December, 1994
"Oh please, Brie!" Linda was using her best puppy dog pout as she folded her hands together. She needed her friend to go with her.
"No! The last thing I wanna do is go to a party filled with doctors and nurses, all discussing boring medical shit! It's not my idea of fun."
"You know my hangup about parties! I really wanna make some friends, but I can't when there are guys drinking alcohol and getting fresh. You know why! Please, Brie, I gotta get out."
Brie crossed her arms, trying to ignore her best friend's pleas. It was really hard to do when Linda rested her chin on Brie's shoulder and whimpered out a pathetic please. " Okay, okay, stop. I'll go with you, just stop with the puppy dog eyes."
"Thank you, Brie. I owe you so much."
"Damn right you do."
A week later
He bumped into her, spilling a little bit of his drink on her elbow. "Oh, excuse me."
"No, it was my fault." Her smile was beautiful, as she waved her hand in the air and took a napkin from the table. She set her drink down and started to dab the liquid from her sleeve with a white paper napkin.
"I'll pay for that if it needs to be dry cleaned."
"Don't be ridiculous. What were you drinking?" She grabs another napkin, and a water glass from the table.
"Whiskey."
"I think it'll come out," she dunked her napkin in her water and squeezed out the extra. She started blotting the spot, "it's a dark sweater anyways, so if it stains, who can tell?"
"I still think that I should pay, if it doesn't come out."
"That's sweet, but it's fine, really it is. It's my fiancé's sweater anyway."
"Your fiancé? Is he here?"
"No, he hates the crowds. He opted to stay at home this time."
"In case he gets mad about his sweater, my name is Alexander Lewis. Sandy for short." He held out his hand for the beautiful blonde to shake.
She did so, "Linda O'Shea."
"What will your name be once you're married?"
"Reagan."
"Do you know anyone here, Linda?"
"A few people. I came with my friend."
"Which one is she?"
"I'm not really sure where she is right now. She was supposed to stick with me."
Sandy looked at her questioningly.
"Oh, um... I don't trust handsome looking guys with alcohol."
"So you don't trust me?"
"So far, I trust you. But guys change with alcohol in their system."
He guessed what she was talking about, "well, I promise not to make any unwanted advances."
"Thank you."
"So what is it that you do, Linda?"
"Mm," she swallowed her drink, "I'm a nurse. LPN for now, but I'm working towards an RN."
"That's impressive."
"Thank you. And what is it that you do?"
"I'm a pilot."
"For JFK?"
"Yup."
"Impressive."
"Not so much."
She smiled, took a sip of her drink. Brie appeared by her side, grabbed another drink.
"I'm gonna get you for this, Linda," she said, then swallowed the amber liquid.
"Have you met Brie?" Linda stressed the word 'have'. Brie turned to her friend, not having fun at the hospital Christmas party. Linda had dragged her along, not wanting to be alone at a party, no matter how small it was. It was at a colleague's huge house, and the friends had pretty much stayed together the entire time.
Sandy smiled, held out his hand, "no, no I haven't."
"Brie, this is Alexander Lewis. Sandy for short. Sandy, this is my friend-"
"Bridget Anne Foster-Riley," she grabbed his hand, shaking it enthusiastically. "But everyone calls me Brie."
"That's a pretty name, Brie."
"Sandy's a nice name, too."
"What do you do, Brie? Are you a nurse like Linda?"
"No, goodness no! I'm studying to be a psychologist."
"Wow."
Linda smiled and slipped away, finding another friend to talk to. She hoped it would work out for Brie and Sandy. Brie needed a significant other.
January 1997
There was a continuous knocking on the front door, causing the married couple to look at each other. Who was knocking on their door at one in the morning?
"Maybe if we ignore it, I'll go away,". Danny said, leaving a trail of kisses down Linda's neck.
The knocking continued, making them sigh. " you better go see. They're not gonna go away."
Danny groaned, but got up nonetheless. He pulled on some pants and plodded to the door. " somebody better be dying," he told the visitor, the door still closed.
"Danny, open up, it's Brie."
"Brie?" He opened the door, saw his wife's best friend standing there with a cute guy. "This better be important," he said with a sigh.
"Oh it is! Is Linda up?"
"Linda's up," The blonde responded as she walked up to her husband. "What's wrong? And who is this?"
"You remember Sandy from the Christmas party."
"Oh yes, hello, Sandy."
"Well, he and I just got back from Vegas, and now we're married!"
"Really? I guess congratulations are in order."
"Thank you! We just thought as long as were in Vegas, might as well get married. You know?"
"No," Danny closed his eyes. "We don't know."
"I'm so sorry for disturbing you, but Brie insisted that you wouldn't mind," Sandy apologized. " I told her when you said stop by anytime, you didn't literally mean any time."
Linda smiled, "That's Brie for you. Never listens to good advice."
Danny spoke, " do you think we could maybe have a celebratory drink or meal at a reasonable time? Maybe not at two in the morning."
"That is a completely reasonable request. One we will honor." Sandy looked to his new wife, "Right, Brie?"
She got the hint, "Right, yes. It's rude to barge in like this, you're completely right."
"We'll make plans tomorrow morning, you know, when people aren't sleeping." Linda tried to hurry along the goodbye.
"Yes. See ya," Brie hugged Danny, then Linda, before squealing and pulling Sandy away from the doorway.
"I am happy for her, though I do wish, that she would've had an actual wedding, so that I could've been the maid of honor." Linda smiled as she and Danny headed back to their bedroom.
"I wish she would've waited till tomorrow to tell us that. People are busy sleeping at night."
"Brie's always been like that. She can get an idea, and have to tell me no matter what the time was. It's part of her charm I suppose."
"So Sandy's in for more than he bargained for."
"We've known each other since 94. I think he knows what he's getting himself into."