My first year of university proved to be uneventful enough. Not that I didn't make friends, I did; I just didn't get into the whole party scene. I kept to myself mostly, as to avoid getting to personal with anyone. By 'anyone' I mean guys. University guys are a brazen breed and breeding is first and foremost on their list of things to do. I was just not interested. I'd like to say it was because of my Christian faith, but I think by now, it's pretty clear the real reason was Darren. Always Darren.
He wasn't around to chauffeur me, so I finally spent the money I had been saving on little economy car. Perfect for commuting to and from school. My parents let me stay in the small one bedroom, in-laws house in their back yard rent free until I either graduate college or move out on my own, whichever happened first. Naturally, I saved as much as I could to prepare for that day. And since I didn't allow myself to have a social life, I had plenty of time to work, save and study. I had planned to spend a few weeks back home for Amy's wedding that first summer, but since they got a little impatient waiting for their wedding night, they decided to elope in March to Hawaii and have a honeymoon instead. I can't blame them for that, but I was a little disappointed about missing a visit with her brother.
The summer following my second year at university is when my family received the invitation to Darren's wedding. The news came like a gut punch. I took the news so badly that I took the weekend off of work and just laid in bed crying for two days. By Sunday evening, I had no tears left. They had been replaced with curiosity and anger. Who was this little filly he's about to rein in? I took to social media. I started with his page but found nothing. The only pictures on his page were ones he was tagged in by his friends. There were fishing, hiking and poker games with his friend Rocky and others I didn't know. But not one picture of a girl. Odd for an engaged man.
The girl's page, on the other hand was filled with hundreds of selfies. She looked very young. There were several pictures of her with a boy that looked a lot like Rocky. Not Rocky, younger looking but very similar. 'Possibly a brother?' I clicked over on personal information and found no mention of her engagement to Darren though he was on her friends list. 'Hmmm, very odd. Wait! What the hell? She's the governor's daughter?' How the hell did he manage to snag political royalty?'
I was about to click off when my computer dinged alerting me to a message. I clicked over to my email to find a message from Darren. I thought it odd as I hadn't heard from him in over a year but nevertheless, I opened it. "I can explain." Was all he wrote. I wanted an explanation, too. I really wanted to know how he could just move on like that. Did that kiss mean nothing to him? I wanted to demand details but thought better of it. He wasn't mine, never was. He owed me nothing, so I replied. "You don't have to explain anything, Darren. Congratulations are in order. I hope she makes you happy. You deserve that much."
I decided I needed a break. I needed to see Amy. After all, I hadn't met her baby yet and he was nearly six months old already. Yeah, he was reason they eloped. Why go to the one place I was sure to run into Darren and his new bride? Well, that's simple. I'm an idiot. I thought I'd pop in on him and meet the girl who stole my dream. Maybe seeing them together would finally free me of the obsession I had of him. Have I mentioned that I'm an idiot? Yeah, well I'm not proud. But I'm also not sorry.
I surprised Amy by showing up unannounced. "Oh my god!!" she squealed. "Come in, come in. I can't believe you're here. You gotta meet Little Man. Oh I wish you could have been there for his birth. I had never been more scared in my life, but Eric held my hand the whole time. He's such a..."
"Amy," I said taking her by the shoulders. "Breathe, girl. I know you're excited but calm down. It's okay. I'll be here a few days. We have plenty of 'catch up' time."
"Oh, Erin. I am so happy to see you!" she hugged me tightly and sighed. "But I know you didn't come here just to see me and meet my son."
"What are you saying? Of course, I did."
"I know you Erin. Better than anyone. Darren's engagement brought you here. You want to see for yourself if it's legit."
She was right. She caught me. I just shrugged. "But I really want to see you and the baby too," I added. "Really."
"Oh, I know," she said hugging me again. "Let me go get him."
I have to admit, I fell in love with her baby. He was so beautiful and peaceful that my heart just melted. I just sat and held him as Amy and I chatted the afternoon away. I learned that not only had Amy not met Darren's fiancée yet, but that she didn't hear anything about her until the invitations were sent. He never said a word to her, and she was quite perturbed about it. I also learned that he has pretty much ghosted everyone like he used to do when he was angry. He hasn't returned phone calls or texts. Hasn't responded to emails or other messages sent through social media. "What about his friend? Rocky. Surely he knows something."
"Yeah, I thought of that but haven't reached out yet. Still mad, you know?"
"Understandable." Any more talk of this and I thought I'd cry so, time to change the subject. "How about pizza?"
"What?"
"Pizza. Surely you haven't forgotten what pizza is."
"As if."
"So, let's go get pizza. We could use a girls' night."
"But I..."
"Just text your hubby and bring your baby. It'll be fun. Like old times."
"Okay. You're right. It's been too long since the last time we stuffed ourselves with pizza." She texted Eric and he said he would pop in and pick up their son on the way home so she could have a break. Yep, she got a good one. He got there before the pizza was served and took the baby home.