Surprise

            The vibrating cell phone in Rachel’s hand mocked her. As usual, her alarm was reminding her that she was supposed to be somewhere at a certain time, and as usual, she wasn’t there. She tried every trick in the book to be more punctual. Setting her clock 20 minutes ahead, laying her clothes out the night before. She even set her cell phone to sound at 15 minute increments when she was getting ready, to try to pace herself as she moved through her morning routine. Nothing worked. She knew she was the person her friends lied to about plans – if a party started at 8, they’d tell her 7:30, just to try to get her to arrive by 8:30, but since she was on to their tactics, even that didn’t speed her up. It was beginning to be a real problem.

            “Crap,” she snapped as she watched the bus she was supposed to be on pull away without her. She glanced at her phone to check the time. “Couldn’t have done me a favor and hit a little traffic before you reached my stop?” She plopped down on a nearby bench, knowing the next bus wouldn’t be there for a good 15 minutes.

            “You might have really done it this time, Rach,” she said out loud. She scrolled through the apps on her phone until she found the one for Uber. Money was tight and she didn’t really have any to throw away on a car service when the cross-town bus would have taken her exactly where she needed to go. But she knew if she waited for the next bus, there was a good chance she’d be walking into Marni’s 30^th birthday surprise party after Marni had already arrived. That would not be good. Especially since Marni’s sister, Alison, had organized the party and Alison wasn’t exactly Rachel’s biggest fan to begin with.

            She ordered the car, which said it would be there in seven minutes and waited. She had meant to be punctual for this. She’d almost succeeded too, but then her phone rang, and when she saw that it was about the position she’d interviewed for, she picked it up immediately, freezing in place. Unfortunately, the man on the other end told her, after rambling on for several minutes about how much they’d liked her, that even though she was energetic and positive, they’d decided to go another way. “Ultimately, there was a candidate who had a touch more marketing experience, so we decided to go with her.” Rachel had heard versions of this same answer on the last two interviews she’d gone on as well. If only this one had waited until Monday to call her, instead of breaking the bad news before he left for the weekend, she could have made her bus on time.

            So now she would not only risk being late for the party, but was going to have to tell her friends that she was, in fact, still painfully in-between jobs. Great fun.

            After what felt like an eternity, the Uber arrived. She was grateful that the driver drove faster than he was probably supposed to and that he pretended not to notice the light turning red as he flew through it. She’d have to remember to write him a good review when she got home later.

            She scooted out of the car, with Marni’s present in her hand. She checked her phone once more. Perfect. She’d made it. It was worth paying for the car. She opened the door to Delia’s, which was Marni’s favorite Italian restaurant. Rachel had been there before and knew the party room was hidden in the back. As she held the door open, someone grabbed it from behind. Rachel turned to acknowledge the person, and pass the door to him. But it wasn’t a him, it was a her.

            Marni smiled at Rachel. “Hey Rach, what are you doing here?”

            Alison glared at Rachel from behind Marni.

            Rachel stumbled over her words. “Uh, I’m meeting my mom for dinner.” It could have been true. Rachel’s mother lived not far from there. Marni might have believed her. Except…as Rachel spoke the words, Marni’s eyes travelled to the present in Rachel’s arm, which had an envelope with the word Marni in big, happy bubble letters drawn across it.

            Marni’s face registered the immediate understanding of someone who just put two and two together and Alison’s registered rage.

            “Let’s go.” Alison gave Marni a gently shove and shot Rachel a look of anger as she stormed past her.

            The three women walked through the front room in silence. Once they reached the back room and Marni walked through the doorway, the room exploded in cheers and a chorus of “Surprise”s. But none of that could drown out Alison’s yell a minute later as Marni walked the room to kiss her guests.

            “You just had to do it, didn’t you, Rachel?” Alison stood, feet planted in the middle of the room. Rachel looked down, trying to make herself as small as possible. “You couldn’t just be on time this once. You had to be you and come late, exactly as we were walking in.”

            Rachel’s eyes were cast down. Her answer was little more than a whisper. “You said you were coming at 6:00, which I figured meant you were really coming at 6:30 and giving me a cushion like always.”

            “No! It meant we were coming at 6. Not everyone panders to your lack of responsibility the way my sister does. You’re an adult, for God’s sake, Rachel. I shouldn’t have to give you special instructions. But apparently, you’re the only one who matters.”

            Rachel quickly glanced around the room. All eyes were glued to her, or actively, intentionally looking at anything but her. Either way, this event had suddenly become all about her. And not in a good way. Her cheeks heated and her eyes burned. She realized that Alison was still yelling, but all she could think was that she had to not continue standing there, the never-punctual, unemployed, pathetic friend that everyone assumed would screw things up. She mumbled a quick “sorry”, dropped her gift on a table and walked out of the room.

            She went back into the main dining room, and sat at the bar, deciding what to do. She should probably leave. Everyone would be talking about the scene and she’d only make things worse by going back in. The party was about Marni, not her and she didn’t want to detract from that with silly gossip. Plus, she was embarrassed as hell.

            Yet, she was Marni’s friend. She should be there for her on her special day. She didn’t know what to do.

            “I’m sorry about my cousin. She can be a bit abrasive.”

            Rachel turned. She recognized the man in front of her from Marni’s family pictures, though she’d never met him. The pictures she’d seen, however, did not do him justice in any way. She didn’t realize she was gaping at him until he laughed. She snapped her mouth shut.

            He held out his hand. “I’m Gregory. And you are Rachel. Marni’s told me a lot about you.”

            She took his hand and smiled. “That’s probably not good.”

            He laughed. “Actually, you have a lot to live up to. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you tonight.”

            Rachel blushed, wondering exactly what Marni had told him to make him smile like he had some scandalous inside information.

            “Are you coming back in?”

            Rachel shrugged. “Not sure if I should.”

            “Well, I’ll tell you this much. Alison’s in there gloating, so if you go back in, she’ll probably have to stop and show some decorum, which would be nice. But if you want to leave, I’d be happy to grab a bite with you somewhere else.”

            “You would, huh?” Rachel chuckled. “I don’t even know you.”

            “Well, I’ve been hearing about you from Marni for what, 10 years or so. If she had a crazy, unhinged cousin, don’t you think you would know about it? So I must be kind of normal.”

            Rachel pretended to frown. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re a closet crazy.”

            “Maybe,” Gregory shrugged. “So what’s it gonna be? Go back in, get something to eat with me, or waste the night by going home alone?”

Okay readers. What should Rachel do?

A – Go back to the party

B – Get a bite with Gregory

C – Go home alone

You have until midnight Tuesday to cast your votes. Can’t wait to hear from you!