chapter thirteen

Lauren looked over the paper before saving it and printing it out. It had taken her a good two hours to decode her boss' handwriting, but she had done it and had a sense of pride knowing that she'd finished. She perched her glasses on the top of her head, took the finished paper and walked over to Mr. Reeves' office. She tapped on his glass door and waited until he responded.

"Mr. Reeves, I finished your letter," Lauren told him, handing it to him.

Mr. Reeves was probably in his early 30's. He was very handsome with jet black hair and stunning brown eyes. His attitude towards his employees was strict, but understanding. Tonight, he sat behind his desk in a fine, black pinstripe suit.

"Wonderful. Could you mail that out to Mrs. Hobbs ASAP, please?" he requested.

"Yes, Sir," she replied. She returned to her desk and sent the letter out.

She glanced at her watch. 7:15. Her shift ended at 8:15. She sighed and looked at her desk. There was nothing left to do. She picked up her picture frame and smiled.

It was her favorite picture. It was at a fair years ago near the ocean. Alex, and Brian had taken Lauren there for a Friday night. When they had seen a photographer wondering around, Lauren immediately had slung her arms around her two best friends and told the man to take a picture. Lauren could see the carnival rides in the background with their bright lights.

The phone rang, scaring Lauren out of a sentiment flashback. Clearing her throat, Lauren answered the phone.

"Yeah, I'd like a large pepperoni pizza, hold the pepperoni and the pizza," Brian joked.

"Hey, I was just thinking about you."

"Talk about coincidence," Brian said. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. My shift's almost over."

"Great. You up for some dinner?"

"I promised Alex I'd drop by at nine," she stated.

"Well, call him up and tell him you'll be a little late!"

"Okay. Where should I meet you?"

"I'll be there in a few, just put."

"All right. See ya."

"Buh-bye, Miss Lauren," he teased and hung up the phone.

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Brian took her to a cozy little diner not too far from where Lauren worked. She wondered why she'd never seen it before because she must've passed it a million times before. Ironically, the diner had a pink neon sign on the entranceway blaring "THE HIDEAWAY DINER" in loopy letters.

Lauren slipped into a booth with Brian across from her. She picked up a menu and looked it over as a less-than-enthusiastic waitress put two glasses of water down. Her white name tag blatantly read "Edna." Edna noisily chewed on her bubblegum, occasionally blowing a bubble and popping it.

"What can I get you?" she asked impatiently.

"BLT on wheat toast and just a cup of coffee," Lauren ordered.

Brian said, "I'll have the same."

Edna took their menus and walked to the kitchen.

"Friendly service here, eh?" Lauren grinned.

"I'll say."

"So, what's new with you and the spouse?"

"Anniversary's coming up in two days. She said she didn't want anything big, so we're going to a play and then to a nice Italian restaurant. I'm gonna give her this." Brian brought out a long, velvet box, opened it and revealed a beautiful silver bracelet. Inscripted on the inside was "Jessica & Brian --- Til Death Do Us Part."

"Oh, Brian, she'll love it," Lauren cooed, smiling warmly. Deep down, she wished she had someone who'd do that for her.

"I hope so," he said, "I'm so nervous. What if I trip or say something stupid?"

"Brian, you're her husband. She knows you well enough and she loves you. And you love her. Who cares if you trip? I believe that's how you two met in the first place, correct?"

Brian chuckled and nodded. "The first time I did something stupid and it didn't blow up in my face."

"Right. Jessica won't care. I know that as a fact," Lauren concluded. Edna came back with two platters and returned to her newspaper at the counter.

Brian took a bite of his BLT. "I'm still nervous."

Lauren was so envious of them. Almost a full year together in wedlock. Devoted solely to each other. Lauren found that amazing. In the last year, Lauren couldn't remember all her boyfriends she had. Some she was glad to forget. Others she couldn't. A few she didn't want to forget at all.

"Congratulations," she murmured.

Brian watched her. She had zoned out, thinking deeply about something. By the way her eyebrows were slightly curved down, and her lips were set, he knew she was thinking about Nick or something closely related to him. She always had that look on her face when she did.

"You okay?" he asked.

Lauren looked up and stared blankly for a few seconds. She nodded and returned to eating her sandwich. She quickly tried to think of a new subject before he got into it. She knew what he was thinking of.

"I was looking at that photo of you, me and Alex at the Oceanside Carnival today," she said. "Remember that?"

"God, I thought I was the only one who still had that picture!" Brian exclaimed. "I have it right on my bedstand at home."

"Mine's on my desk at work."

"Remember when AJ won you that blue zebra at the dart booth?"

Lauren thought back and laughed. "Oh yeah! I still have that somewhere. That and the huge Tweety Bird you got from the basketball booth."

Brian grinned. "Hey, what can I say? When you got it, you got it!"

"Remember when we went on the roller coaster? It was you and me in the fourth row and AJ and Mr. Tweety in the very first one. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. He was yelling like a maniac!"

Brian laughed really hard. "Oh my God, he is a maniac!"

"When we hauled the Tweety Bird back to the hotel, the first time Kev saw it, his jaw just dropped, remember?"

Brian nodded as their giggles quieted and finally died down. He stirred his coffee a little. "God, that was ages ago...Where has the time gone, Lauren?"

Lauren avoided eye contact and shrugged. Those were the days when everything was less complicated. The years that came after had all blurred from one tragedy to the next. Where had it all gone? Lauren had no clue.

Edna came back and took their plates away. She put down the bill and walked away. Brian snatched the bill from Lauren's reach before she had half a chance to get it herself. He grinned. "I got it."

Lauren frowned. "I can pay for myself, Brian."

Brian dug out his wallet and replied, "I know you can. But you're my friend and I like to do things for my friends. So I'm paying."

Lauren rolled her eyes and insisted that she, at least, should give the tip. Brian let her pay it while he went up to cash the bill. Then he walked to the parking lot with Lauren, one arm around her shoulders. He walked her up to her car.

"Tell Bone I said hi, okay?" he said.

"I will. You and Jess have fun and don't get too crazy," she teased.

Brian gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and left in his car.

Lauren put her head against the window of her car and closed her eyes. She stood there letting her mind jumble with old memories. She missed them so much. All the fun, all the cheap laughs. Where had it all gone?