"He's already looking at rings, so he asked me to help him decide. What kind do you want? I'll go vet it for you. You deserve a perfect proposal."
I was quiet for a long time.
"I thought it was supposed to be a surprise."
Lesley smiled. "The time and place will definitely be a surprise. I just don't want you to end up with any regrets. What if he picks something you don't like?"
It sounded reasonable. There wasn't a single line I could find fault with.
But that vague discomfort sat lodged in my throat.
It wouldn't go up, and it wouldn't go down.
"Lesley."
"Hmm?"
"Do you like Miles?"
Her body stiffened.
"Georgia, how could you think that? I'm absolutely not that kind of person. I—"
A knock came at the door.
Miles's voice carried through the panel. "Lesley, I've got good news. Greg James's coming back next week."
Lesley froze for two seconds. Then she yanked the door open and rushed out.
"Are you serious? Who told you that?"
In the living room, her voice and Miles's grew farther away, fainter.
They dissolved into broken murmurs and laughter.
It went on until dawn.
And the chat window between me and Greg stayed lit all night too.
The day Greg came back, Miles bailed on the dinner where both sets of parents were supposed to meet.
I sat in the hotel's private room for half an hour before I got a message from him.
When I called, the airport announcements were blaring on his end.
"Lesley gets nervous, so I came to give her some courage."
"I want to hurry up and find her someone, so she stops coming around and disturbing us."
His tone was light.
"As for the dinner, just explain it to my parents and yours."
Just explain it.
Looking at the four older people across from me, their faces drawn, anything I said felt humiliating.
A dinner with no leading man broke up quickly, on a sour note.
That evening, for Lesley's birthday party, Miles called me five hours ahead of time to remind me not to forget.
When I got to the restaurant, the private room was decorated with unusual care.
It was the starry-sky theme I'd told Miles three months ago that I wanted for my proposal.
Greg arrived. Lesley, in an evening gown, walked toward him, her face uneasy.
I saw Miles, his eyes glued to Lesley, not a sip of his wine touched.
Greg bent down to clink glasses with Lesley, and Lesley laughed.
The wineglass in Miles's hand shattered.
Watching Miles lose his composure like that, I suddenly understood. None of my discomfort had been my imagination.
It was Miles's heart, which had crossed the line long ago, hidden inside all that so-called caring.
I opened the cloud drive. Inside was the dashcam footage from Miles's car.
I found the day Miles said he was driving Lesley home.
In the recording, Lesley's voice rose up. "Do you really… want to marry Georgia?"
After a long silence, Miles finally spoke. "I should marry her."
Should.
Not want to.
Lesley let out a soft laugh. "Then go ahead and marry her. The way things are now is pretty good. Some things are better left unsaid."
"The three of us will be together for the rest of our lives."
The string inside me snapped clean through.
Just then, Greg crossed past Lesley and came toward me. "Georgia, long time no see."
"Here's that out-of-print vinyl record you wanted."
Lesley appeared at my side at once. "Greg, Georgia has a boyfriend. They're almost getting married."
I glanced down at her wrist.
A silver bracelet, the same style as the one on mine.
Miles had bought it.
Except hers, in color and style, looked far more like a matching couple's piece with Miles's.
Lesley leaned in close, pleading in a low voice. "Georgia, Greg just gave me a bottle of my favorite perfume as a gift."
"Don't take Greg's gift. Let today be special, just for me, okay?"
"You know how I've felt about him all these years."
Yes. I knew.
Otherwise I would never have spent all those years leaving Greg's messages unanswered.
But things were different now.
I pushed Lesley's hand off my arm and took the bag from Greg.
"I don't have a boyfriend. We've already broken up."
Lesley and Miles cried out at the same time. "Georgia, what are you saying?"
This time Miles didn't have the silent, knowing glance to exchange with Lesley.
His voice was pure panic. "Georgia, when did we break up?"
"Just now."
I didn't wait for him to react. I turned back around and took Greg's hand.
