Author's Note: I recently received an email from a reader who said he missed seeing new stories from me. He understood my issue with writers' block, but hoped I might have something soon. I told him I was pecking away at one, and because of his prompting I decided to finish it.
It's shorter than usual, but the character development is what matters, and I feel like this one does a decent job of that.
I hope you enjoy it!
******
"Cmon. Get a move on, bro. We're gonna be late!"
"I'm ready," his best friend called back.
"Then where the hell are you? My engagement party starts in 15 minutes!"
Eric Kyser was 26 and recently left active duty after a four-year stint as a Marine Corps officer. His best man, Dylan Thomas, had been a fellow lieutenant in the infantry company they served in during Dylan's last two years on active duty. Dylan had been the company executive officer or XO (deputy commander in the Air Force), and Eric was a platoon commander (platoon leader in the Army.) They hit it off early on when they learned they were both from the Seattle area and stayed in touch until Eric's discharge six months ago.
Almost as soon as he returned home, Eric met Lisa Andrews, a cute, bubbly 21-year old woman working as a barista at one of the ubiquitous Starbucks franchises in the Seattle suburb of Auburn, Washington. Unbelievably, just five months later, Eric asked her to marry him, and tonight they were celebrating their engagement, and he didn't want to be late.
Moments later, Dylan appeared.
"Okay. That's just not right," Eric said when he saw his best friend. "How do you do that? I spend an hour to look like an average schmuck, but you take maybe ten minutes and you look like a damn...male model. No offense."
Dylan laughed and ignored the comment.
"I'm ready. Why are you standing there jaw jacking?"
"Okay, okay. Let's do this," Eric said, still miffed that Dylan could look like that without even trying.
Eric was a decent looking guy, and his future wife was a cutie pie. But Dylan was...well, he was what virtually any woman he knew called 'hot.' And they weren't wrong.
On the drive Eric challenged his friend to identify Lisa's mom without his help once they arrived. But he no sooner issued the challenge than he realized Lisa would take them both to say hello to her before Dylan could even try, and he really wanted to see if his best friend could tell who Lisa's mother was without his assistance. Like Dylan, she was some kind of 'freak of nature' who looked years younger than she was and who was so beautiful it was just...wrong.
"You ready for this?" Dylan asked as they walked toward the house, a house that belong to Eric's future mother in law. "The whole married to the same woman for life?'
"Oh, yeah. I am so ready. I can't wait to marry Lisa."
"Wow. The confirmed bachelor is anxious to tie the knot. Who'd of thunk?" Dylan said with a laugh and slap on his buddy's back.
"You just wait. When you find the right woman...."
"Eric! Dylan! Hi!!! Come in!" they heard an already-jazzed Lisa say.
Dylan met Lisa after her and Eric's third date. She was a bit too perky for him, but Eric adored her and made him happy, and that was good enough.
She kissed her fiancé then hugged his best friend.
"Wow. Don't you look handsome!" she bubbled.
"Oh, thanks. You look pretty great yourself, Lisa," he told her, getting another huge smile in return.
Eric let Lisa in first, and just as Dylan entered the house, he saw someone he knew. The engaged couple were oblivious to everything going on around them, so Dylan went straight over to her.
"Hi, there. I'm sorry I don't know your name, but I know you from...."
"Yes! The gym. Hi, I'm Jessica!"
"Dylan, and it's a pleasure to finally know your name. And what brings you here?"
"Mom! I see you've met Dylan," Lisa said in her happy, singsong voice.
Dylan did a double take when he realized the connection, and now he knew that Eric hadn't been exaggerating when he said that Lisa's mom was smokin' hot.
"Yes. We go to the same gym."
Dylan looked at Eric who stepped in and said, "Yeah. This is Lisa's mother, Jessica. I'm sure I mentioned her before."
Dylan had to admit that Eric was right, and that he hadn't exaggerated. If anything he'd understated how attractive Lisa's mother was. She was extremely good looking, and had he not just heard Lisa call her 'mom' he'd never have believed she could have a daughter who just graduated from college.
Jessica hugged her daughter then said to Dylan, "Okay. Now I think I understand."
Her smile was nothing short of amazing as he watched as she now put the pieces of the puzzle together of who's who as he'd just done.
"Wait. Mom? You know Dylan?" her daughter asked somewhat incredulously.
"Yes and no. I've seen him before at the gym, but we've never talked until he just introduced himself."
"Oh. Um...small world, huh?" Lisa said before asking how things were going party wise.
"I believe we're all set. Food, drink, music. If you're happy, I'm happy."
Lisa told her mom it looked great then gave her another hug before grabbing Eric and dragging him off to the next great thing. Before he left Eric leaned over and quietly told Dylan, "Was I right or what?"
"Oh. Definitely correct. No doubt about that."
"Told ya," he said with a laugh as his fiancé pulled him away.
"Inside joke?" Jessica asked with a little laugh knowing it was none of her business.
"Kind of," Dylan admitted. "I probably shouldn't say this, but it was a compliment so...."
She tilted her head a bit as a sign of confusion, so Dylan explained how Eric told him that Lisa's mom looked more like a big sister than a mother.
"Oh!" Jessica said with another, louder laugh. "He is so sweet!"
"And he's not blind," Dylan said in a way that made her stop laughing and Dylan think he'd said something offensive or at least inappropriate.
Hoping to change the subject after his gaffe and seeing a huge rock on her left hand, Dylan said, "Is your husband here or coming later?"
"Oh, no. My husband passed away almost four years ago."
She saw Dylan glance at the ring then explained.
"I wore it the first two years because I just couldn't take it off. After that I wore it partly for that reason and to deter most of the unwanted attention."
This time Dylan didn't say anything stupid like, "I'm sure you draw plenty of it," which was true as Jessica looked to be in her early 30s. Her skin was flawless. Her hair was very dark, short and straight and looked, well, it looked sexy as hell as some wispy bangs hung down over her forehead. He hated bangs that were cut straight across and looked like "The Little Dutch Boy", and, like most men, Dylan preferred longer hair. That said, there were some women on whom short hair was a big plus, and Jessica was one of them.
"So did you organize the engagement party?" he asked, hoping to recover from his earlier fax pas.
"I did. I love event planning, and I often wish I'd started a career of my own. But now, at my age, I don't see that happening."
"I know better than to ask a woman her age, but you can't possibly think that's a reason for not pursuing a dream; one you seem to be very good at, by the way."
"You're very kind, Dylan, but it takes so much time, effort, and money, and I'm actually very happy. All things considered, anyway."
He knew she meant life without her husband, and that didn't need to be said.
