Visiting Scott

I intertwined my fingers with Scott's as we walked away from his office. I could almost feel Melissa's eyes burning into my back. Scott and I talked every night on the phone. How did Melissa not come up once in conversation?

Once we stopped in the elevator, Scott turned me to face him and kissed me. He cupped my face in his hands and drew the kiss out for a few floors. That was the kind of welcome I was expecting in his office.

The only way to make a long distance relationship work is to trust your partner. That's the number one variable that I always read and hear about when it comes to making a relationship where you spend most of your time in a different state than your partner. So I made a conscious decision not to ask about Melissa. I was actually able to put her out of my mind and remind myself that we only had a few days together. Besides, it's not like I thought Scott didn't have any pretty girls in his office. They were around while I lived in New York, too.

"I've really missed you," I said with a smile as Scott pulled away from our kiss. "Did I surprise you?"

Scott slid his arm around my waist as the elevator doors opened and we walked out. "Yeah, when was your flight?"

"Yesterday," I responded.

Scott laughed. "That makes sense. I was actually kind of concerned when you weren't texting me very much."

I rested my head in the nook of his shoulder. "I can be sneaky," I began. "But it was so hard! I wanted to see you as soon as I got off the plane! It was late, though."

My sister was down the block finishing up her coffee. She greeted Scott with a hug and then we tried to figure out a place to eat. We quickly decided on a salad place that was around the corner. We sat at a counter facing the window and started discussing my brother's engagement party.

"Mom's obviously been nuts," my sister said with an eye roll.

"Well, she has a right to be," I interjected. My brother nicely asked if they could hold the engagement party in our backyard. We have a nice sized backyard and since they were having it in the summer, it was a good idea. However, hosting almost 100 people, many of whom you don't know, in your backyard can be stressful. "I'm sure she just has a long list of things to get done, but we're going to help her when we get back."

My sister silently nodded and didn't say anything else, but I could tell she was holding something back. I tried to ignore it until we got back on the train. Maybe she didn't want to discuss it in front of Scott. "What time do you think you can come by?" I asked him as I placed my hand on his knee. I was trying to keep the PDA in check while with my sister, but I couldn't help it! I hadn't seen my man in three weeks.

"I can come as early as you want," he said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I was hoping you'd sleep over tonight, but we can head to your house as soon as we wake up."

"Sounds good!" I said as I tried to control the wild thoughts I was already having about being in his bed. "Theresa, is mom making something good for dinner tonight?"

Theresa laughed. "I don't know," she casually replied. "We're probably going to order in."

We talked for a few minutes longer as we finished our lunches. As we walked Scott back to his office, I didn't want to leave his side again. How can I be without him for three weeks but then have such a hard time not seeing him for a few hours?

As Theresa and I walked to the train station, I asked her if anything else was on her mind. She didn't hesitate before speaking her mind.

"Linda is being crazy," she blurted out. Linda, my brother's fiancée, had always seemed pretty sweet, but I honestly didn't know her that well.

"What do you mean?" I curiously asked.

"Ever since they got engaged, all she does is yell at Sam. Plus, Sam's being an asshole to mom and dad. Like, he always talked about how her family had plenty of money saved to pay for the wedding, but now he's putting all this pressure on mom and dad to shell out all this cash. He knows they don't have that kind of money. I mean, they're paying for this whole engagement party but he's expecting a lot  more and I think it's because she's putting all these ideas in his head."

"Wow," I responded after I took in everything she was saying. I honestly hadn't talked to Sam much since I moved to California, but everything she was saying about how he acted prior to the engagement was spot on. Growing up, my siblings and I had everything we wanted. Our parents encouraged us to do after school activities and were always emotionally there for us. I feel like we had an awesome childhood, but we didn't have a ton of money. This became evident when we got older and the question of paying for college came up. To make a long story short, we all paid our own college tuition, whether it was through loans, scholarships, or working. Money for a wedding? I have always understood that it's going to be limited. My brother and I had even discussed it. Plus, Theresa was completely right about Sam. He basically bragged about how much money Linda's parents had toward her wedding. I think his exact words were, "I'm not going to have to pay a dime."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said to Theresa. Was Linda going to be a terrible sister-in-law?