BEST FRIENDS SHOULDN'T DATE

Elaine’s POV

Nobody ever told me your wedding anniversary could break your heart in ways you didn’t know.

“Ma’am, you need to order or leave. You have been here for too long.” The male waitress said with a deep frown on his face.

“I’m sorry, my husband will be here soon.” I apologized, and he walked off begrudgingly.

“I’m so sorry, Elaine, I will be thirty minutes late.” I read the message out loud from my phone. I scoffed hard. No reason. No excuse.

It was already 11:30 pm as I looked around the almost empty Gracie restaurant. It had been packed with lots of people when I had walked in at 8 pm. The slow and sweet jazz music had filled the entire room, and several waiters had passed me by as they delivered to other tables.

Gary had booked a reservation to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. He had been very distant the past few months, since his childhood sweetheart’s return to New York five months ago.

“Gary, you barely have time for me these days.” I had complained one morning.

“Elizabeth has been finding it hard adjusting to the new environment.” He said calmly.

Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth Myers had been a thorn in our marriage since her return to New York. Gary had made it his duty to be at her beck and call.

Our once peaceful marriage has now become quiet, almost like a shadow of what it once was.

He no longer spends the weekend at home, and whenever I asked, it was always “Elizabeth needs a hand moving some furniture at her apartment.”

“Oh, Elaine!” I looked up to see Gary walking up to where I sat.

“I’m so sorry, babe.” I almost bought his apology, but stopped short when I saw the woman behind him.

Elizabeth Myers. Tall. Beautiful. Slender figure. She was all glammed up; she wore a bright red silk dress that hung tightly to her body as she swayed her hips, and a matching lipstick.

“Gary, it’s been several hours.” My voice was low, perhaps from hunger, as my stomach rumbled quietly.

“Elizabeth wanted me to show her around town, and we ended up having dinner at Becky’s.” He said casually as he pulled a seat for Elizabeth.

“Hello Elaine, I’m so sorry I kept Gary away, we were just having too much fun.” She laughed as she brushed her hand against his shoulder.

Was I dreaming? Are these two really doing this right in front of me? I wasn’t personally close to Elizabeth, nor were we friends, but I knew so much about her in recent times.

Her favourite color. Her favourite designer brand. Gary just wouldn’t stop talking about her.

I ignored her and turned to Gary, who had soon forgotten I was seated as he tended to Elizabeth.

“Can we order now? I’m starving.” I said.

“Get yourself something to eat. Elizabeth and I had seafood rice at Becky’s.” He said, smiling.

Unlike our first anniversary, where Gary had brought in a huge bouquet with a handwritten note, “The Beginning Of Forever,” when the butterflies in my stomach had danced beautifully that evening, this night bore no butterflies.

“Do you realize today is our fourth wedding anniversary?” I turned to Elizabeth now, my face flushed in disbelief, my eyebrows shot up.

“I’m so sorry, Elaine, I didn’t mean to ruin your anniversary,” Elizabeth said with her mask of concern.

“Don’t blame her, Elaine. I’m sorry, but she needed me to show her around town. I figured you would understand.”

My stomach rumbled more now, and I slowly lost the strength to argue with them.

Even though our marriage has slowly withered since her return, when Gary told me he had booked a reservation for our anniversary, a glimmer of hope shone in my heart.

At first, I thought it was because we had been struggling to have a child, so I made up excuses for Gary, but it wasn’t possible to get pregnant when he wasn’t even available.

“I got you this as a gift.” He stretched forth a Chanel bag.

I had not noticed him carrying a bag with everything that was going on. I collected it from him as I looked inside.

“A Red Purse? Gary, I hate red.”

Still, it made me happy to see he had gotten me something.

“I figured Red would look good on you, seeing as it looks great on Elizabeth.”

At that point, I was done. I pushed back my chair and got up to leave.

“If you don’t like the gift, you can always return it and ask for something else.” I could have bought the sorry look he wore, but it soon vanished as Elizabeth spoke.

“You don’t have to be mad, Elaine. Gary only wants the best for you.”

I bit my lower lip as I dug my fingers into my thigh. I looked towards Gary, who was distracted as he had his eyes on Elizabeth. It was almost like he couldn’t get enough of her.

I turned to walk away when a loud noise startled me.

“Watch out!” I looked up to see the dangling chandelier above me.

Gary didn’t look at me; he pushed his chair back as he rushed to Elizabeth, shielding her with his entire body, like she was the most precious thing to him. Maybe she was.

In a few seconds, I lay sprawled on the floor, shattered glasses around me. My white dress was stained with blood from the cuts I had gotten from the fallen chandelier.

“Miss! Somebody call 911!”

As the paramedics arrived, only then did Gary notice me. He rushed to me, holding my hands as he whispered. “Are you okay, Elaine? Let’s take her to the hospital.”

I wasn’t okay. The pain coursing through my body didn’t amount to the pain throbbing in my heart as I had just watched my husband protect another woman while leaving me to danger, confirming my fears.

The emergency room was brightly lit, and I woke up with a banging headache and a doctor standing next to me.

“This could have been fatal. You could have lost your baby.” The doctor said.

“You are six weeks pregnant.” He said as I looked at him with a mixed feeling of surprise and joy.