Welcome, Mr Goldsworthy
20 May 2017 — London
"Even though the thin walls in my new apartment are bad, they're nothing compared to the rat I found in my last apartment!" Eli continued to explain, torn between grinning and laughing watching his best friends' reactions to his words.
"An actual rat? With whiskers and a nose and a tail?" Imogen asked, eyes wide, almost not believing what Eli was telling her.
"Ew, ew, ew, ew!" Fiona exclaimed, shaking her head and shutting her eyes as if trying to erase an imaginary picture of a rat from her head. She wrapped her hands around her cup of coffee, clearly unimpressed with the turn their conversation had taken. "Can we talk about something a little less gross? Like your film in Central Park – how's that going?"
Eli looked into his own mug of coffee, seeming to ponder how to answer the question. "It's, ah, it's going … just not in the direction I originally aimed for; instead of being a story of a man finding himself through nature, it's turned into a tale about a woman using music to bring people together. Needless to say, me and my team were working overtime for a while with the change, but it's going well, better almost than I expected."
"Well, look at Eli Goldsworthy go, not even graduated university for two weeks and he already has a film in the works. Promise not to forget us little people when you're a famous director?" Imogen giggled. She knew the extra attention would embarrass Eli, but she was genuinely very proud of him and all of his achievements so far in his career.
"Hey, only if you promise to come to my first premiere!" Eli pointed a finger at both Fiona and Imogen across the table.
Imogen sighed sarcastically. "I don't know about that, Eli; who knows what city we'll be living in. Fiones here likes to travel the world – never a dull moment with this girl." Imogen smiled at her girlfriend before reaching up to play with her curls, eventually leaning in and kissing her gently.
Eli groaned. "Get a room."
"Aw, is somebody feeling like a third wheel?" Fiona teased, smiling.
"Just a little, yeah," Eli confessed in a teasing tone, not actually caring about the kiss, although he did seem very amused at his two best friends.
"Don't worry, Mr Director, I'm leaving, I have a business meeting in twenty minutes with some other assistant designers," Fiona explained, getting up from the table in the small café, pulling her handbag over her shoulder. "I'll see you guys tonight, don't have too much fun without me."
"We wouldn't dream of it," Imogen replied, kissing her girlfriend goodbye before watching her leave for work. When she got back in her seat, Imogen noticed Eli was giving her a strange look. "What?"
"When's the wedding?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, come on, you and Fiona have been together for years, I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering when you two are getting married." Eli grinned across the table at Imogen, who was turning noticeably uncomfortable as she sipped her tea.
"Why don't we go for a walk, there's a tiny art gallery nearby you might like." And without a second thought Imogen got up from her chair and walked out the front door.
Eli stayed in his seat for a moment, surveying what just happened, why was Imogen so upset about what he said? Although he could have dwelled on it longer, Eli soon got up and followed Imogen out on to the sidewalk, silently letting her lead him towards the gallery.
Eli didn't know why she was acting this way, normally whenever the topic of her and Fiona's relationship came up in conversation Imogen was all smiles and giggles, but not right now. The girls' relationship was something he had gotten used to since his last semester of high school, and over the past few years the three maintained monthly Skype calls so Eli could hear from his favourite world travelers and Imogen and Fiona could listen to their favourite director. Once he graduated from New York University, Eli knew one of the first things he wanted to do was visit his high school best friends, wherever they might be in the world; lucky for him they were living in London and quickly invited him to visit as long as he pleased.
Eli, Fiona, and Imogen had spent the past few days leisurely wondering around the city, experiencing some of the tourist attractions like the British Museum and Oxford Street, and also indulging in tiny cafés and taking in shows at West End, easily falling back into step as if they were in high school again. Throughout their adventures, Fiona and Imogen were always holding hands and giving each other quick, sneaky kisses, but never once did Eli ever feel like a third wheel, it was just a natural part of the trio's friendship.
"How's everything at home? How're your parents?" Imogen asked as they crossed the road, pulling Eli from his thoughts.
"Great, yeah, everything's good. Bullfrog and Cece visit me in New York a lot, they love it there. Bullfrog's still doing his radio show every morning, too; I don't think the old man will ever stop. What about your mom? And your stepfamily?" Eli didn't know where this conversation was going, but if it got Imogen talking again than that would have to be okay.
