The Best Thing I Never Had

“She is really going through with this.” Monise said half to herself and half to Tara who was still in the room. Tara looked up and shook her head.

“Well we’ve always known she’s never been one for conventional ideas. I’m pretty sure this tops the cake though,” looking down at the topper box in her hand, “Oh well no pun intended!” The 2 shared a chuckle and continued to get ready.

Tara stopped with a thoughtful look on her face. “I almost feel sorry for Ken though. He’d have better luck hanging out on Seal Island during the filming for Shark Week!! I mean he has a better chance of surviving getting out of the water with Jaws than he does getting through this evening.”

Monise huffed. “Hmph. I don’t have time to feel sorry for the stupid! Even if he was as high as 10 kites and had no idea this chic was just snapping away on his phone he was still wrong because that opportunity should have never been available! And you know they say a drunk man speaks a sober man’s mind. How are you going to come out and say you’re marrying my friend because she’s good for your career????? Like she is just a mindless trophy piece with just shelf value. For real dude?” She looked in the mirror and noticed the sweat beads appearing and decided she should calm down. She still had to get her dress on and be flawless for the non-wedding.

Outside of a brief text she still hadn’t been able to to speak to Ben and somewhat on purpose. After all he is the best man, she didn’t want to alert him to what would be going down this evening. But there was definitely a conversation to be had later on tonight after the party but before she packed up for the honeymoon turned girls trip. Shoot by the time it’s over she might be partying just as hard as Monise for dodging these bullets. She wanted to have hope for her relationship with Ben but they always say “Birds of a feather …”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town the guys were getting ready at Kenny’s uptown penthouse. He’d done well for himself after graduating ‘Thank you Lawdy” and being career aimless for about a year. He took an entry level job at a tech company being 1st level support. All he could do was answer the phone and redirect the call. He was always a bit tech intrigued so when they opened their internship program to learn 3rd tier support, he jumped on it. That was 10 years ago and he’d managed to work his way from the entire bottom level up to senior level executive with a growing consulting business on the side.

He and Ben met Monise and Leslie while celebrating Kenny’s promotion and first 5-figure deal that happened to close on the same day. Lovely night listening to live music, the girls were radiant! The place was crowded and they ended up sharing a table and just hanging out. Leslie was cute but Kenny always thought Monise was more his type. After her and Ben seemed to hit off so well, he turned his attention to Leslie. She was the epitome of the self-made woman. Her parents had passed away. She was raised by an aunt with cousins who were more like protective big brothers. She really was a great girl … for someone else.

Wth her ambitions, goals and work ethic, she’s a trophy for sure. Any man would be honored to have her on his arm but she wasn’t model quality. Kenny was often annoyed with himself for his fascination with “these IG model chics,” yet he didn’t know how to break out of it. In hindsight he probably should have just stopped scrolling through IG and disabled his account but it was too easy to find a girl to “hang out” whenever he left town. Leslie didn’t want to go so he’d have no one to accompany him to the big dinners and important meetings. Why not have a date here and there? No harm, no foul, just some company for dinner but then came Veronica.

Veronica ticked all the boxes. She was gorgeous. Slim build but curvy, these smouldering hazel eyes, long hair but it was probably a weave. A good one though. She was always dressed to the nine and she was willing to go anywhere. Having her on his arm made him feel super proud. And she was always the center of attention from men and women alike. She was quiet but well-spoken. Mystically charming. But not ready to settle down or so she said when they first met. She just wanted to keep it casual and have a good time. The “G-code” says never catch feelings first but Kenny did and he was falling hard. His last 3 trips, she’d flown out to join him.

As he sat down he replayed their weekend in his mind and the look of extreme hurt on her face when he finally told her about Leslie. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her but he knew that he could not continue seeing her after he was married. That’s just grimey. Until he said I do, he was still a “free man.” Not so much after that short walk down the long aisle. He had to have one last good time with her before he ended it all. She was devastated but then she fixed them drinks, asked for one for the road and that’s the last he remembered. When he awoke the next morning, he was alone in his hotel room and she’d left a note that said, “Here’s to a lifetime of loyalty, trust and happiness. XOXO Veronica.”

“Hey what are you over there daydreaming about? Your fine wife-to-be coming down the aisle??” Ben asked, snapping Kenny out of his daydream.

“Ha naw man,” Kenny chuckled. “Just my last round with V. Oh well … that’s all over.”

“Come on dude, Leslie is a good girl, would you really give her up for V that doesn’t want to be tied down?” Ben asked as he unzipped the garment bag.

“Naw I guess not. Being with her is exciting. It’s like swimming with sharks. Being with Leslie always feels like we’re in the baby pool.” Kenny paused, “But the baby pool is always safe. Did you catch that special on shark week? That joker took that lady’s leg clean off! I need my legs.”

They laughed as Kenny moved towards the door to let the other groomsmen in.

“Well fellas, I guess it’s time to get me to the church on time.”