“Mira, when you get married, elope,” Molly said, dropping what seemed like the millionth intricately folded place card. Mira looked up at her from across the table, where she was tackling a pile of mini bubble wands that needed to be tied together with curly ribbon.
“Not like that’s ever going to happen anyway,” Mira grumbled, then continued as Molly opened her mouth to protest. “And Mols, all of this was your idea. I did suggest eloping when you showed me your guest list.”
Molly glared at her little sister, then flicked a crushed place card at her.
“Ouch! That hit my eye!”
Molly chuckled. “It didn’t even get close. And I keep telling you, no one likes to hear ‘I told you so.’ Especially if you are right infuriatingly often.” She leaned back in her chair and groaned. “I can’t believe so many people actually RSVP’d ‘yes.’ All the magazines said you’d get a bunch of people declining, but it feels like everyone and their cousins are coming to my wedding.”
“That’s what happens when you invite everyone,” Mira said under her breath, and dodged another rejected place card.
“What I could really go for is a pizza,” Molly said, wistfully. “With lots of cheese and mushrooms and peppers.”
“That is so gross,” Mira began, but was cut off when Jeff, Molly’s fiancé, bustled into the room, balancing two large pizza boxes and a liter of soda in his arms.
Molly jumped up, and took the soda before it could roll off onto the floor.
“Jeff,” she said, very seriously. “Have I ever told you that I love you?”
He paused, pretending to think about it. “You know, I think you have. Maybe you should try it again, to help me remember?”
She grinned at him, her eyes all gooey. “I love you.”
He grinned back, with the same light in his eyes. “And I love you.”
They kissed. Over Jeff’s shoulder, Mira saw Erick rolling his eyes good-naturedly at his friend’s lovesick behavior. Erick was Jeff’s best friend since childhood, and had become good friends with Molly and Mira since they had all met. Mira smirked back at Erick. They were used to Molly and Jeff’s antics.
Since the latter two seemed to have forgotten they weren’t alone, Mira coughed loudly.
“Jeff, you better have gotten two different pizzas. I don’t know where Molly got her horrible taste, but if there is only mushroom and peppers, I am going to mutiny.”
“Don’t worry, Mira, I got you covered,” Erick said with a smile. “The dummy almost ordered two before I stepped in. Bacon and pepperoni, right? Plus,” he said, holding up a grocery bag, “I figured Oreos wouldn’t be a bad call either.”
“The vanilla ones?” Mira asked hopefully.
“Of course. The best ones.”
“Erick, I could kiss you,” she said with a sigh. He grinned again, but there was something new in his smile, and Mira wasn’t sure what it was. Before she could say or do anything else, Molly swooped in.
“Why don’t you boys bring the food into the living room, and Mira and I will get plates and stuff? The dining room is a bit of a war zone,” she said, ruefully, glancing at the mess of paper and bubbles.
Jeff and Erick passed them, arguing about Oreo flavors on their way to the living room. Mira avoided her sister’s prying gaze, instead moving toward the kitchen to get plates and napkins.
“You should go for it.”
Mira almost dropped the stack of plates. Molly had crept up behind her, much too softly for someone with as much personality as she had.
“What on Earth are you talking about?” Mira asked, willing her pounding heart to slow down.
“Erick,” Molly said simply. “I’ve been watching, and he is clearly into you. And you, dear sister, are clearly into him.”
“I am not,” she said, feeling her face flush. “And even if I was,” she rushed on, “he’s not really interested in me. Not like that. We’re just friends.”
“Uh-huh,” Molly said, smirking. “Mira, you know how many boyfriends I’ve had. Hey, no snotty remarks! But do you know how many of them remembered my favorite kind of pizza?” She waited until Mira shrugged in response. “One. And I’m marrying him in a week.”
“Just because the guys you dated before Jeff were total losers,” Mira said, dodging Molly’s half-hearted jab, “doesn’t mean all guys are that stupid. Erick is just nice. We are friends.” So what if you want to grab his stupid/handsome face and kiss him whenever he’s around? a snide voice said in the back of her head. He’s just a nice guy who’s friends with your soon-to-be brother-in-law. It would be awkward if he wasn’t nice to you.
But what if it’s more than that? Another voice piped in, a more hopeful one. What if he really does like you? What if Molly is right?
Mira blinked as fingers snapped in her face.
“Earth to Mira?” her sister asked. “Where did you go just now?”
“Nowhere,” Mira said, trying to be casual, but she could feel her face burning. Great, now she was going to be all flustered when they went back to the living room.
“I knew it,” Molly said, an evil grin spreading across her face.
“Molly, whatever it is you are planning, don’t-” Mira started, but it was too late. Her sister was out the door and in the living room before Mira caught up.
She stood in the doorway, and heard Molly say, “-great if you two could help us out.”
Mira took a deep breath, studiously avoiding looking at Erick. “What are you roping me into now?”
To her surprise, Erick answered. She faced him, and saw something in his eyes that she usually saw in Jeff’s when he looked at her sister. “Molly was saying she needed us to go up to the venue a day early, to make sure everything is set up the way she wants.”
I am going to kill her, Mira thought, as she glanced at her entirely-too-pleased-with-herself sister. But a small part of her couldn’t help feel a thrill of anticipation race across her skin.
“Molly, you owe me big,” she said, sitting on the floor with a sigh.
“I don’t know,” Molly said under her breath as she sat next to Mira. “You just might be owing me.”
© The Lightning Tower, 2020