The Valiant Trilogy

Chapter 3: Best Friend Blues

"You're hired. Just like that?" my roommate and best friend for the last six years asks as she sits on our cheap microfiber couch, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. She's not the only one shocked.

"Yes!" I throw my hands in the air because this is at least the third time we've gone over it. I don't believe it any more than she does.

Ashley leans back against the couch in our shared apartment, wrapping a piece of her brunette hair around her index finger. "Wow."

"Wow, indeed." I pick back up the pacing she interrupted with her question.

Her light blue eyes, the exact opposite of my green ones, stare out into our back patio past the large sliding glass doors. "That must have been hot. A man getting all bossy and giving you a job."

"Ashley!" Has she missed everything I've said for the last thirty minutes?

She shakes her head, clearing out whatever daydream she's imagining. "I wish I could've been there. I bet that pissed you off." She chuckles to herself, almost as if I'm not in the room.

I am pissed... now. At the time, I was more baffled and confused and surprised. Nothing about Valiant's behavior led me to believe I received the job. Even now I'm only eighty percent sure he said, "You're hired." Could it have been so simple? Or did my ears mishear him and he said, "You're fired?" Although, that makes no sense either since I hadn't been hired.

Ugh.

"Tell me again how he walked you to the main door." Did my best friend lose her mind? She's always been love struck, but this is ridiculous. My eyebrows furl together at her question.

"No, he walked beside me to the front door."

She leans forward on the couch. "Did he touch you?"

"No!"

Ashley's face falls into a slight frown like she's upset I didn't get to experience Vincent's touch. "So, you didn't get any elevator action ala Fifty Shades?"

"No! Ashley stop being crazy. This is a genuine problem."

She shrugs and drops the strands of hair she'd been playing with for the last five minutes. "I don't see what the problem is. Today you scored an outstanding job—one that will lead to your dream job in a few years. I think this deserves a drink." She grabs her wine glass off the coffee table and slams back the last two swallows. "Although you will need to get a fresh bottle from the fridge. That was the one from last weekend."

We'll need much more wine than the one bottle in the refrigerator's door. I pull it out and pour myself a glass almost to the rim. I give the rest of the bottle to Ashley and she fills her glass.

"Why are you drinking already today?" I ask, plopping myself in a chair in our living room opposite her.

We've lived in this apartment for the last two years after we moved to the city. Ashley attended law school at a local college in Lansing while I finished at Michigan State. It worked out perfectly except for the fact when we first moved here neither of us had any credit to sign a lease on an apartment. We needed a job and well... a credit score. Her boyfriend of six months, Jonathon, jumped in to sign the lease. He moved into the two-bedroom townhouse right along with us. We've been a happy family of three ever since, as long as I can't hear them fighting or f*****g—two of their favorite things to do.

"Topic change. I found a ring in Jonathan's sock drawer."

"Oh my gosh. A ring! That's brilliant." I throw my hands up, forgetting my wine, but only for a few seconds.

She taps her index finger on her front tooth and in that moment, I realize Ashley doesn't see it as such an excellent piece of news. "I wonder why he hasn't given it to me yet."

Here we go again. "How long ago did you find it?"

She smiles a fraction. "Last Wednesday."

"Ashley," I say emphasizing the unspoken word, "really" with my eyes. "He's just waiting for the right time." It would be like my roommate to get upset she hasn't gotten a ring she snooped and found less than a week ago. She's never great at waiting.

I dated my ex Henry for six years and we never once talked about marriage. Well, sure, he'd bring it up from time to time, but nothing serious. Our breakup was amicable because I needed to move on with my life and planned to leave the state after graduation. There wasn't a future.

But also, it's possible there's a bit more of Ashley in me than I want to admit. If a man isn't ready to commit after six years, he'd never be ready. I think Henry enjoyed having me around when it was convenient and being able to party during college when he wanted.

"I know you're right, but every day he doesn't ask, my crazy builds."

"It's possible he's waiting until you pass the bar."

Ashley didn't want to wait for the bar in December, so she signed up to take it during the fall examination. Now that she's graduated from law school, she's spent every waking minute cooped up in the apartment with her nose stuck in a law book.

"Maybe."

I take another sip of wine and let her sit before my excitement over her upcoming engagement gets too large to keep quiet. "Wow, why didn't you tell me about the ring?"

Her face pinches together. "Remember that episode of s*x and the City where Sarah Jessica Parker finds the pear-shaped engagement ring?"

My expression matches hers while remembering the episode and the way we both responded. I'm not against pear-shaped rings, just that the guy should try a little harder to notice what a girl likes.

"It's a pear? But he knows how much we hate that episode."

Ashley swallows her next drink of wine hard. "It's worse."

"Oh no."

Her head nods as if we're both realizing something wonderful has died. Her outlook on her relationship. "It's a heart."