"For real Sam, this is ridiculous." Kristy narrowed her eyes as she weaved her car through traffic. "Out of my way Douchbag!"
"Excuse me?" asked Sam..
"Sorry, just trying to pass some slow drivers who have no respect for my need to drive faster." Kristy turned the volume on her cell phone to high as she attempted to turn it on speaker. "Can you hear me Sam?"
Sam sighed loudly. "Yes Krusty, I can hear you."
Kristy wrinkled her nose in response to Sam's nickname for her. "Look Sam, it's been almost 3 months. You are both miserable. The wedding is just around the corner…Are you going to avoid her? That's kind of hard as you're the best man and she's in the wedding party."
"Look, I'm not going to cause a scene or anything at your wedding. Especially knowing that your soon to be oaf of a husband will cause enough scenes to last a lifetime. I'll happily stand up there, do my best man speech, take advantage of the open bar, flirt with the old ladies and just avoid Claudia at all costs."
"That's great Sam. Real mature. Why don't you stick your tongue out at her while we're standing on the altar too?"
"Dammit Kristy! Why can't you understand? She destroyed me. Completely destroyed me. With Lisa, I knew we had both fallen out of love real soon after we got married. We basically were friends for the 4 years we were married. I knew she was cheating on me but it didn't matter. She didn't LIE about it and I didn't love her then."
"But Sam, she isn't with Mark. She didn't lie about anything. She got snowed by him big time and eventually was glad he went to jail. Him showing up that night was completely unplanned. As for him being her fiancé, come on. When they were together he never gave her a ring, he was talking out of his ass, making promises that they'd get married. He was saying all this shit just to keep her with him. I'm telling you, she is miserable without you. She is not with Mark. Why can't you get it through your thick head?"
Sam felt his face flush with anger as he tightened his grip on his phone.
"She's not with him? Why is his van parked outside her shop practically every day? Why did I see them having lunch with Anna & Elliott a few weeks ago?"
Kristy brought her car to a screeching halt nearly causing a pile up behind her.
"SHE WHAT!!!!!!" she screamed into the phone. "She was on a lunch date with him?"
"I guess she's not as miserable as we think. Eh Kristy?" retorted Sam as he hung up the phone.
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Stacey frowned as she tried read a recipe and mentally divide the amount of ingredients in half. Why do they think everyone wants to make servings for 4? What about servings for 2? She thought as she listened to Kristy's rambling on over the phone.
"So while my brother is moping around over her, that two-timing hoe is out with Mark as if nothing ever happened. Can you believe that? Of all the nerve. I have half a mind to boot her out of my wedding and get a cake from Costco just to piss her off." Huffed Kristy. "Hello? Stacey? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"You didn't give me a chance. Jesus, Kristy, listen to yourself. Did you ever get Claudia's point of view, She could-"
"Her point of view?" Spat out Kristy. "Ha! Her point of view is that my brother was just a landing pad until her druggie fiancé made parole."
"That's not fair Kristy and you know it." Said Stacey quietly. "I have never in my life seen Claudia so down and hurt. Not even after Mark got sent to jail and she realized how he stole all her money. She is finding it difficult just to get up every day and try to maintain her business. She has tried to talk to Sam and he won't return any calls. You want to talk about hard-headed. It's Sam. I don't blame him for being hurt, but he needs to let her explain."
"Oh yeah, ok, so there is a reason his van is always at her work? They're double dating with friends? Come on Stacey. Even you have common sense under all that blonde hair."
"Actually I do have an explanation…" explained Stacey as she put the finishing touches on her casserole before sliding it in the oven. "Quite honestly, I think you are totally being a bitch to immediately take Sam's side and not find out the whole story."
Stacey took a deep breath and continued before Kristy could interrupt.
"First off, that van? It's Claudia's. Mark was driving it but it was in Claudia's name. She had paid for it and Mark had it hidden at his cousin's house. When he went to jail she never pursued finding it or getting custody of it. I mean the thing is about 9 years old but it runs fine…"
Kristy smacked her forehead in frustration. "And Claudia was saying how much she needed a van for deliveries but didn't want a new one; she wanted an old one to gut it and design to transport cakes…"
"Mmm-hmmm…" replied Stacey with a condescending tone. "The van has been sitting there forever until she can figure out how to properly insure it and get it renovated. It's less liability to keep it stored at her shop then at her house."
"Okay, okay, so I may have jumped the gun on the van, but that doesn't explain them hanging out with Anna & Elliott." Replied Kristy.
"Kristy! Think! What do Anna and Elliott do for a living?" said Stacey exasperated at how hard-headed her friend was being.
"Well Elliott is a lawyer and Anna is –"she paused as everything suddenly became clear. "Anna is an insurance agent."
"Right!" pointed out Stacey. " They were meeting because part of Mark's sentence was to provide repercussions to Claudia. They were figuring out a payment plan, how to insure the van, and how to recover assets. Claudia is trying to get everything settled at once and get him out of her life forever. She wanted to have friends handle the logistics of everything so she could stay as far removed from it as possible, Meeting in a public place meant she didn't have to be alone with him and they could get all issues resolved at once."
"I am an ass." Replied Kristy. "I need to make this better. Listen, give me a few days to think of a plan. I will get Sam & Claudia together if it's the last thing I do!"
