Owen cusses Elijah. "Shut up dude! I am making a first impression here." He curtly replies Owen. "Hope you are not offended darling?" He smiles at me again.

"Of course not. Why would I be?"

"See that jerk! She doesn’t mind."

"She is being polite. No one tells an idiot that they are stupid right to their face."

"What did you say genie lamp?" Elijah flares.

"I have warned you to not call me that!"

"Oh yeah? Show me what you are gonna do about it?" Challenged Elijah. I believed they would have gone at each other had Raymond not quickly step in. It is sort of disappointing. It would have been fun to see how far they would go after their silly bantering. Raymond said they are all close-knit buddies and childhood friends. He never told me that Elijah and Owen were like a cat and a rat. My subconscious was quick to clap back at me harshly for thinking that. "He is not your boyfriend. He doesn’t owe you an explanation. Do you want him to be your boyfriend?" No I don’t. Why would I? Raymond will make a good platonic friend. I have never had one before and I am really looking forward to him being that for me. "Oh yeah? And yet you would not reject him if he were to say that he likes you? Aren’t you hoping for that?" My subconscious adds cynically. I have never been so glad that thoughts are private and limited to just the owner alone. Owen asking if I was Raymond’s new girlfriend drives away my cynical mind. "No. She is just my colleague. I had begged her to come with me as my plus one. Don’t let your minds go wild." He strongly convinces. Their faltering expressions tells that they had been expecting me and their friend to be a thing.

"Making them, especially that hoe believe that you are over her with someone more beautiful. This is most likely the smartest thinking you have ever done. Ray." Commented Owen. I am trying to not be blushy about him calling me more beautiful than Maddy. They might be just be sugaring me. Maddy must be so pretty for their other friend and the groom to refer to her a goddess. Or it must be the dress and the full makeup that Annie had put on me that is making them see me as overly pretty to outmatch a "goddess"

"I agree. I am going to zoom a hidden camera on Maddy’s face and capture her expression. An ex’s reaction to her ex and his plus one at her wedding. It is going to make a hot topic on my blog." Elijah mischievously adds.

"Don’t you dare do any of that." Uttered Raymond in a serious, soft warning. "I will report your blog until it is taken down."

I was taking selfies of myself on the beach when Raymond offers to take me a full picture. He had taken just one and returns the phone saying he would be right back. He just disappears. I was kept company by two girls who were wearing similar rose pink dresses. Making anyone understand that they are the bridesmaids. They are extremely chatty. Asking questions like how long I have known Raymond and what our relationship is. They don’t believe that Raymond and I aren’t a thing. They go on to tell me about how madly in love he had been with Maddy. And that he will not be getting over her anytime soon. By their words, they make it seem like I was the one after him. I do my best in clarifying that none of us are after the other. Even going as far as lying that I have a boyfriend. And that I only came with Raymond because he begged me to. Some people have a serious knack of squeezing out information from someone. I also try to do the same by indirectly stirring the pot to find out what had made Maddy leave Raymond. The two spare no effort in toppling the tea pot to spill out every single drop of the tea. And I put my ear and mind down to download every detail. "She could not deal with his undeciding attitude any longer. You know when you just get tired of someone who does something without having a clear direction?" I nod. "That was how Maddy felt. He did nothing but put a damn cheap ring on her finger. She wanted total, deep commitment and family. But Raymond seemingly did not want any of that."

"Why?" I ask.

"Who knows? Maybe he is afraid of getting married and having kids. She was so desperate that she was even prepared to get pregnant for him outside of wedlock. Which angered us."

"Why was she so desperate?" I ask. I must satisfy every last bit of my curiosity. I won’t absorb only a portion of the spilled tea and leave the rest.

"Because she is an orphan and she was older than him. They’ve got a five year age difference. She really wanted kids and a family to look after and call her own. But he was so selfish, he refused to give it to her."

"How do you know he refused? What if he just couldn’t give her?" I try to be rational. There is always two sides to a problem.

"You mean sterility?" She instantly catches my point. I nod. "Raymond is not sterile." She leans in towards me to whisper. "I am not supposed to tell you this. . . but Maddy told us that he always uses protection. He refuses to do her without it."

"What?"

"That is not even the worst part. One time, there was an accident with the condom. It broke when they were at it so he mistakenly spilled his load in her. He didn’t like it. He made her take contraceptives."

"That is mean."

"Yeah. Which is why we strongly endorsed for her to get married to Kelvin. He is so much better. If things go well between them, she will be getting the family that she has always wanted. I really do hope she does."

"Me too." The other girl adds. "And hey, don’t think of us as lousy friends who go about spilling their bestie’s secret. It was necessary for you to know what you are in for just in case you are thinking of getting together with him."

"I have told you already! We are just colleagues." I don’t hide my irritation at their damn irreversible assumption now.

"Just to avoid future mistakes. You seem like a nice person. If you were a ballsy bitch, we wouldn’t have."

"Thanks for your concern." But it is not necessary. Not anymore. If all this is true, then Raymond is just another jerk. A liar. I am petrified that I was even thinking about. . . Let’s not go there. I huff. This is why you can never believe men. He had meticulously spun the story to win my sympathy. Something strikes me? Did he really love her? He didn’t.

"What makes you think he really loves her? I mean, if he did, he would not have denied her what she wants the most when he can give it."

"No he did. He spent weeks crying and begging her to not go through with the wedding." She pauses to let her eyes dart around. A frown settles in her features. "Where is Raymond?"

The other stands up to scan the guests seat and beyond with her eyes. "Don’t tell me he is with Maddy?!" She shrieks, running off. "Shit. We gotta run. It was nice speaking with you, plus one."

"Yeah, you too." I watch them frantically run off. Maddy must have been so alone to tell her friends every single thing about her and Raymond. I don’t think I would be able to do that even if I were in her shoe. Secrets are important. And some things are better left unsaid. Some things feel less bad and disgusting when you are the only one who knows about it. But for some people, being heard by someone is a way to ease the burden.

Raymond appears much later. I study his expression and notice that he is disturbed. He wasn’t as composed when he left. "Sorry. I did not mean to leave you all alone. I was stuck in a chance meeting with my father’s friend. The geezer was talking my ear off. I am surprised it is not bleeding." He says, touching his ear in a try hard convincing manner.

I hide my anger and said "No worries. I was okay on my own." With a fake smile. All the things those girls told me cannot be a lie. It is too deep to be instantly made up. They don’t have a reason to. The wedding proper soon began. Thankfully there were many other young ladies dressed like me, so I am not the only one. Raymond is quite popular. It’s in the way almost every other guest comes to chat when they sight him. Slightly old, young, advanced. I don’t ask, but he tells me that some were his family friends, and others acquaintances. I firmly clarify that we are barely even friends to the people who were damn curious to know about our relationship status.