Bonus [1]: Bath Bomb Conversation-4

My eyes caught that image of him and I in Paris again and I focused on his face. His hair was shorter here and his green eyes were vivid as ever. "She's smiling," I heard Maddy say. "She's thinking about her man." I didn't even bother looking at my friends except when Audrey said, "She's looking at her future husband, wow." "Mrs. Macy Cahill." Maddy teased. "Can you guys not." I laughed, my face getting warm and my heartbeat speeding up at the thought of that name. Of what that name means. Ever since university ended for those of us here, my friends have been wondering when Sam and I would get together. Marriage together. We've been together for a little over five years. According to my dad, that was a long time for people to be together without getting married. He can't even talk. He and my mom made me before they even got married. However, that idea of being married to Sam, let alone engaged? Doing the whole 'we're going to have kids, white picket fence relationship in that house his grandfather had left for him'? That idea left me with butterflies in my stomach. It was fear but the kind that was good for the idea of change. I took a swig of the bottle before Caleb snatched it from me. "You're telling me you guys came here to get her tipsy with fake looking red wine? Audrey." "I didn't bring the bottle. I came in like five minutes later. Why am I to blame?" Caleb turned to another person, "Maddy." "It wasn't me!" She exclaimed. "Anmol?" He sounded in complete shock. "But Anmol is the brain of you people. This doesn't make sense." Before my friends could get into another argument, I got up. Soccer followed me into the kitchen, his fur brushing against my leg. I put the bottle of wine in the fridge, hearing their distant chatter when my phone rang. "Yeah?" I answered. "Where's your man?" Andrew's voice sounded a little tired on the line. "Stadium. He has a game tonight," I informed him. "And you only called me to ask where he is?" "Okay," Andrew drawled, and I could picture him rolling his eyes at me rhetorically questioning him. Idiot. "Where are you?" "Wow, thanks for asking," I exclaimed dramatically. "I'm home." There was a pause. "This is where you ask where I am." I snorted. I haven't seen Andrew in what feels like forever but I'm happy that he drops in with a random phone call whenever he can. "Okay, where are you?" "Out." "Are you out with people?" "I'm out." "Are you out with Cathy?" Andrew chuckled. It was that kind of laugh that was partially conceited and arrogant. It was the kind of laugh where he knew he had obtained something- or someone- or the idea of something or someone that he had pride in. "Not tonight." "What about Eileen?" I suggested, racking through my brain of Andrew recent mentions. "No." "So, you're not with either them." This is surprising. Whenever I called him, they usually were right there with him. Those two names, those two girls were with Andrew a lot. Sometimes on their own with him or together with him. Andrew sighed. "Unfortunately, no. Our arrangement has come to a...pause." "A pause." "Just a little one." "What happened?" "Cathy met someone." "Cathy? Cathy the-relationships are not my strong suit, I'm better off alone-that Cathy met someone?" "Yeah." Andrew sounded a little bitter. His bitter tone was not surprising. "Oh." He probably ran a hand through his hair right now. "She'll be back." This would be the part where he's thinking to himself and then he says, 'they always come back'. Thank God he didn't say that. "And how do you know that?" I had to ask. "It's Cathy. I give her a week. She always comes back." There it is. I love Andrew as much as I loved my not so little brother (Justin almost towers over me at almost 19 years old. It's weird calling him little despite our age difference). Andrew told me everything and I told him everything as well. But about two years ago when Andrew and I were finally in the same place at the same time, on the same side of the world he decided to ask me this question. "Is polygamy really that illegal?" Those exact words came out of his mouth. The way he even structured the sentence sent my head spinning. I told him a big fat. "Yes." And he proceeded to continue eating the pasta on his plate like he had just told me it was sunny outside. It was as if he hadn't just asked me that random question. Then a month later from that day, Andrew had gotten involved in a 'friends with benefits' thing with two women. I wasn't even surprised, but I was and still am waiting for him to settle down with someone in the near future.