Anyone watching would have known that today was not a day to bother Tressa Marland. Her usual pleasant, if not passive, demeanor was underscored with a line of tension which vibrated through her entire body. Her full lips were set in a harsh, pensive line and her soft, almond shaped brown eyes had taken on a hardness that appeared out of place on her almost angelic dark cinnamon-colored face. Today, of all days, was a day even the servers at her normal haunt kept their distance.
"Sheesh, what's with the face?"
Tressa didn't bother to make eye contact with her best friend as she took the seat opposite her. She sat staring out the large windows of the cafe, her long legs stretched out beneath the table and her fingers curled over a small, pale pink card, which she kept tapping in a continuous, annoying rhythm over the tabletop. Her shoulders were drawn up to her ears, making her upper body appear tight and scrunched.
She could feel Dara's eyes on her, but Tressa's anger wouldn't allow her to form a response just yet. Instead, she slid the card across the table and waited patiently for the other woman to read it.
After a moment, Dara let out a low hiss, muttering faintly, "Ho-ly shit."
She smiled wryly. Dara's response was succinct, if not tame compared to the string of expletives Tressa had let loose once she'd read the script embossed on that little pink card. When the words had finally registered, her lovely, sunny day had immediately shifted to dark and overcast.
"That sonofabitch is getting married?!?" Dara continued, not caring that a few heads had turned in their direction. Her brown eyes were wide as she leaned in toward Tressa. "And he had the nerve to send you an invitation?"
A thin smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. "Yeah, real kind of him, huh?"
Dara huffed loudly, her hands closing around the pale pink invitation, appearing, for a moment, as if she were going to rip it in two. Instead, she set it on the table between them.
Tressa didn't move to reach for it. She sat staring at it, as if it were a snake ready to strike. Perhaps, it already had. There was a dull ache in her chest, and her limbs felt tight and heavy. She was angry, yes, but also a little sad, though she would never openly admit it.
Xavier James was getting married, and it had only been a year since she'd cut him loose.
Tressa and Xavier had been the perfect couple, for all intents and purposes. Tressa had adored Xavier -- anything he asked, she would give. Nothing was too much. She had loved him deeply, and supported everything he set out to do. They were together for 2 years before he proposed.
College kept them from setting a date, but once they'd both graduated --undergrad and grad schools, respectively -- they just couldn't seem to agree. Xavier would find some excuse, blaming her impatience for his lack of commitment, and Tressa would apologize and give him space. Nearly 10 years passed since they'd started dating, ten years of putting his needs first, of waiting on him hand and foot, ten years of what she saw now as blind subservience. Marriage had not necessarily been her priority, but after 10 years, what was there left for them?
Shame woke her early one spring morning, and she knew she couldn't do it anymore. She hated what she'd become -- quiet, complacent - and she'd needed to let him go.
A year later and he was committing to someone else!
A year later and she couldn't even remember what had made him so special in her eyes.
A waiter came to take their orders just then, momentarily breaking the tension. They ordered a light lunch and he scurried away.
"So, what are you going to do?" Dara asked, her eyes narrowed curiously as she wrapped her lean fingers around her water glass. "Are you gonna go?"
Tressa laughed wryly, still hunched in her chair. "Hell, no. That would be idiotic."
Dara took a deep breath. "I can't believe this, Tressa. I just..." She brought her fist down roughly on the tabletop, causing their glasses to shudder. "After all you did for that asshole! Ten long ass years of making his ass happy, and this is what he does? I ought to go myself, just so I can cause a ruckus in your honor!"
Tressa couldn't help laughing. At first, it was a quiet little snicker, but soon it was an all out laugh. People were definitely watching her now, but she couldn't find it in her to care. Dara was more upset than she, and she wasn't the one this had happened to. God love her.
Tressa had wanted to feel some measure of hatred toward Xavier, but she couldn't. She was angrier with herself. She couldn't hate him for the way he'd treated her when she'd been the one to allow it for so long. In fact, in all honesty, she was kind of jealous of him. He'd stepped up and moved on.
That thought was sobering.
"It's not his fault, Dara," she admitted, as much to herself as to her best friend. "I let it go down the way it did. By the time I got the balls to speak my piece, it was already too late. Much luck to the happy couple." She raised her glass in a mock salute. "In fact, I think we should celebrate."
"Celebrate what?"
"Xavier's engagement, of course." Tressa pulled herself up in her chair, brushing her thick, angular bangs behind her ear. The movement was pointless; they fell right back into place. "Let's go out and do something crazy."
