Chapter 14: Platonic is a Funny Word
Sarah Knightley insisted that she was not a Bridezilla. She preferred to call her behavior "high standards" or "good taste." For instance, taking her dress back three times after the final alterations wasn't overboard at all - just a celebration of perfection. One can count the number of saintly individuals capable of tolerating this on one hand. Fortunately for Sarah, her little sister was one of them.
The bride-to-be was sitting in the living room of Zoe's house bright and early, flipping through a fashion magazine and shaking her foot impatiently. By the look of the room, it was obvious that the girls had thrown a party the night before. She had to clear some solo cups and empty bottles before sitting down. She didn't care much about that, but she wanted to make sure that her maid of honor was fully alert and sober for their long day of errands.
The front door slammed. Sarah thought it was rather odd since she had expected her sister to descend the staircase and not come in through the front door.
"Why hello, sunshine." Sarah said merrily.
Zoe turned and cringed. "Hi Sarah."
Sarah looked her sister up and down, noting the wrinkled party dress, high heels in hand, and large tee shirt.
"Walk of shame?" she asked, clearly amused.
"No! Of course not!"
"Sure looks like one!" Sarah grabbed the tee shirt her sister was holding and stared at the logo. It had Patrick's high school name on it.
Her jaw dropped. "Well, well, well…"
"It's not what it looks like." Zoe said quickly. "You know how platonic Pat and I are."
Sarah laughed, but didn't say anything.
"What?" Zoe asked annoyed.
Her sister held her hands up. "I didn't say anything. You're the one who mentioned Patrick."
Zoe scowled and started up the stairs to her room.
"Isn't platonic such a funny word?" Sarah teased up at her
Zoe turned. "Meaning?"
"It's always such a defensive adjective. It's not as if anyone could go up to a stranger and introduce someone as their "platonic acquaintance." People only resort to it when deflecting suspicion. Platonic is therefore suspicious by nature."
"You are such an English major!" Zoe's head was starting to hurt, though this was mostly due to last night's alcohol. "I really don't see your point."
Sarah smiled. "Exactly."
"Exactly what?"
"You're defensive!"
"Of course I am!" cried Zoe. "I play defense in lacrosse and I'm good at it! Can we just go run some errands?"
Sarah sighed, picking up on the obvious fact that her sister did not want to talk about anything remotely substantive. "Sure. Go shower first."
Zoe trudged upstairs, still confused by her Sarah's comment. Halfway there she turned around and clarified, "By the way, one of my roommates took over the bedroom last night, so Patrick let me crash at his place. Period. That's it. You know, in case you were wondering."
"Whatever you say, little sister…"
Patrick had slept very well the night before and was ready to tackle a new day. First he needed to clarify a few things to set his mind at ease. The primary object on his agenda was to confront Taylor about his secret. The second was to find out if Zoe was alive. He slept through her morning exit, but he remembered that she stayed the night. In fact, his pillow now smelled like her shampoo. To accomplish his first priority, Patrick invited Taylor to Sunday brunch at O'Grady with Kyle. Harry also happened to be working that shift.
"It's painful to watch." Kyle said through a fake smile.
"Just roll with it." Patrick said, waving at Harry from across the restaurant.
It was Harry's first weekend at O'Grady's. He was attempting to balance several plates of food while waving back at Patrick and his brother. It was not a pretty site.
"Five bucks says the poor guy gets my order wrong." Kyle said. "Pity too – I was looking forward to eating a cheeseburger. Sarah always makes vegetarian dishes at home."
"Well, give him a good tip anyway. He needs the encouragement." Patrick said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw Mary rush over to help Harry. She smiled sweetly and took some of the plates from his hand. Every few minutes it seemed like she swooped in to prevent disaster.
"So," Patrick started, turning back to his brother and friend. "you're not getting cold feet, are you Kyle?"
"Hell no!" he cried. "Look, I might hate this wedding planning stuff, but I am so ready to marry Sarah."
"Some might say you're at the ideal age for marriage." Patrick said strategically. "Do you think anything below twenty-five is too young?"
Kyle shrugged. "Everyone is different. I would consider it young, but it depends on the couple."
Patrick shot a sideways glance at Taylor. He seemed unfazed by their topic of conversation. In fact, he was folding up a paper football with his napkin.
"Do you have an opinion?" Patrick asked pointedly.
Taylor shook his head. "Not really. Should I?"
Patrick marinated in his frustration for the next few minutes. He was determined to crack Taylor if it was the last thing he did. That little black box had a big meaning and if Taylor wasn't going to tell him, Patrick was going to force it out of him. Two cokes and one mistaken order later, Kyle left the table to call Sarah and Patrick was left to confront his friend.
"Fess up, Taylor." He hissed. "I saw the box on your bed stand last night. I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
Taylor's eyes widened. "I didn't know I had to…."
"I'm your best friend, right?" Patrick asked desperately. "I feel like you usually tell your best friend huge pieces of news like this, especially when it involves such a huge purchase."
