Free The Alex Chronicles:Girlfriends & Secrets by Tracy Reed Page B

Jonathan, so I decided to do something impulsive. I
packed a bag and bought a first class ticket to Milan to surprise
my fianc é . Oh man,
it ’ s been over ten
years, and it ’ s still
difficult to tell this story. I knew he ’ d be in Milan another week for the conference. My
plan was to surprise him and elope after his conference, and then
do something small with our family and friends when we
returned.
    The day before I was to leave to surprise
Jonathan, I got a phone call from one of his friends who was
attending the conference. Jonathan had had a massive heart attack
and died. I was devastated. My girlfriends rallied and helped me,
despite their feelings about Jonathan.
    Instead of planning a wedding, I planned his
funeral.
    I never
told anyone, not even my mother, that I was planning to surprise
him and elope. I still have the plane ticket. I
don ’ t know why, but I
keep it in my bag. If I had married him when he first asked, he
wouldn ’ t have been
alone. It hurts me to know he died alone. I should have been
there.
    I have
been trying to heal, and my girlfriends keep telling me
it ’ s time to move on. I
have in a way. It ’ s been
over ten years and there have been a few men, but nothing
serious.
    Bless my
friend, Dionne. She ’ s
made it her mission to find someone for me. I really wish
she ’ d stop trying,
because she ’ s not good
at it. I was dating this very handsome media consultant named
Quentin Burke. On paper we were perfect for each other, but I think
it was poor timing and no chemistry. Those two things and that
meddling mother of his, were the reason we broke up. I think we
lasted about six months. We ’ re still friends. In fact, he ’ s my publicist.
    I
introduced him to Dionne. The sparks flew and a few months later,
they were married. Ever since I planted a good man into her life,
she feels the need to do the same for me. I really wish
she ’ d stop, but she
won ’ t. After her last
little matchmaking effort, I threatened to cancel our
friendship.
    She invited me to dinner with her and Quentin
and left out one very important detail. When I arrived, Quentin met
me at the door with a glass of wine.
    “ I ’ m sorry, I
didn ’ t know. ”
    I
didn ’ t understand what
he meant. I took the glass, stepped inside and sitting on the sofa
talking to Dionne was a shiny yellow brother with a pony tail
hanging down his back. Dionne looked up and noticed I was heading
out the door. She jumped up, walked over and pulled me over to the
sofa and introduced me to my "date".
    When he
stood up, it was even worse. He was wearing a powder blue suit,
navy blue shirt with the buttons undone to reveal his Mr. T gold
chain collection sitting on a bed of tight black curls. I
don ’ t like hairy men. I
turned the glass up finishing the fine red wine in one gulp. This
definitely would have been a good time to start drinking hard
liquor. Saying I was a little pissed with Dionne would have been
like calling a broken leg a sprain.
    I looked
at Dionne wondering what she could have been thinking. I looked
down at my "date ’ s ” feet, and
staring back at me were light blue patent leather brogues and
matching socks. I didn ’ t
know what to think, but I knew what to say. I just
didn ’ t want to say it
out loud.
    “ Excuse
me. ” I put my empty
glass on the table and hurried down to the powder room. “ Okay God, I know
Dionne meant well, but … really … what was she thinking? ” I let out a sigh, touched up my lipstick and took
that long walk out to the worst blind date of my life.
    “ Are you
all right Alex? ” Dionne
asked.
    I
couldn ’ t believe she
stood there with a smile on her face asking me if I was all right?
Of course I wasn ’ t all
right! I stood staring at one of my best friends, wondering at what
point did she think setting me up with a black Smurf was a good
idea.
    “ I ’ m... ” Quentin handed me another glass
of wine. “ Thank
you. ”
    “ Sorry,
it ’ s not