Friends and Marriage

Chapter 1

If there was one thing Tana recognised quite easily, it was her spotting the changes around her. Especially when it came to her friend Irina. Tana recognised that something was going on with her friend. It was not bad, seeing as Irina was suddenly happier than she had been in months.

Tana and Irina had been inseparable since they were in campus together. They met as roommates and had since become more like sisters. It had been eight years since graduation, and they celebrated their first day anniversary every year.

Irina had been having a hard time at work. She was struggling to meet deadlines because of the overwhelming workload. Some of her colleagues had quit just before Christmas, and she had been swamped with their work. Luckily, she had already completed her load because of the company policy to complete tasks before the year ended.

Unfortunately, her colleagues left theirs until the end, and so they had so much work leftover that Irina was momentarily stunned and had decision paralysis. However, she was able to organise her mind and schedule and worked really hard. She missed Christmas but managed to have some time to celebrate the new year.

Irina and Tana had keys to each other's apartments, having decided to stop living together when Irina started to date her then-boyfriend, Johnny. However, he had bailed on her at new year, and she spotted him at the party she was at with Irina and a few of their friends.

Normally, she wouldn't have minded, since Johnny had a tendency to find alternative plans if she was suddenly too busy. However, this time he had a pretty girl in his arms and they were making out even before the clock struck midnight. Irina did not confront him, and buried herself in her work as soon as she went back to her apartment.

Tana had to threaten to call in their friend Bruno for Irina to accept to go anywhere since new year. It was May and the flowers were in bloom, and Irina was out with her, happy and laughing at everything Tana and Bruno said. This was highly suspicious, and while Bruno dismissed it, Tana couldn't help but wonder if Irina was a little high.

"I just love late spring," Irina said with a light, mellow voice, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun while the other held a dandelion. She shook it gently and gasped in glee as they floated in the air.

Lying on Bruno's lap, Irina looked like she had never been sad. Like she did not know what that was. If it ever actually existed. She laughed at Bruno trying to sing a song about dandelions.

Tana did not want to be the wet blanket, but she felt she had to be. Irina just seemed... different. What really was going on? Was she overthinking?

"Enjoy the picnic?" Bruno asked as he smiled at Irina.

"Yes, I had missed my friends very much. I am glad I came."

Bruno let out a low whistle, and both ladies turned in the direction he was looking. There was a group of friends who had just walked into the park and two of them had puppies that instantly ran off to play when they were released from their leashes. Bruno was not keen on the puppies though. He had spotted how good-looking some of the people in that friend group were.

Ever the extrovert, he was already looking forward to making new friends. Tana found herself temporarily abandoning her thought process and focusing on Bruno to have a good laugh. He was just so cute when he did that. He definitely was a golden retriever.

"Bruno, stay," Irina teased, refusing to get her head off his lap.

"I just have to go say hi. Look, that girl has a really cute hair-do, I just have to go ask where she went-"

"Bruno-"

He was gone before the two ladies could stop him, and was soon chatting animatedly. Before they knew it, he was waving them to join, and they did just that. Three of the ten people in the group came to help carry their things over to the new spot.

Bruno was right, as Tana and Irina came to realise. The new party had some really cool people. They were about their age and came from different countries but were blended and good friends. It was nice to have fun with them.

While they obviously had to leave after two hours, they ended up exchanging contact information. Tana was very excited to make new friends, despite being quite cautious at the start. Bruno tutted at her, knowing exactly why she was excited.

"See, aren't you glad I went over?" He asked as Irina drove them to Tana's house for their highly anticipated sleepover.

"Definitely," Tana replied and stuck out her tongue at him. He giggled, making them all burst out laughing.