The Twenty Year Triangle

Chapter Eleven

"Stuck in the doggy door?" Hunter is asking as I'm cracking up laughing. "How the hell did he manage that?"

"You tell me! Still haven't gotten the why out of the kid," Brandi says. "He never leaves the couch, and the one time he does, is to crawl through our eighty-year-old neighbor's doggy door?"

"How'd you get him out?" I ask.

"Girl," she pauses to take a large gulp from her drink. "First, we tried to get him to back out, and old Hazel is all, 'Wiggle your hips, Johnny,' which only got him further stuck. So, then we tried oiling him up, with vegetable oil."

"How did that work?" Hunter asks.

"All it did was make him more slippery, and I got it all over the floor.  The dog was annoyed and whining and nudging his head at Johnny. Hazel went to grab the dog and almost slipped; luckily, I caught her but took myself down in the process, and she landed right on top of me."

Both me and Hunter start cracking up at the visual.

"In the end, we ended up having to call the damn fire department to come get him out and let me tell you, it ain't the first time I had to call them. The looks the fire chief was giving me." She shudders at the memory. "Anyway... they had to cut the door. I had to pay for it. It was a nightmare."

"You need to put a foot down with Stephanie. It's bad enough she pawns off all the raising 'em on you. She can pay for her own damn kids," Hunter says, and I nod in agreement.

"With what money?" Brandi questions with a tired sigh. "Anyway, it's fine, really. They drive me up the wall, but I love 'em anyway. But tonight, I wasn't supposed to think about them!"

"Right!" I agree as I pop up. "I'll get us another round; karaoke is about to start."

We'd been sitting and sharing stories for some time as the bar slowly filled. I see now a line is forming near the stage.

"Sit," Hunter places a hand on my shoulder and gently guides me back into my chair. "I got this round, Darlin."

"You got the last round," I remind him, and he smirks.

"Yeah, and I'm getting the next one too, so put your money away," he winks at me and ducks off before I argue.

"Girl," Brandi leans in when he's out of earshot. "He can't peel his eyes off you tonight. Good call on the dress."

I'd have dismissed her comment and shrugged it off in the past but after last night...

"What am I missing? Your face just got all weird and dreamy."

"It did not!" I exclaim as my cheeks flame up.

"Yeah, it did," Brandi argues. "Are you two finally going to stop acting like neither of y'all see what's right in front of you and get together, already?"

"Brandi, I was married for seven years. The ink is barely dry," I sigh. 

"You've been over it for longer than a year," she counters. "If you're holding back out of some respect or something for that asshole, don't."

"You did like Julian at one point," I remind her. "You encouraged me to date him."

"No," she corrects me. "I said you were ruining your college experience by coming home nearly every weekend. I pushed you to get out there and have some fun with the sexy Greek guy from your dorm. I didn't tell you to get serious and marry him."

"I know you didn't, but Brandi, I fell in love with him, and our relationship wasn't always bad. I may be bitter because the last few years were hard, but I won't be forever.  I do owe my ex-husband some respect."