My Sweet Olivia.

My BFF.

Olivia:

I literally ran out of the office. One of the security guys made a joke about "Where is the fire?" because I was leaving in such a hurry. I had to make one quick stop by the store before I met up with my friends since it was Amelia’s twenty-fifth birthday, and we were meeting at the Vino Bar Studio, downtown by the river. Arlington, Virginia has some of the most impressive sites and views of the capital.

Amelia and I met at Harding University six years ago. We shared a dorm in the Feller Hall building all the way through our senior year. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but she won a full-ride scholarship and moved to Virginia at the beginning of her freshman year. She is the coolest human being on planet earth; and if she was ever abducted by some aliens from Mars, those darn foreigners would love her too.

Our first encounter was hilarious. It was early August, and we were both brand new to this college adventure. She had arrived a week before I did, so she was already settled in by the time I showed up. I guess she thought dyeing her hair cherry red would relieve her from her boredom; but she had stained her forehead, her ears, and the back of her neck in the process. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry with her. She was bawling, and I almost laughed in her face.

The poor thing had used soap and warm water, toothpaste, and makeup remover, but nothing had worked. “Did you put any Vaseline or baby oil around your hairline before you did this?” I asked. I was really trying to subdue my sniggering.

“I did,” she told me with tears in her eyes. She had scrubbed a bunch of crap on her skin, and nothing had worked. The pale tone of her skin made the carmine and red stains a lot more noticeable, and I really felt sorry for her.

Shit! At that moment, I remembered that we had an early new student orientation the next morning—I needed to help her out. I pulled out my phone and searched for the nearest pharmacy. Luckily, we had one only fourteen minutes outside of campus. “You better help me unpack when I get back,” I uttered while narrowing my gaze at her and wiggling my index finger as a threat.

I had learned one or two tricks at the beauty shop that I worked for during the past few summers.

I quickly got in my car and drove to the pharmacy to buy a couple of products that might help get rid of those awful stains. My trip was short; I went in and out. I had to at least be able to unpack my clothes before I drifted into a deep sleep. I had driven for almost four hours, and I was exhausted. I was always the type of girl who had everything planned ahead, but I decided to work until the day before I left home —not that I needed to, but I have always been very independent, and I wanted to have some money of my own.

Dad got sick and couldn't come with me at the last minute, and my stepmom stayed with him.

“Here, let’s try this and see if it works. If not, you will have to wear a beanie and a scarf,” I mocked her. Amelia looked at me with so much worry in her eyes and I felt terrible for making that kind of utterance.

Ten minutes later, all the stains had been removed; white vinegar and soap did the magic. She still had red marks on her face, but she got them from crying. Poor girl. “I will never do this s**t again” she exclaimed with her cute southern accent. “I am so sorry that I had to ruin my first impression,” she told me.

“Are you kidding me? This was the funniest introduction ever,” I responded. I stretched my hand and finally introduced myself properly. We didn't get to that part at first, because she was too busy crying, and I was too busy being judgmental.

She helped me open a couple of boxes that I had brought with me, and made my bed while I unpacked my clothes. Our night was a breeze after that. We tried to get to know each other before we went into a slumber. By the end of the night, I was happy that I had to share my room with a chatty and goofy girl, rather than with an annoying snob, an obnoxious plutocrat, or a self-centered cheerleader.

She was so ecstatic the next morning once she looked at herself in the mirror.

Our friendship took a couple of hours to flourish, and we have been inseparable ever since. Amelia Jones became my new BFF in a couple of days. My f*****g best friend forever. And that title is exclusively reserved for her.

To this day, and hopefully forever.

I was so caught up at work that I didn’t have a chance to go to the mall to get her a gift. So, I ordered it online and it got delivered to my office. I just needed to stop by and get a card and a gift bag. I don’t know why I didn’t order all of that from the same store. Again, my brain has been consumed with work for the last month or so. This campaign outline has drained every drop of life out of me.

I have been a bit distant from Noah as well. Not that he minds it though. We have been together for four years and I thought our relationship would be more serious by now, but he is overly occupied in his own world too. It bothered me that he was finding time for everything else, but not to have little adventures with me. We used to do this all the time.

“Hey, hey, hey!” I shouted the moment that I walked into the reserved party room. The birthday girl had already arrived. “Happy birthday, Meli!” I hugged her so tightly and gave her the gift I got her. I knew she would love it. She had been looking at this carved book holder on Etsy, and I found it very cute. I found it adorable actually, so I got her one, and I got one for myself. It was personalized just as requested and made out of mahogany wood.

“I thought you were going to come with Noah” she muttered.

“No, no. I came straight from work. We had a late meeting,” I explained, but in reality, Noah hadn't picked up my phone call.

She looked at me from head to toe and uttered, “You wore that outfit to work?” Her eyes were as big as saucers.