"Natalie's well, she calls every Sunday, even when there's nothing to talk about. She even came to visit in March for my birthday. James is good, I guess, I never really hear much about him or talk to him, but I'm sure if anything bad happened I'd hear about it," Imogen explained, running her hand along a stonewall as they continued to walk. "Ryan and Alyssa are in grade nine and eight – but at some private school just outside of Toronto – apparently Degrassi isn't good enough for them. Whatever though, their lives, not mine." She sighed as she finished her story.
"And how is your life?" Eli asked apprehensively; maybe there was something Imogen wasn't telling him.
Imogen let herself smile for a second, almost trying to hold back from smiling too much. "I am so happy sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember that this is all real. Hey!" she called out, as if just suddenly realising something. "You haven't been on the Eye yet, and neither have I, wanna try it?"
"Sure," Eli agreed, slightly taken aback by the sudden invitation, seeing the London Eye just ahead of them.
The two friends bought their tickets and waited patiently in the queue, apparently leaving the art gallery for another time, before being led into a capsule with twenty strangers. As the wheel slowly turned, Eli was amazed at the view they had of London; he could see nearly the entire city, and as the Eye continued to move he could only see more.
"So you mean to tell me you've been living in London for five months and you really haven't been up here before?" Eli asked Imogen, watching her as she watched the city of London appear below her.
"Fiona's terrified of heights. Believe me, I've tried to convince her, but you know how stubborn Miss Coyne can be," Imogen told him, mesmerised by the sight below her. "She said she came up here once when she was fourteen and spent nearly the entire time with her eyes closed and swore to never step foot near the Eye again."
Imogen paused for a few moments, continuing to avoid looking at Eli and kept her eyes trained on the world outside of the capsule. When she finally spoke again, her words caught Eli off guard.
"I want to propose to her."
"Holy shit," was the first thing to come out of Eli's mouth, as he tried to process what Imogen just said. "Imogen! That's amazing! You're serious about this, right? Oh, my God, how long have you been thinking about this?" Eli watched Imogen carefully, as she finally turned to look at him, leaning against the side of the capsule.
"I guess I've always been thinking about it, but I've seriously been thinking about it for a few months now," Imogen enlightened, a somewhat dreamy look on her face. "And I want to propose to her – I feel like she's thinking about doing it, too, and if I don't hurry she'll beat me to it. Fiona's done so much for me and I just really, really, really want to do this for her – and for me, too, I guess."
Eli was in shock – a happy shock – he couldn't wait for his two best friends to get married.
"You think you can handle being Fiona Coyne's wife?" Eli joked, while also realising the seriousness of their conversation.
"The better question is can Fiona Coyne handle being Imogen Moreno's wife," Imogen clarified, her eyes lit with humour.
"This is true," Eli agreed, teasingly, before he laughed as Imogen hit him playfully on the arm. "But seriously, you're one hundred percent sure of this?" he asked, thoughtfully.
"I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life," Imogen sighed. "I can't imagine my life without Fiona, I don't know where I would be or who I would be without her, and to be honest, I don't want to think about it. I love her more than anything else in this entire world, and I know she feels the same way about me. She makes me feel like the luckiest and happiest girl in the world and I never want to live a life without Fiona by my side."
As Eli listened to Imogen speak, he noticed how sincere, thoughtful, and in love she sounded. A stranger who had never met Fiona or Imogen before could not deny that they were soul mates after hearing Imogen's short speech. While he continued to listen to his best friend, Eli couldn't help but feel his own sense of happiness take over.
"A blind man could see how much you love her, Imogen. Damn, I can't believe my two best friends from high school are getting married!"
"Hey now, I haven't actually asked her yet!"
"As if she's gonna say no!"
Imogen grinned at him, before timidly glancing around at the others they shared the capsule with; everyone else seemed so engrossed in the ride as it neared its end, no one seemed to notice the serious conversation that was happening between the two Canadians.
"Can I ask you for a favour?" Imogen inquired, and when Eli nodded in response, she continued, "Want to help me pick out a ring?"
"Of course!" Eli's tone made it sound as though his answer was obvious. "C'mere," he said, pulling Imogen into a hug. "You always talk about how proud you are of me, but I'm insanely proud of you, Imogen, you're doing some incredible things and I couldn't be more glad that I have you and Fiona in my life."
"Well, there's no need to get all sentimental, Eli Goldsworthy," Imogen giggled, pulling out of the hug as the capsule door opened for them to get off. "Now c'mon, let's go pick out a ring for my future fiancée!"
Naturally, Eli ran after Imogen and off of the London Eye, trying to absorb how a quick visit with old friends had turned into something so much more.