4: 4
"Lucy." Evelyn looked at me and cried harder.
"Why is this happening? Why is this happening?"
She kept demanding an answer. "I only wanted to help my best friend. I wanted your fiancé's company to do better. Why are you treating me like this?"
"When did you turn so unreasonable?" Caspar's face was cold. "The wedding's in three days. You bring up a breakup now — are you trying to leverage me for some kind of condition?"
"Caspar, Lucy." Evelyn wiped her tears. "Don't fight over me, you two. I'll go."
"Go where?" Caspar turned to her, his eyes softening. "Did you forget, it's your birthday today. There's the party tonight."
Then he looked at me, his tone hard. "You're coming tonight."
The truth was, I'd wanted to get married today.
I'd brought it up before. He said there was an important party today.
So it turned out to be Evelyn's birthday party.
So it turned out he'd long forgotten that today was my birthday too, which was why I wanted the wedding held today.
Evelyn had been at the company three years. He'd forgotten for three years.
I didn't want to say anything more. I turned and left.
Evelyn came after me. "Lucy, Caspar's just too much of an alpha male. Making you come to my birthday party tonight — that's him giving you a way to save face."
Before, no matter what kind of blowup we had, even if he didn't offer me a way out, I'd find one myself.
This time, even with the out laid in front of me, I didn't want it.
"Evelyn, aren't you tired?" I looked at her. "It's just the two of us. Can you stop acting?"
"I'm not fighting for him anymore. As long as you and Caspar are happy, that's fine."
"Lucy, I never fought you for anything."
Evelyn started to say more, so I just walked on ahead.
Maybe she was so deep in the role she'd started believing it herself.
She came after me again.
"But Caspar always said — a good product is the key to owning the market."
"People are the same, really. I truly don't need to fight you, because as long as I'm here, no one picks you."
"Of course, a product has no self-awareness. A person should. Don't you think?"
She dropped the pretense and looked down at me from on high.
I smiled at her. "Then I wish you both happiness."
"You're not angry?"
"When you run into garbage, you step around it. You don't argue with it or work yourself up over it."
I turned and walked off, light on my feet.
Sometimes letting go takes only a moment.
The moment just now, when Evelyn and I both said we'd leave and Caspar begged only Evelyn to stay — that was the moment I let go completely.
Downstairs, a car was waiting for me.
"All the family and friends have been told. The wedding in three days can't be canceled. Is that all right?" I asked.
He nodded. "I've been ready for you all along."
I started planning my own wedding. But on the eve of it, a call came in from an unknown number.
When I picked up, Caspar's voice came through.
"Evelyn's stomach's acting up because you made a scene and upset her. Get to the hospital right now and apologize.
"If she doesn't forgive you and stay on as your bridesmaid, the wedding car won't come for you tomorrow."
He was always like this. No matter the reason for the fight, he was always this overbearing, sure that in the end I'd cave.
But this time, I wouldn't.
Because the wedding car I'd be waiting for tomorrow wasn't the one he'd arranged.
I hung up on him, done wanting anything more to do with him.
Caspar's face turned uglier when the call cut off.
"She hung up?" Evelyn asked, tears falling again.
Caspar hurried to wipe them away.
Evelyn sobbed softly.
"I don't understand why this is happening. You're Lucy's fiancé, so I got a little closer to you. What's wrong with that?"
"What gives her the right to block me on every contact? You two get married tomorrow. I waited so long, hoping to be her bridesmaid. What gives her the right to treat me like this?"
"There are some things I didn't want to say, but now… never mind… I still won't say them."
