I shoved the door open and the grape slipped from between them—Loss of balance, Loss of pretense, their lips landing square on each other.
Cheers erupted around the room.
Lois swatted his chest with a coy little pout. “You're awful, stealing a kiss like that!”
“Way to kill the mood.”
Rick raised an eyebrow as though he'd expected me, and pulled Lois closer by the waist.
“If Agatha hadn't shown up uninvited, I'd have won that round.”
Lois bounced over and looped her arm through mine.
“Agatha, perfect timing! Come play with us!”
I shrugged her off without a word and fixed my eyes on Rick. “No. I'm here to confirm one thing.”
I forced the tremor out of my voice. “What you said on the phone……was that real?”
“You told me you were Rick Graves at thirty-eight. You said you cheated with Lois on our wedding night. You said I ended up with depression……”
My voice came out heavy and broken. The room went quiet.
Lois slid her arm through mine again. “Agatha, it was just a joke. You've never been the type who can't take one. Why so serious all of a sudden?”
She pointed at the wedding dress crumpled on the floor. “Look, the dress is all ready. We were going to bring it over later so you'd be the prettiest bride tomorrow……”
I glanced at the stains smeared across the hem and let out a bitter laugh.
“Is there even a point anymore?”
My eyes burned red. “Rick, you don't think you owe me an explanation?”
His voice came back flat and cold.
“There's nothing to explain.”
“You heard everything just now, Agatha.”
“The marriage, that phone call to the future you made. All of it was fake.”
“Five years together. We've done everything there is to do. Marrying you? I couldn't feel less about it.”
“So yes, agreeing to marry you was just going through the motions. I never planned to show up at the wedding.”
His words landed like a bat to the back of my head. The room spun.
A week ago, Rick had proposed. I'd been so happy I couldn't sleep for days.
Five years of dating, and I thought we'd finally made it through the hard part.
Back when he didn't have a cent, he'd scrape by on nothing, saving half a month's living expenses to buy me a cake that cost more than either of us could afford.
All so I could post it and not lose face to anyone in my feed.
Every time my family pressed us about when we'd get married, he'd look at me with reddened eyes and swear it.
“Agatha, I swear, the day I have money, I'll give you a wedding so grand everyone will see me bring you home with pride.”
That day was never going to come.
He watched me stand there in silence, eyes swollen and red.
Then he stepped closer and twisted the knife.
“While you were buzzing around planning our wedding, I was checking into hotels with your best friend.”
“You were going on and on about something or other, and all I could see was how ripe Lois's lips looked. All I could think about was biting them.”
“I didn't hear a single word you said.”
My nails bit into my palms and the cold flooded through me all at once, bone-deep.
“Rick, we've been together five years. We finally……”
“Agatha.”
He cut me off, impatient. “Weren't you listening? I'm proposing to Lois tomorrow.”
“I'll admit you were the only woman I ever loved. And when I loved you most, I really did want to marry you.”
“Every time I made you get an abortion, I was on my knees in the hospital corridor slapping myself in the face.”
“But love doesn't owe anyone a reason.”
