Our table erupts in laughter. I am laughing so hard that I hold my sides, tears welling up in my eyes. Sangeeta, sitting next to me, leans over and supports herself on my shoulder as she continues her fit of laughter, and I wipe the tears away with a finger, shaking my head as I start to regain my composure.
I really missed this. It had been a few weeks since our last girl's night out. Just before David and I had gotten together, if I remembered correctly.
We were at our favorite Chinese place tonight and we had just finished eating. Erin was filling us in on her adventures as a nurse at the hospital downtown, cracking us up as usual.
"He had an action figure stuck where?!" Tao gasps between fits of giggling, covering her mouth in an attempt to not laugh too loud.
Erin nods matter-of-factly, grinning at us around the table. "You heard me. This isn't even the first time. This month." She adds, her calm expression telling us that she had experienced even greater horrors in the depths of the hospital.
"I have no idea how you handle that job. I'd walk out and never look back." Christina says, taking a sip of her wine to keep the laughing at bay.
Sangeeta pipes up. "Well Christina, next time you complain to us how bored you are working on the computer from home every day, just imagine the excitement Erin gets to deal with."
We all laugh, and Christina nods her head thoughtfully, respecting her point.
Our table was scattered with half empty wine glasses and plates picked clean of their delicious food. As we continue catching up on all the events of the past few weeks, a waiter arrives and takes away our plates and refills our glasses, allowing us to happily continue chatting in the dimly lit ambience of the restaurant. It was crowded as usual on a Friday night, but our table was tucked back near a corner affording us enough privacy that we could enjoy without worrying about annoying any of the other patrons.
"So, Christina, how are things going with the model?" Tao asks, peering over at her.
"Model?" Erin says, intrigued, raising her eyebrow.
"Oh, you didn't hear? Christina is dating a model now." Tao replies, obviously enjoying the chance to share the news with everyone, always loving a bit of drama.
"Wait, like a literal model?" I ask, looking over at Christina and giving her an inquisitive look.
"Pictures. Right now." Sangeeta says, getting up without hesitation and power walking around the table to look over Christina's shoulder.
"Alright, alright, jesus." Christina says with a laugh, picking her phone up from off the table and tapping until she blows up a large picture of her new boyfriend. She holds her phone up so we can see, and I lean across the table to get a look.
"What?!" Sangeeta almost shouts as she looks at the picture. She looks around sheepishly, realizing she had been a bit too loud. "What?!" she repeats in a whisper, peering even closer at her phone and slapping Christina's shoulder.
Christina laughs, pleased with her new catch. "Yep. He's all mine, hands off."
I look at the picture and grin, nodding in approval at Christina, although I had to stifle a giggle because he was holding a somewhat ridiculous pose for the photo. He was quite handsome, and it was no wonder he was a model. He had a designer fade, leading up to a well groomed head of jet black hair. Even more, he was quite shredded, his well toned chests and arms bursting with well defined muscles, and one of the most defined six packs I had ever seen.
"Damn, Christina." I say, sitting back in my chair and smiling at her. "How did that happen?"
"Don't tell me you met him on Tinder." Erin says, making a face.
Sangeeta is still taking in the eye candy as Christina replies. "Nope. We met last month at the beach, and I'll have you know that he was the one to approach me. That's just my life." She says, tossing her hair a little bit before losing her facade and laughing with us, always eager to show off. Sangeeta groans as the phone blinks off and is set back on the table.
"And to answer your first question, things are going very, very well." She says in her most sultry tone, starting to widen a gap between her index fingers, drawing them out slowly until she stops with a very large space between them. She shoots us all a little wink.
"Lucky girl. So that's why we haven't heard from you in a while." Erin says with a grin.
Tao jokingly fans herself, taking a sip of her wine, making me laugh and roll my eyes. "Life just isn't fair." She whines with a fake pout, sinking back into her chair.
"Oh come on, you're bi, you've got a better selection than all of us." I retort, smirking at her from across the table, trying to cheer her up.
"What about you, Sarah? Last we heard you were looking without success. Any leads yet?" Tao asks me.
My stomach jumps a little bit, although I had been expecting this question at some point. I wish I had as simple an answer as Christina, showing off her new model boyfriend and moving on. The problem was, I had known most of my friends almost as long as David, which meant they also knew him. This is not going to be an easy thing to explain.
I swirl the dark crimson liquid in my glass, trying to figure out how to tell them. They watch me expectantly, Tao's eyebrows rising as she recognizes that I must have some juicy details to share.
"Yes... more than a lead. I am no longer single, as of a few weeks ago." I say vaguely, smiling into my glass. Everyone breaks out into smiles and congratulates me.
"I knew it, she was smiling way too much tonight." Sangeeta teases, now her turn to nudge me with her shoulder.
"Who's the lucky guy? Don't tell me you can beat Christina's supermodel boyfriend?" Erin teases, looking across the table eagerly.
As I hear the dreaded question, I sigh a little bit to myself, knowing that I would just have to rip the bandaid off.
"Actually, all of you know him." I pause as I prepare to admit the truth. The girls lean forward with anticipation.
"It's... David." I say, looking up at them and grinning, shrugging my shoulders a bit.
"David?" Christina asks, frowning. "Wait. David? Your David?" She hisses with disbelief.
"WHAT?!" Sangeeta yells for the second time tonight, punching me in the shoulder. "Your super fucking hot best friend, David?!" Her expression suggests that she can no longer handle the revelations of the evening.