Luci Guest Writer 
Habiba: Guys, I have some big news I’d love to share with you all. That’s mainly one of the reasons I gathered you all today.
Billy: Exciting, seems like we all have news to share!
Habiba: You go first then hehe
Billy: No you first, I don’t want to steal your thunder.
Habiba: No please you first.
Dina: Come on guys, stop acting as if you’re polite people, we all know you too well. Now spill it!
A moment of silence and then Habiba and Billy blurted out their news in the very same second:
Habiba: We’re getting married in September! // Billy: Nathalie and I got a divorce!
Most of the people on the table had the exact same reaction: WHAT?
Which piece of news should we react to first? That was kind of a confusing moment, which made me snap out of my drama for a second! I looked at Dina and Mona, no one had a clue. Habiba decided to break the ice by saying: “What happened Billy? Are you ok?”
Billy: Yeah, everything is ok. We both realized a week later after getting married that we made the biggest mistake of our lives. I’ll tell you guys about it shortly. Now back to your exciting news. Congratulations, that’s awesome!
Me: Habiba we’re so happy for you.
Dina: Billy I’m so sorry to hear that, but you know what they say, everything happens for a reason. Habiba, please don’t tell me you’ll pick Luci as the maid of honor, you know I’m your girl.
We all started laughing, Dina managed to make things less awkward by showing off her competitive side.
Me: Cut the crap Dina, we both know I make a better maid of honor.
Dina: Is that so? Game on!
Other than that, the meal went pretty smoothly and I had completely forgotten that I switched off my phone. Between a marriage and divorce, I had no idea where I stood at with Amr. I suddenly felt the urge to call him and understand better. Dina was right, he does at least deserve another chance for me to hear him out with an open mind. It was kind of childish for me to storm out of the office like that, in a way I saw Billy re-run and that made me tick.
As I was about to go to the terrace to give him Amr a call, I saw Billy was right behind me.
Me: Hey!
Billy: Hey yourself. How are things with you? Long time!
Me: Yeah, I know. Things have been great, kind of. I’m sorry to hear about the divorce.
Billy: Are you? I could see you being really shocked, but didn’t know what that meant.
Me: It didn’t mean anything, other than me being shocked about it. I thought things are going well between you guys.
Billy: It sucked, and you knew that since the wedding day. Remember?
Me: Oh, yes. Now I remember.
Billy: I rushed into this because she’s a really pushy person and she was trying too hard to prove to herself that she actually changed and she’s not that shitty personality she used to be.
Me: And?
Billy: She’s just as she used to be. Nothing changed. I was an idiot to believe she actually made improvements, especially that I knew her too well.
Me: Well, stuff like that happens often, don’t worry about it!
Billy: I was also the biggest jerk with you. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me.
Me: Man, don’t even worry about it. Trust me I’m so over it.
Billy: You do realize I know you too well, right?
Me: Meaning?
Billy: Meaning, when you say stuff like “man” and “ so over it” then you’re actually not. You’re just trying too hard.
Me: Whatever haha. I really am, you know I’m now with Amr, I think.
Billy: You think? You’re either with him or not.
Me: No we are together, just some minor issues, which I was about to solve before we started talking.
I opened up my phone as a hint to Billy that I’m about to call Amr and it was time for him to leave, but he was still there.
Billy: Oh wow! 24 missed calls from Amr…
Me: Why are you even looking at my phone?
Billy: I know I know, that’s rude, I’m sorry.
I decided to text Amr to meet me after the gathering, because it didn’t seem like Billy was going anywhere and I most certainly didn’t want to speak in front of him. We agreed to meet in an hour to talk things through.
Billy: So?
Me: So what?
Billy: Are you happy with him?
Me: Yes I am, very happy.
Billy: You’re contradicting yourself.
Me: I’m not and I don’t have to explain anything to you. In case you have forgotten, you have no right whatsoever to try and sweet talk your way into my life again, and you getting a divorce honestly means nothing to me. You’re the one who ruined things between us, remember?
Billy: Yes I do remember and there’s not a single second that goes by without me regretting it. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, whether having you in my life as a friend or the person I’m crazy about.
Me: That ship has sailed.
Billy: Trust me, it hasn’t. Only time will prove to you that I’m right. We’ll get back together and eventually you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me and I’ll make it up to you. That is once you’re done with Amr! You and I, we’re meant to be together.
Just about as I was going to turn aggressive, Habiba came into the terrace with her cute and happy face and hugged me.
Habiba: Luci, if you don’t come in now and stop Dina from bugging me, I’m going to make her face eat the whole ice-cream cake we ordered.
Me: Hahaha what did she do again?
Habiba: She’s trying way too hard to convince me she deserves the position of the maid of honor more than you. Let’s face it, that’s never going to happen. You know how much I love you!
Billy: She does have that effect on the people around her, you can’t help but love her.
He said that while staring at me, and for a second there I made the mistake of looking him right into his eyes and memories started coming back. I had to shake my head to get rid of them instantly!
We went inside again and after chitchatting with everyone, I had to excuse myself to go and meet Amr. There were lots of awkward moments as soon as I stepped into his car.
Me: So, are you going to talk? I’m trying to make sense of this, but I’m not able to. Why would you keep something like this from me?
Amr: I was trying to think of a proper reason on why I kept it from you, but honestly nothing else came to mind other than me being an idiot.
Me: Very convincing!
Amr: Seriously I am. At first when we became friends and started getting closer I genuinely didn’t tell anyone about it because it was such an old thing. I got married when I was 24 or something, like eleven years ago. But then you left Billy and I started thinking that I actually have a shot with you, you kept on giving me mixed signals and things were already confusing between us. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to be with me and I couldn’t find the courage to tell you that and risk you ditching giving us a chance.
I thought about it for a second and it did make sense. Sometimes people do things without thinking about the consequences too much, but it doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. I was still mad at him though.
Me: You had so many other chances to tell me. For example, when we started dating. We see each other on a daily basis, don’t we?
Amr: You’re right, I should have, but the longer I kept quite about it, the harder it was for me to actually tell you. But then I felt like I had to explain.
Me: Why now?
Amr: I felt that things will start getting more serious moving forward and you have to know, I didn’t want to keep it from you any more. Plus you would also need to know why I might freak out at times, you’ll need to understand that it’s not because of you. Like I told you, I wasn’t planning on getting serious with anyone anytime soon, dating casually was going to be my thing for a while, Dina style, but then I realized that I’m crazy about you and that us being together and eventually getting married is the only thing that sounds right to me.
Me: I’m not saying you make a lot of sense, but I do understand how this could have happened. You owe me a fancy dinner and a nice pair of shoes and… hmmm… let me think what else.
Amr: Hahaha ok you’ve got it.
Then the conversation started flowing naturally again and after a while I wasn’t even mad at him. I told him about Billy and Habiba’s news and how crazy Billy acted in the terrace, which made him get super jealous.
Amr: I hate that guy!
Me: I don’t hate him, but I don’t think he’s stable.
Amr: The right answer should be, I hate him too.
Me: Not really! Now show me a picture of your ex-wife and promise me you will never, ever lie to me again.
Amr: I promise.
