with a bashful grin and tucks her hair behind her ears, “He’s my gynecologist.”
“No way” I shout, slapping my knees. How weird would that be? “How long have you been dating?”
“A couple weeks now.” Darla proudly says.
“That’s great,” I say.
“Yeah, his name is Drake, and he’s really handsome. He is such a sweetheart.” Darla pauses, and then adds with apprehension and a furrowed brow, “But he’s in his forties…”
“He doesn’t look it though,” Fiona pipes in.
“True” Emily agrees, “But we all know how you like to rob the cradle.”
Fiona and Emily share a laugh, only to have Darla pipe in, “Okay girls. That was one time and he actually wasn’t even that young. He was twenty-one, and in my defense, he told me he was twenty-three.”
“Sure, sure” Emily laughs and nudges Darla in the arm.
“Anyway” Darla dismissively says and looks over at me, “He’s going to be coming by later with some of his friends, so I hope you don’t mind a little male commodore tonight.”
“Not at all” I say, and can’t help but think this is the perfect opportunity to help me get over Ben.
“All I have to say is that his friends better be hot.” Emily chimes in and takes a sip of her martini.
The server approaches our booth and interrupts our conversation to ask me if I would like something to drink. I opt for a martini, just like the girls and order us a round of shots.
The four of us laugh and chat, snacking on tapas and sipping on martinis while we wait for Darla’s new man and his mystery friends to arrive. In the meantime, Emily is the life of the party and tells us story after story about all the bad dates she has recently been on and keeps us in stitches. Emily swears she is going to quit online dating and actually try to find a man without a creepy profile picture. Fiona interrupts and insists Emily isn’t seriously looking for a man on purpose, because she is still in love with her horrid ex-boyfriend. Emily tells Fiona to shut it and claims that isn’t true. She just hasn’t found anyone who isn’t fat, broke or weird just yet.
“Oh, they’re here” Darla says, and waves over to a foursome of men headed our way.
“Thank God.” Fiona moans, and jokingly adds, “This party is in need of some penis.”
As the group of men approaches us, I can tell Drake is leading the way. His eyes are locked on Darla as he pushes through the crowd in his charcoal grey business suit and blue pinstriped shirt. She is right, he is handsome, and hardly looks like he is in his forties. He is in great shape, and has curly dark hair and big hazel eyes. As soon as he greets her, they share a quick kiss before she begins to introduce us. Drake is polite and shakes all of our hands. Then he moves out of the way to reveal his three other friends standing behind him, and that is when I hear a familiar voice say, “Megan?”
I look up and focus my eyes to see Steven standing in front of me.
“Steven?” I say, noticing his black eye has finally disappeared.
“You two know each other?” Drake says with a smile.
“Megan is friend’s with my cousin Jessica.” Steven says and clears his throat.
“Oh so this is the mysterious Steven from Costa Rica.” Emily loudly says and beams at me.
Oh no Emily, please don’t say anything.
“Oh, so Megan told you all about me then?” Steven coldly says.
“She told me a little.” Emily smiles, “But she definitely forgot to mention how hot you were.”
“Emily!” I snap feeling myself begin to sweat.
“So then this is the infamous black-eye Megan?” Drake laughs along with the other two guys who have still yet to be introduced.
I just sit there, completely speechless. I mean, what do you say when someone refers to you as black-eye Megan? I look over at the girls, who are all intently staring at me, and I turn completely red.
“What is he talking about?” Emily finally asks.
“Oh nothing – “ I mumble until Drake cuts me off.
“Her boyfriend sucker punched Steven at that wedding and left him with a black eye.” Drake arrogantly laughs, making me immediately decide Drake is a jerk.
“Okay that’s enough!” I sputter, as my face burns.
“Whose boyfriend?” Emily asks glancing between Steven, and me “Megan doesn’t even have a boyfriend.”
“Look, it’s not a big deal.” Steven says coming to my rescue, “Its water under