13 Third Wheeling

Eden didn't hear back from the lab until Thursday as she was lying around the house but when she did, she shrieked and nearly dropped her phone. She actually got the job!

She had to give notice at Freddie's so she had already given them the start date of three Mondays from now. There was a bit of paperwork to fill out between now and then but that wouldn't be a problem at all; she could come into the office on one of her days off.

The first thing she did after getting the good news was send out three individual texts to Aubrey, Ezra, and her mother. They all responded pretty quickly and their reactions were all about what she expected.

Aubrey: WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!?! I knew you were too amazing not to get this one! We're getting dinner together later my treat

Ezra: Congrats E! I knew you'd find a job eventually. Now Mom will finally get off your case haha

Mom: It's about time!

Eden sighed. The woman couldn't muster the slightest bit of enthusiasm for her daughter's accomplishments. At least the other two seemed happy for her. That would have to be enough.

She wanted to tell Troy too but didn't have his number or know his last name to add him on social media. That would have to wait until tomorrow if she could manage to corner him despite their lack of shared breaks on Fridays. She was sure he would be happy for her too.

As excited as she was to be leaving that horrible job, she would miss their talks. Would he want to hang out with her outside of work though? She wasn't sure.

There were certain people you never hung out with unless you were in a specific place. Like when Eden was in college taking this terrible general ed class and she and three other students bonded over making snarky comments to each other in the back row of the auditorium. They never saw each other again after that.

Over the years, she had more superficial friendships like that than she could count. They ended one of two ways: no contact whatsoever or becoming Facebook friends and occasionally liking their posts that appeared in her feed.

Was that really how her friendship with Troy was destined to end? She didn't want that!

Would it be too weird if she asked him for his number on their last shared day of work? Would that be too forward of her? She didn't want him to get the wrong idea; all she wanted was to be able to keep talking to him and maybe hang out now and then.

Somehow a phone number seemed too personal. Maybe she should ask for his social media accounts first and then chat with him on there for a while before asking for his phone number.

Ugh, Eden was so bad at things like this! It had been over a year since she had exchanged phone numbers with a male. She was woefully out of practice.

She pushed that out of her mind when she got a text from Aubrey saying that she and her fiancé were going to take her out to eat tonight and she needed to pick a restaurant. Ribs sounded amazing right now so she suggested a barbecue place the three of them went to frequently in college.

Of all the people Aubrey could be marrying, she had truly picked the best one. David Castillo knew how to handle her exuberance perfectly and still thought she was the most wonderful woman in the world.

His sense of humor was pretty similar to hers as well so he had always gotten along well with Eden. The three of them were originally part of the same friend group that got together to do things most weekends in college, which was how he and Aubrey had ended up getting so close.

They hadn't liked only seeing each other once a week so they started texting. Then meeting up with each other on campus. It was all over from there; everyone had joked about them getting married within a month because they were practically glued at the hip.

Eden was so happy for her best friend that she had nearly burst from excitement when they finally got engaged. She deflated a bit when she realized how much third wheeling would be in her future.

Third wheeling with those two wasn't as bad as third wheeling with other couples though. They weren't obnoxious with the PDA or anything.

Besides, she and Aubrey had known each other for so long that sometimes David was the third wheel between the two of them. It was a delicate balance but she was grateful to have them both as friends.

Eden was in a great mood when she arrived at the restaurant later that day because she had spent the last few hours daydreaming about how great her new job would be. Health and dental benefits. Normal working hours Monday to Friday. No children in sight.

She was still lost in thought about how wonderful it would be never to have to watch out for a running child at work again or deal with that awful pizza grease smell when she was attacked from behind and nearly fell over. Aubrey.

"Hey, Aubs. You trying to kill me before I can even start my new job?" she asked dryly.

"Of course not," Aubrey sniffed. "Excuse me for being excited for you. I don't want to say I told you so…but I told you so. I had a feeling you were going to get this one."

"You said that about my last five interviews."

"Yeah, but this time I was right!"

David rolled his eyes at his fiancée's antics. "Can you get off of her now? I'm hungry."

Aubrey released Eden from that chokehold immediately and they all went inside to get a table. Thankfully, he had thought to call ahead so they didn't have to wait like a bunch of other people in the waiting area that didn't have reservations.

The waitress took their drink orders and brought them back with a basket of rolls not long after. As promised, Eden got her ribs and a side of mac and cheese. David got the side of mac and cheese too with his chicken wings. Aubrey got a pulled pork sandwich with a side of waffle fries.

She was careful not to stuff herself on the rolls even though they were really good because she wanted to save stomach space for her ribs. Anything she didn't eat now would become leftovers, which were never as good as the original.