took a loud, deep breath. "You're right. I'm talking a million miles per minute. I'll stop." She smiled widely.
"Why are you getting married so quickly?" Bethany wondered aloud, truly curious.
Amanda colored, her cheeks flaming in seconds.
"Well, um. See, Markob won't...he doesn't want to...he's afraid he's going to ruin my..."
Bethany squinted at her friend, a knowing smile on her lips.
"You're only having a five month engagement because Markob didn't want to have sex before he married you?"
Amanda nodded. She hung her head in her hands and groaned.
"Is that totally insane, Bethany? I mean, I'm going crazy!"
Bethany chuckled. This was just like Mandy. She was honestly surprised, too, since the two of them had been dating for about a year now. She could imagine Amanda was going crazy!
"You're not insane, Mandy. Just a little wanton." Beth winked at her, but before Amanda could reply, the baker came out and greeted them.
It took them forty-five minutes of the hour they had scheduled to finally come down to a decision on the flavor of cake Mandy liked best. She turned to Beth and asked her if she would mind going into the next room and looking for the cake toppers while she discussed design ideas with the baker, and Beth, the ideal maid of honor, agreed.
She was astonished by the number of little grooms and brides there were on the walls. Some were giant, some little, some were very serious, some funny. There were hundreds of different combinations of hair and eye colors, toppers with and without glasses, watches, and veils. There were unconventional wedding toppers too: obese couples, different colored wedding dresses, mixed race couples, even a few couples that appeared to be literally soldered together at the mouth, wrapped around each other provocatively.
Bethany turned her nose up at the last one. It was completely tasteless, to her mind.
She turned instead to browse the more traditional looking brides and grooms. She found several brides who could pass for Amanda, but none of the men seemed to match Markob. Bethany scanned intently, and as she searched, a pair further towards the corner caught her eye. She walked over and took a deep breath.
The couple was facing each other, their little plastic hands holding the other's. They were about the same height, the bride wearing a stunning strapless gown that went all the way to the floor. The man had blinding blue eyes, short blonde hair, and a crooked smile. The woman had long, wavy, brown hair and brown eyes, her own face smiling widely. Beth looked at their shoes and almost laughed aloud.
They were both wearing converse shoes.
This couple was an obvious reminder of the vow she and Hunter almost made, the ceremony and life she so desperately used to want. Bethany fingered the little groom's face, thinking what an astonishing resemblance it was. It had been so long since she'd seen Hunter smile at her.
She forced herself to move on, and eventually found a passable Markob and two Amanda's for her to decide between. Luckily, this decision she made in a much shorter time span, and she ran over to the counter to purchase them. Bethany hung back, pretending an interest in the book of cake designs on the counter.
Amanda's phone began to ring as her receipt was being passed across the counter, and she checked the caller ID. She told Beth she would meet her outside and hurried out to talk excitedly. Bethany watched her for a moment, then went back into the little room. She picked up the little groom and bride, bought them quickly, and stuffed them both in the bottom of her purse, unwilling to let Amanda know how pathetic she was.
When Bethany returned to her flat that night, she pulled the couple from her purse and positioned them on her bedside table. She turned off the lights and climbed into bed. Laying on her side, she had a perfect view of the happy little couple, illuminated by the dim, red light of her digital clock. How ominous it all seemed in that light. Dangerous, unstable.
How accurate.
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