“Oh gosh, no. I just changed before I headed this way.” The truth is, I decided to wear something a little revealing. Lately, I’ve been feeling like Noah and I were drifting away, and I thought wearing something sexy would help me charm him again. I was trying so hard to make our relationship be as exciting as it was when we were in college.

The man could barely keep his hands off of me from the first time we met, till recently. Our s*x life was consistently great. Well, I did not sleep with him the first night—but our s*x life was very hearty until a few months ago. I felt like he had been avoiding me.

I understand that we are no longer full-time students, and we have a life to fulfill. We also have dreams to pursue, and goals to achieve; but I’ve been feeling ignored by him as of lately. And I can't avoid feeling guilty about it. Was I the one neglecting our relationship? Could it be that he was just reacting to my indifference? He was one of the main reasons why I moved to Northern Virginia after we graduated.

His best friend is Amelia’s boyfriend and the four of us have been inseparable all these years. As a matter of fact, Amelia and James only started dating because of us. Noah and I introduced them to each other.

“Is Noah coming?” asked Amelia. He was running about an hour late, and that was unusual for him.

“I suppose. I have not talked to him all day. James, was he still at work when you left?” James gave us no answer at first. He just shrugged his shoulders. "I was barely in the office today, I had to prepare everything for tonight," he muttered. They are best friends—they work together, and they have known each other their entire life.

They met in elementary school. Then they went to the same middle school. Then the same high school. And they even studied the same major. Noah and James have been inseparable for a couple of decades now, and their parents are best friends with each other as well.

The only reason why they were not living together was because James moved into our home. He has been living with us for a few months now. Seven months, to be more exact. I never complained because renting a house in Alexandria could be very expensive, and he has helped with rent and other expenses.

Me: Noah, are you almost here?

Noah: I'm two minutes away.

So, I waited.

“Ahh, look at who just decided to join us. Finally!” shouted Amelia. Noah had a big grin on his face. My boyfriend is very handsome. He has always managed to charm me with his beautiful smile. He is tall and built; his big frame has always made me feel so little next to him. So short. He has light skin, dark blonde hair, and blue eyes. I freaking drool for him.

“Sorry guys! I overslept. I went home early and took a power nap, but I forgot to set up an alarm." He pulled a chair next to me and gave me a kiss. “Hey, babe—you look good,” he told me, emphasizing the word good. His captivating blue eyes were fixated on my cleavage. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him in for another kiss. I hadn’t seen him all week. Although we only live less than thirty minutes away, work consumes both of us. And to be quite honest, he refuses to move in with me.

Can you imagine how much fun it would be if the four of us lived together? We are each other’s best friends after all.

We ordered another round of wine as we continued celebrating Amelia’s birthday. James had invited a few other friends that we have in common, his parents, and his little bratty sister, whom I loathe. The b***h dislikes Amelia and me for some reason. Why would James invite her? Anyway, I just needed to focus on the birthday girl and have fun for the rest of the night.

We ate our dinner and then ordered some dessert. Noah and I always shared. I don’t normally have a sweet tooth, unless it's ice cream, but it was my best friend's birthday. We had to celebrate with her. Our desserts arrived, except for Amelia’s. James ordered her a cheesecake and mentioned that it was her birthday. I'm sure it was because they would sing Happy Birthday or put up a performance for her.

Just as I predicted, four of the servers came out with Amelia’s dessert-- which had a big birthday candle and was nicely decorated. They sang happy birthday for her, and we all sang unanimously too. However, when they said “blow the candle and make a wish,” they placed the plate in front of her, and it revealed a beautiful diamond ring. There was also a message written on the plate with strawberry jelly that read “Would you Marry Me?” instead of the typical happy birthday message.

Amelia’s jaw dropped to the floor and her eyes widened in astonishment. The whole table went crazy. s**t! My best friend was getting engaged. Well, she needed to say yes and acknowledge it first—she was still in shock. James was waiting for her to collect herself before making it official.

“Of course,” she finally spoke, right before she ate James’ face in a passionate kiss. I had to get up and congratulate my friends. Especially my girl. She was crying, and then I started crying with her. This doesn't happen every day, you know. We came to celebrate her birthday and were now celebrating their engagement.

“Stop crying, Meli. You look stupid,” I told her. I was crying and laughing at the same time.

“Well, you look stupider than me because you are crying too,” she chuckled. And she was totally right.

I turned around and saw Noah hugging James and congratulating him. This night had turned out to be an eventful evening for Amelia. I was sure that James would make her the happiest wife. Let me correct that— she is already happy with him, but she will be even happier now. Their match was made in heaven.

James paid the tab, and then they took off to a nice hotel reservation that Noah had prepared for them.

It turns out that Noah knew about this the whole time. I was the only other best friend who was kept in the dark. James was afraid that I would say something to Amelia, since we kept no secrets between us.

And it didn't hurt my feelings. They were right after all.