A Marriage of Inconvenience

Caleb

When Caleb arrives I almost squeal when he barges through the front door without even knocking. Sadie rubs my back to help me calm down while shooting him a glare. I mean, I know that this man was my best friend for a long time but this is definitely far from the boy that he was back then.

Back when we were friends, he was a scrawny kid covered in acne on his face and even some on his arms. His bright red hair mixed with the acne caused for him to look like the typical nerdy boy. All he was missing at the time were the large glasses and dungeons and dragons shirt.

Now, on the other hand, he is a complete stranger. If I had not known that he was coming over there is no way that I would have recognized him. He is now sporting the typical close hair cut of a seasoned military personell which somewhat darkens the redness of his hair. All of his acne is gone and he has more than filled out with muscle. There are muscles on his shoulders that I do not even have a name for.

He is wearing a black v-neck shirt that is rather form fitting and more than hints at all of the other muscles that are underneath it. Paired with that, he is wearing some khaki colored cargo pants that are obviously stuffed with plenty of gear. All of this leads down to combat boots that look like they are military grade.

It takes me a moment to notice that he is studying me just as closely as I am studying him. It is hard to believe that this big mammoth of a man is the same one that I used to have sleepovers with and giggle with about everything. It makes me a bit self conscious when I realize that I have changed as well but I am not quite sure what it is that he will see when he looks at me.

Fighting the urge to cross my arms over myself, I step forward slightly with Sadie. She immediately rushes over and gives him a huge hug before thanking him for coming. The entire time this happens he does not take his eyes off of me. Even though I have never entertained him much before I cannot help but feel like I need to prove myself after all of this time has passed.

"It is good to see you again Caleb." I finally say quietly.

"Not as good as it is to see you." He practically whispers.

Before I can respond he turns back to Sadie and gives her his full attention. There is definitely some type of friendship there that was not there before the wedding. I have no idea when it happened but she has come to trust him with things that I have no idea about.

"I am glad you made it. Did you see him down there?" She asks him quickly.

"Yes, as soon as I pulled up I spotted him sitting there. I was going to scare him off but I wanted to make sure that you are both safe first." He answers.

"We are safe. He does not seem to know which penthouse is hers." Sadie informs him.

"That is good. I guess that I will head back down and circle around before I confront him. Whatever you do, do not go to the window. I do not want him to notice you and know which one you are in." He instructs us before turning and walking out of the door without another word to me.

What just happened here? I have never been caught off guard by him before. There is no way that he would have walked away from me without saying more before either. Something has definitely changed with him but is it for the better or worse? That is something that I find myself eager to find out.

"Well, I bet he looks a little bit different to you now." Sadie says to me with a chuckle.

"A little? Are you sure that that is even the same person?" I joke with her.

"He went through a bit of a rough patch after you got married. Even though he eventually came to terms with it, I am not sure that he ever fully understood or accepted it. It was not even the fact that you got married to somebody. It was the fact that you got married to somebody that you did not even like. All for money. I am sure that he is going to want to get to know you again but it might take a while." She tells me.

"I am not sure that I am ready for something like that. He is not who I thought he would be. I expected my scrawny best friend to walk back through the door. That was somebody that I could connect with. This man, he is totally different from who I remember. I am not sure if we can be best friends any longer." I admit.

"Honestly, I doubt the two of you could ever be friends again anyways. I mean, he was hopelessly heart broken when you got married and I have never known for him to be in a relationship since. There was something about you and your relationship that he could not let go of. Now, I do not think that he would be able to go back to that. Not knowing that you were able to marry somebody else so easily." She tells me.

"There was nothing easy about my marriage. I do not want anything other than friendship from anybody either so if that is not possible then I guess that we will just have to have a professional relationship in the future." I tell her.

She snorts before saying, "Good luck with that. I do not see how something like that would be able to happen. He fell hard for you in the past and now he will settle for no less."