Jared convinced me to come along with him to dinner. It was held on the ground floor of one of his father's restaurants.
I was kind of hoping that Sara wouldn't show up. I wanted her to have one of the many health problems that allowed her to take Jared away from me.
But the worst thing happened. Sara was there and dressed in the most exquisite dinner dress. Same with everyone else around there.
I was the only one who looked like I was just coming from work.
I couldn't even deny that the atmosphere changed as soon as I stepped in. Everyone stopped talking and started staring at me and shared as they whispered.
"Oh, you made it." Sara rose out of her seat and hugged my boyfriend as if he was mine.
I took my hand out of his, expecting him to say something, but he didn't.
"Wow, I didn't think Ashley would actually come." Kim said. "There's just one seat left."
"Well, we can always fit one seat at the end of the table for Ashley." Sara said, grabbing my boyfriend's hand and pulling him across the room to the empty seat beside hers.
I watched them sit side-by-side while I was given a small excuse for a chair at the end of the table with two total strangers.
Everyone looked between me and Jared, expecting me to say something. Because it didn't look like Kim's birthday. It looked more like an engagement party for Sara and Jared.
To ease the tension, I took a sip of wine, then raised my glass. "Cheers to the birthday girl."
There were a few murmurs around the table and soon everyone was talking among themselves, leaving me to watch Sara feed my boyfriend from her own plate.
Kimberly seemed to catch my look because she pointed at me and Sara turned, sitting properly and saying, "Oh yeah, I should thank you for yesterday."
"What for?" I stabbed my potatoes.
"Lending me your boyfriend. The fireworks were absolutely amazing. Hope you're not angry about it?" Sara smiled like she had won a battle.
Everyone turned to me, awaiting my answer.
