Fool Proof

Kadie made it back to the apartment before I could. I opened the front door to find her buzzing away in the kitchen. Oh, how I'm going to miss Kadie and having home cooked meals. I stood at the front door and kicked off my boots and  began peeling off my layers.

“Hey!” Kadie shouted. “Dinner's gonna be ready in a bit.”

“What are you making? It smells delicious!” I said as I walked into my room to grab a fleece blanket.

“It's this recipe I found on Pinterest at work. I've been thinking about it all day.” She excitedly chopped away at an onion. “How did everything go with Connor?” She stopped for a second and looked up at me.

“You were right” I mumbled while hanging my head.

“I'm sorry what was that?” With the knife still in her hand she put it up to her ear. I mumbled again. Kadie smiled as she walked over to the stove's vent hood and turned it off. “Come again?”

“You were right!” I yelled. This time with my eyes fixed on Kadie.

“Oh, okay, that's what I thought you said. I just wanted to make sure.” She playfully winked.

“You're just loving this aren't you?” Kadie had a bottle of wine out, so I grabbed a glass and poured some out for both of us.

“You know I never want to see you get hurt”

“I know” I slid a glass to Kadie. I caught her up on my talk with Connor as she finished making dinner.

“So, where do you think it'll go from here?” Kadie asked while pulling out plates to set on the table.

I stopped what I was doing and turned towards her, “I had an epiphany.”

“Oh yeah?” Kadie stopped what she was doing as well and leaned against the kitchen counter to give me her attention.

“I met Jonah right after I broke up with Joshua. And I only continued to talk to Connor because I was trying to fill the void Jonah left behind. I think I should give myself a break and figure things out.”

“You know what I think?” Kadie questioned as we walked over to the dinner table. I nodded my head. “I think that's a very smart decision. I'm proud of you, Lynn!” Kadie slapped her hand onto my shoulder. “I'm not completely torn on leaving you here alone.”

I am, I wanted to say. We had the conversation about Kadie leaving a million times, so I stayed quiet to avoid bringing it up. Instead I raised my glass to hers.

“Speaking of, do you think you're going to find a new roommate?”

“I would be sucking myself dry if I didn't. But, I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.” I gave her a smile.

Kadie filled me in on her day and how things were going with Adam.

“Lynn” Kadie spoke with a soft yet serious tone, “The reason I wanted to spend time with you tonight was because...” She looked up at me with her crystal blue eyes, sending a chill through my body. I didn't know if I wanted to hear what she was about to say. One therapy session with Connor was enough for the week.

“Adam and I are getting married.” She held her gaze before looking down at her plate.

“WHAT?!” I meant to say it as a question but it ended up coming out more as a statement.

Kadie curled in her lips and nodded her head. “We want to have the wedding in Las Vegas next weekend. It's only going to be a few of our friends.”

“Las Vegas?” I grabbed my napkin off my lap to better express my anger. “You have to be fucking kidding me, Kadie!!”

Kadie started giggling. It slowly turned into an uproar of laughter. “You should have seen your face!" She rolled her head around on the table trying to catch her breath. “Oh, Jesus! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!” Kadie wiped tears from her eyes and sat back up."I knew you needed a laugh”

I couldn't help but join in. “That was funny for you, not me!” I punched Kadie's arm. She had a bad habit of making up stories and then adding “just kidding” to the end. I was the only one that would ever fall for it. And when I did I'd always laugh at how stupid I was for believing it.

“Okay, but you'll never believe who really is getting married!” Kadie leaned over her empty plate and waited for my response.

“Some one we know, or a celebrity?” I folded my arms and started thinking.

“Some one we know” She drummed her fingers on the table.

I shrugged my shoulders and Kadie responded, “Lacey and Mark!” Her eyes widened, anticipating my shocked reaction.

Lacy and Mark were our old childhood friends. We all grew up in a small town outside of Dallas, so everyone knew each other. Those two had been off and on as long as I could remember. They were googly eyed when they were together and the worst of enemies when they weren't. There wasn't an in between with them. ]

“You're kidding!” I gasped.

“Nope! Lacey just called me this morning. She said she tried calling you but she couldn't get through. She wanted our address. The wedding is gonna be at the end of the month.”

“Of this month?” I questioned.

Kadie read my mind and rubbed her stomach. "They're pretty country, so I wouldn't be surprised!”

“So, I guess we'll be going home in a few weeks then.” I slowly started piling our dishes as I thought about our trip.

“I'm so excited!” Kadie cheered. She grew quiet when she saw my face. “Wait, you haven't been home since...”

I cut her off, “No” It had been over six months since I left Texas. Or, I should say, since I'd seen Joshua. “I'm not worried or anything. It's just going to be weird.”

“I won't let it be, I promise!” Kadie rubbed my arm.

I shook off the weird feeling I was having and changed the subject “Pinterest recipes never fail!” I patted my stomach as I finished my last bite. “That was so good!”

I picked up all the dishes and washed them since Kadie made dinner. After everything was cleaned and put away we took out a carton of Ben & Jerry's and snuggled up onto the couch to watch one of our favorite Wes Anderson movies, The Aquatic Life of Steve Zissou.

Kadie had fallen asleep by the end of the movie. I left my fleece blanket with her on the couch and went into my room to sleep.

The next two days had flown by and it was finally the weekend. I promised Jaime I would catch up with him on Saturday. So, while Kadie was out at her hot yoga class, he decided to stop by.

“Did you have trouble finding it? It's kind of hidden away.” I greeted Jaime as he walked into my apartment.

“I didn't have any trouble at all.” He gave me a hug before he started unwinding his scarf from his neck. “It's actually really close to the hospital I'm going to be at.”

I made a couple of breakfast drinks for us and joined Jaime in my room. We both sprawled our legs out towards each other with our backs against the bed framing.

I caught Jaime up on my situation with Connor and how I was planning on staying single for a while.

“Lynn, I think that's the best idea you've had.” Jaime grinned. “But I think we can foolproof it. Because I know my girl too well. Some guy is going to come along and you won't be able to resist going out.”

“Ugh” I grunted as I dropped my head into my hands.

“Here's what we're going to do.” Jaime said drumming his fingers on his chin “We're going to have a three date rule”

“A three date rule?” I asked even though I could see where Jaime was going with this.

“Yeah, a three date rule. Since the whole casual sex thing isn't working” Jaime shot a look at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Go on...”

“You can't sleep with a guy until you've gone out on at least three dates with him. That should be enough time for you to weed out the douche lords.”

I tapped my finger on my cheek intrigued by Jaime's new rule. “I'm in!”