"The One" – Part 35
Summary and additional notes in part 1.
Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! Indeed, Clare married Dave! Haha!
This chapter is all Fadam! Enjoy :D
This is not related to my Degrassi timeline fics. (See my Author's profile for details!)
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!
-oOo-
Adam took a long sip of his water and looked around the room. There was a lot of activity around him. Couples and groups of friends were eating and chatting amiably. He was sitting at a table for two, waiting for Fiona to return from the restroom. They were at cozy restaurant which served gourmet sandwiches and salads. It was just a few blocks south of Central Park.
He and Fiona had already placed their orders and had been chatting about their respectively days. She loved the pictures he posted on FaceRange, and apparently so did her co-workers. The responses he had gotten made him smile. He heard back from many of his high school friends including, Clare, Alli, Sav, Wesley, Connor, even Bianca! Drew and Eli led the comment count. He wasn't surprised by that, but it did make him wonder if the two actually did any work during the day!
"No food yet?" he suddenly heard. Adam looked up and smiled.
"No. It should be here soon though," he assured Fiona.
She sighed and sat down. "I knew I should have had a proper lunch!" She and Hannah had impromptu conference call with their client, The Gravelson Group. With little warning beforehand, she only ate half of her sandwich before they needed to dial in.
Adam reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. "It's hard to plan for the unexpected," he noted.
Fiona softened when she met his eyes. "So, what were you going to ask me?" He was going to say something but the arrival of their waiter had interrupted him.
Adam blinked. "Oh, right," he nodded. "Do you have any plans for this weekend?"
She raised an eyebrow. "That depends. Do we?" she responded playfully.
Adam grinned. "I like that answer!" he joked.
They both laughed.
"I have to head back to Boston. A friend of mine recently got married and they're having a post-wedding celebration on Saturday," he told her.
"Oh," she said disappointed at the prospect of him leaving the city. "That's really great!" she quickly added, in an upbeat tone.
"I know it's short notice but, I want you there with me." He looked into her eyes. "Will you be my date to the reception?"
Fiona smiled broadly. "Of course!" she laughed. They leaned in and shared a kiss. "Did you think I would say no?" she teased him.
Adam paused. There was something he thought she should know. He thought back to his conversation earlier in the day with Drew.
"How do you think I should approach the Emily factor?" Adam asked his brother.
Drew paused. "She's not going, right?"
"No. Last time we talked she said she was going to be out of town that weekend," Adam revealed.
"So why mention anything at all?" Drew questioned. In his opinion, his brother was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Adam thought about it. Leaving out the connection to his Ex would make things simpler. However, he didn't want to be burned by the omission down the road. "If it comes up, it might be awkward, you know?" he explained.
Drew snorted. "You're good friends with the groom, and you're closer to the bride than Emily ever was! I don't see why you need to tiptoe around anything just because you both happen to know the same person."
Adam sighed. His brother had a point. He was asked to be groomsman in the wedding, whereas Emily definitely wasn't as close to either of them.
He looked at Fiona. "I was hoping you wouldn't. I didn't want us to spend the weekend apart," he admitted. "I'm good friends with Brian, the groom. We worked together for three years. I actually introduced him to his wife."
"You did?" Fiona said surprised. That was so sweet! She couldn't lose the smile on her face if she tried.
He nodded. "Yeah. Carla worked at our company as well for years, but in a different division. They always say they were like two ships passing in the night. I met her randomly at a bar–" He abruptly stopped when he noticed that Fiona frowned at his words. "No, we didn't hook up!"
"What?" she said innocently.
He gave her a look of mock annoyance. "I have plenty of female friends, you know!" he declared in jest.
She playfully rolled her eyes. "You mentioned a bar!" she fired back.
They both laughed.
"So anyway, after that we chatted whenever we ran into each other at the coffee cart at work. One day she made a rather obscure Star Wars reference I only knew of because of Brian. That same day I told him I met his perfect girl," Adam continued.
"Star Wars?" she teased. "And you're blaming Brian for knowing about it?"
Adam gave her a look. "I'm choosing to ignore that! They went on a date a few days later and the rest is history. They really are a good match. Neither of them wear their nerdiness on their sleeve, but it's there lurking underneath the surface."
"Just like yours?" she grinned.
"I suppose," he conceded. He took a deep breath and decided to rip the band-aid off. "The night I met Carla, she was there with friends for a bachelorette party. My ex-girlfriend was part of the group."
Fiona paused. Of course there had to be a catch… "Oh. So they're friends?" she asked.
Adam shook his head. "Not really… They've know each other for years through Emily's older sister, Bridget, who was the bride. Bridget and Carla are the ones who are close friends. But she's not going to be at the reception. Emily, I mean."
He fought the urge to wince at his cumbersome wording.
Fiona looked away. She knew it was irrational, but she found hearing his ex-girlfriend's name unpleasant. "So… Carla knows your Ex but she's not going to be there?" she surmised.
Adam nodded. Emily and Bridget were both slated to be out of town.
"Yeah," he quickly affirmed. As he waited for Fiona to respond, he wondered if Drew had been right. Disclosing this was awkward and now seemed unnecessary!
"Alright… And this is a problem why?" she questioned slightly confused.
Adam smiled at her. "I didn't think it would be! But I thought it was better to let you know, in case it came up or something…" he trailed off.
She smiled back and squeezed his hand. "I'm glad you did. Full disclosure is always nice." She loved that he valued being open and honest, even when it wasn't the easiest path.
His smile widened. "I think so too!" Some might say he was crazy, but he had seen withholding information backfire on others so many times.
"So, I guess I have a dress to pick out," Fiona said excitedly.
"Looks like it," Adam laughed. He was relieved all was well.
Just then the server arrived with his Flatbread Margherita Pizza and her Tuscan Pesto Chicken sandwich. They looked at each other with huge smiles. The night was looking up.
.
tbc
A/N: Hmm, looks like Adam got all worried for nothing, right? Bring on Boston! Lol. Or, just bring the food… Adam and Fiona's orders sound yummy ;-)
Reviews rock! :D
In the next chapter, more Fadam! Some kisses! And baby talk? Hmm…
Off-topic: I'm updating "Long Weekend" tomorrow!