After the gift flurry, a small cluster of Mandy’s guests huddled around her and admired the ring as she dangled it in front of them. Until her wedding day, it was socially permissible for Mandy to conduct such blatant teasing. Gushing with relief that her struggle to find love was over, Mandy spewed her good fortune on her friends still searching for some. Jen was jealous and she hated herself for it. Mandy deserved to be happy. She had waited her turn. Patience and dogged persistence had paid off. Finding a husband had been Mandy’s part-time job since the first day of her freshman year at Tulane. It had actually worked out much better than her real job as a nursery school teacher. From the dumb luck of being lonely at a video store, Mandy met a rich proctologist who swept her off her feet and had her living in the suburbs and mingling at the country club practically before the video even needed to be returned.
It wasn’t that Jen wished she could switch places with Mandy; she didn’t. After the hours they had spent trolling through the bars in Adams Morgan searching for their dream men and wondering why love was so elusive, Mandy had stumbled upon a guy who wasn’t quite the dream man she had fantasized about, but she fell head-over-heels in love nonetheless. It wasn’t fair, but Jen was dealing with it. She did have good things happening in her life; however, she was willing to trade some of them for being part of one of those happy couples she always saw in their sweats, grocery shopping on Sundays. Mandy was now one of them.
Jen filled a small plate with the delicate finger foods and fruit and attempted to make small talk with some of the girls she saw only a few times year. Despite her indifference toward most of Mandy’s friends, it was still fun to get together and find out who was doing what, who was engaged or about to be engaged, and who was having kids. Rachel Marcus was still trying to lose the 30 pounds she had gained before her three-year old was born. Amy Kane had just been promoted to a buyer at Saks, and Gail Mandel was three days away from being officially divorced. Talking to Gail always made being single so much better. Gail still had the same bitter disposition, but sported a new nose.
“I heard your news. Congrats,” Gail squealed like she cared. “Maybe there’ll be some cute guys up there. It’ll be cold, so you better find one quickly.”
Page 25
