WAS Getting Married

Kari

"That stupid asshole. I cannot believe he would be so dumb to go to a club and get it on with some skank when he’s getting married tomorrow!" Lisa ranted, her hair a mess from running her fingers through it over and over.

"Was getting married," Kari murmured as she slid the small glass of water between her hands on the kitchen table before her.

"Exactly. Was getting married. It's going to be okay, honey. Thank God you found out tonight instead of years from now. Creepy bastard." Sicily sat beside her, her voice soft and comforting.

Kari didn't dare turn to look at her friend, the gaze of sorrow that most likely sat on Sicily's face would be her undoing. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her or to worry over her. She'd lived most of her life on her own and she would get through this too. The urge to tell them to just go home washed over her, but Kari pushed it back, knowing that they wouldn't budge from her side no matter what.

"I'm going to kill him. Sorry piece of shit," Lisa went on and on, Kari mostly ignoring her and letting her get it out. Lisa had always been the one in the middle of a fight, the one cursing more than the boys could even try to and the one to put things back together for all of them. She was who she was, and right now, Kari was glad she was hers.

"What happened when I left?" Kari asked, hating the weakness of her voice.

"We confronted him and he said it wasn't what it looked like," Lisa growled and sat down dramatically, her eyes wild and her cheeks flushed. It was almost touching that she cared so much, and yet the girl got worked up about a lot.

"Wasn't what it looked like? He was screwing her in front of the whole room! How could someone misconstrue that?" Kari sat up a little straighter, her voice finding volume. Her phone buzzed as it had a million times, Frank's handsome face popping up on the screen. Sicily reached over and took the phone, answering it and putting him in his place again.

"Listen, asshole. The wedding is off. Go enjoy yourself for the night because tomorrow we're turning in this lovely dress you bought and paying for a few male dancers to fill up our nights and then we’re going to stretch far more than just our imaginations. Don't call here again. You made your bed on the dance floor in the middle of a thousand people... now go fucking lay in it."

Kari stared in shock, never having heard her mostly docile friend speak with such angst. Lisa clapped and laughed, getting up and going over to hug Sicily with one arm and Kari with the other. "Oh that was brilliant. I would give anything to see his face."

"I wouldn't." Kari sighed and moved out of her friend’s hold, walking toward the small breakfast bar by the kitchen.

"Yeah, you would, ‘cause he had a lovely shiner." Sicily drew an imaginary circle around her own eye, a wicked smile rising on her lips.

Kari turned to face them as Lisa took her unoccupied seat. "What? You hit him, or one of his guys did?"

"I did. Punched him good, too." Lisa waggled her eyebrows and put up her fists, punching at the air and cursing a bit more.

"You hit him?"

"I punched him in the eye."

"How? He's huge!" Kari crossed her arms over her chest, the night only seeming to get more and more foreign.

"Everyone has soft skin around their eyes, Kari. If you're going to get someone good, then it's the privates, the nose, or the eye you swing for." Lisa shrugged as if it was a normal conversation for the three of them to be in the middle of.

"I wish I could've seen that." Kari responded, shaking her head a little. "What am I going to do?"

She knew tears were coming soon, her throat and chest burning from the desire to let it all out. She'd choked back her emotion at the club, not wanting anyone to know she was devastated by all that had gone down. She needed some alone time and it was coming around like a speeding train. Kari took a shaky breath, letting her arms drop to her side and giving her attention to her friends.

"I need some time to myself if you guys don't mind. Just want to process this and see what it means for me, you know?"

Sicily stood and walked toward her, a caring look on her exotic features. "Of course, sweetie. We'll go and be back in the morning to fix you some breakfast. Besides... now that you're not tied down to the big city, think about moving with me and Lisa to Maine in a few weeks. We wanted to ask you to come with us a million times, but because of Frank we knew that wasn't going to happen."

"Just something to think about later," Lisa added, walking over and moving beside her, wrapping an arm around Kari's back and squeezing. Kari laid her head on Lisa's shoulder and nodded.

"I'll think about it after I get past all of this. I still have to talk with Frank, so that should be lovely."

"We can go with you," Sicily added, moving back and picking up their purses, handing Lisa hers.

"No, I need to break things off with him on my own. Telling my parents and everyone is going to be so embarrassing." Kari blinked through the first wave of tears, her teeth pressed tightly into her lip to hold back the sob that followed.

Lisa turned and pulled her into a hug. "It's not your fault. He's a dick and you deserve better, period. This is a blessing in disguise and we'll get through this together."

"Okay," Kari muttered, her voice soft and strained. She moved back and wiped the few tears that had managed to spill over, a sad smile moving across her face. "I'll call you guys in the morning when I get up and then we can get together."

"You sure you're okay here by yourself tonight? I don't like it." Lisa moved back, tugging her purse over her shoulder, her gaze piercing.

"I'm sure. Just need a hot bath, a good cry, and some sleep."

"My vibrator always helps, too." Lisa shrugged.

Sicily whacked her with her purse. "Not everyone is a nympho. Let's go."

"They should be." Lisa laughed and Kari chuckled as well, walking them to the door and saying a few more goodbyes between hugs. She closed the door and turned to press her back against it, her hands running up her face, fingertips pressing to her eyes.

How had this happened?