"It wasn't a problem. I've been saving, so…"
"Hey guys!" Kyle sat back down. "I left a voicemail for Sarah. What's up?"
"I think Taylor has some news for us." Patrick said with his arms crossed.
It was hard to tell what Taylor was thinking. The expression on his face was somewhere between confusion and defensiveness. "I got a job interview."
Patrick's face fell.
"Congrats, man!" Kyle said, patting his back.
"Wait – what?" Patrick said.
"That's why I bought the cufflinks you saw." Taylor said.
"Cufflinks? There were cufflinks in that tiny box?"
Kyle proceeded to share interview day advice with Taylor while Patrick sat back in shock. He had not been expecting this at all. He had gotten so worked up over what turned out to be nothing. Then again, why should he be mad about Taylor marrying Maggie? After all, he set them up three years ago. They were great together. Patrick felt his stomach sink as the ugly, unexpected truth sunk in; he and his friends and actually reached adulthood. He'd been warned about this post-graduation phase of life; all of his friends would start moving in and getting engaged. It was actually happening and he didn't feel the least bit ready for it. Suddenly Kyle and Sarah started to look less like people and more like giant dominos setting off an undesirable chain of events in his life.
"Hello boys!"
Patrick jumped in his seat and out of his panicked thoughts. Sarah and Zoe, each with an armful of bags sat down at the table with them.
"Sorry I didn't answer the phone, sweetie." Sarah leaned over the table and gave Kyle a cute peck on the lips. "I was trying on some things."
Patrick smiled across the table at Zoe. She still looked a bit disheveled. "Good to see you're alive."
"As usual." She said, grabbing his water and taking a gulp.
"We were so busy this morning, but we accomplished a lot." said Sarah. "Just one more week, you know. Do you guys have your tuxes yet?"
"I'm picking them up on Tuesday afternoon." Patrick said.
"Good." Said Sarah, but with a warning look. "Everything needs to go according to schedule!"
Zoe raised her eyebrows at Patrick and they shared a secret smile.
"So, Zoe's plus one is Harry. Patrick, who are you taking?"
"Uh…."
In the business of life, Patrick had completely forgotten to find a date. He wasn't particularly worried. He'd never had trouble finding one before, but judging by the look on Sarah's face his procrastination was simply unacceptable.
"I can't believe this!" she cried, turning to Kyle. "Do you have someone he can go with?"
"Hey now! I can find someone for myself. Plus, if I went stag would it be the worst thing in the world?"
"Yes!" she said, probably louder than she intended. Taylor, the only one uninvolved with the current crisis was staring at the wall awkwardly, trying to avoid Sarah's wrath. "We have a head table for the reception that HAS to be symmetrical and as the BEST MAN you need to have another guest on your left."
"Ok, ok! I'll find someone." Patrick assured her.
"Who would go with you at this late notice?"
"I'm sure Vanessa would love to come along." Taylor intervened for peace. "Everyone else has an invite."
Patrick smiled. "Works for me."
Sarah took a deep breath and sat back in her seat now content with the world. Kyle draped his arm over his fiancé. Patrick then promised himself that he would never marry someone so high maintenance.
"Hey Patrick?"
"What?"
Taylor and Patrick were lounging around on their couch later that afternoon, half conscious and half watching television.
"Why did you freak out about the cufflinks earlier?" he asked curiously.
Patrick cringed silently, but decided to tell the truth. "I guess it's because I didn't think they were cufflinks…"
Taylor's eyes widened as he started to understand Patrick's meaning. "Oh my god!"
"I know."
"Oh my god, seriously?" Taylor cried again. "That hasn't even crossed my mind. I mean, I don't even have a job yet. I have no idea where I'll be next year! I am so NOT thinking about that now."
"I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that!" Patrick said. "I'm ready to see my older brother yet married, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to see my best friends get married. I guess it's my commitment phobia talking."
Taylor sat up and stared at his friend. "Commitment phobia? Really?"
"Duh." Patrick said. "Haven't you noticed that I don't really commit to women?"
"Well, yeah but it's not like you play them either. I always thought you were just picky."
He shrugged. "I guess I am. "
"Technically, you are the most committed person I know." Taylor pointed out.
Patrick raised his eyebrows. "How many people do you know again?"
"I'm serious!" Taylor started to list his arguments. "You've known that you've wanted to do since you were little. You're independent. Once you make a friend you tend to keep them for life. Also, you call your mother almost everyday."
"Dude! Don't spread that around please." Patrick said. "She worries."
"Whatever." He waved it off. "All I'm saying is, you say you fear commitment, but your actions prove otherwise. Who knows, maybe you'll be the first of us to get married."
Patrick threw a pillow at him. "You're insane.
Taylor laughed. "Maybe I am. I did say you could take Vanessa to the wedding."
"You did!" Patrick said.
"And I better not regret that decision, Woodhouse…"
"You have my word. I will not elope with or seduce your cousin this weekend. Scout's honor."