Plain Vanilla...

 "...and I'm okay being pistachio." Rebecca declared.

James put the round of drinks down. "You are what now?"

"Pistachio. I was just explaining something to Allie."

"And somehow that made you a pistachio?"

"Pistachio ice cream to be exact."

James shook his head. This probably wasn't even the weirdest declaration that he had ever heard Rebecca make but it was always hard to come in part way through a conversation and track what was being said. Impossible really. He looked to Zach for a little help. "She's pistachio ice cream? And this makes sense to you?"

"Yeah, sort of. To be fair I lost track part way through."

Allie sighed, "Rebecca found out today that Cody got engaged and I was afraid that she would be upset but she's fine because she's pistachio ice cream."

"Oh well, when you put it like that then it makes complete sense." James and Zach exchanged a glance and each reached for their drinks. They both agreed that it was usually better to be a little buzzed when trying to keep up with Allie and Rebecca's conversations.

Zach held his glass up to Rebecca, "Well here's to pistachio ice cream. Even though I have no idea what that has to do with Cody getting married. But cheers anyway."

Rebecca leaned back and started to explain again why she wasn't really bothered by her ex-boyfriend, the one who swore he was not the marrying type, getting engaged.

"Okay, try to follow. Allie understands food metaphors better than you guys do."

Allie play scowled at her friend, "Are you calling me fat? I think you just called me fat."

Rebecca laughed, "Well yes, I was going to talk to you about those three pounds a little later."

James held up his hands, "No Mean Girls quote-a-thons, please! I want the pistachio explanation first." His sister Allie and her best friend Rebecca could and would re-enact the whole movie if given half a chance. He just wanted to hear one story from start to finish without them getting side-tracked. It was a bigger challenge than you would expect. Especially when Zach was along for the ride. He loved Zach like a brother but the man was easily distracted.

"What flavor of ice cream do you like?" Rebecca asked.

"All of them." Zach replied. "If there is ice cream out there, I want it. I don't care what the flavor is, just give me the ice cream."

Allie and Rebecca both laughed, "Okay, yeah, actually that works for my example, so let's try you, James, what is your favorite flavor of ice cream? The one that if you had your choice of all of the flavors you would always pick that one?"

James shrugged his shoulders, "Vanilla? I think a really good vanilla. Because you can add anything to it. Or use it for a-la-mode on cake or pie. I think vanilla for sure."

Zach shook his head, "You just chose vanilla? Out of all of the flavors? Vanilla? And your reason is that you can make it better by adding to it? Wouldn't you want a flavor that stands alone, that is perfect just to eat?"

"I like vanilla just to eat as well. A really good French vanilla is a solid choice."

"So if you had to eat one flavor for the rest of your life it would be vanilla?" Zach was still shaking his head.

"You can't even pick one flavor and you are criticizing my vanilla choice? I think..." James trailed off shaking his head, "I think I have lost the point of the story again and cannot believe I am arguing about ice cream flavors."

Rebecca smiled at them, "See? It's personal. You like the flavor," she nodded towards Zach, "or flavors you like, and it's fine. It just is what it is."

James shook his head, "I'm still a little lost here. Zach, are you following?"

Zach smiled, "I actually think I am, James is a vanilla man and if you tried to give him chocolate chip double fudge he'd take it because he's polite, but it wouldn't be his favorite. Nothing against the chocolate chip double fudge, right? It's not the chocolate chip double fudges's fault that James is super boring."

"I'm not super boring!"

"Whatever...the point is that it's nothing personal, it's just what you like."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with Cody getting engaged when he always said he wouldn't?"

"See, Cody always wanted an orange sherbet. And no matter how much I tried I was never an orange sherbet. I'm a pistachio ice cream. I'm about as far from an orange sherbet as you can be. And he knew it. I realized a long time ago that I wasn't an orange sherbet, I would never be an orange sherbet. I find orange sherbet to be too cloying and sweet. I would have rebelled against all of the orange sherbet like things he tried to get me to do. All of the orange sherbet dishes he bought, all of the orange sherbet friends wanting to do orange sherbet things. It would have been miserable. And eventually my pistachioness would have overridden the sherbet and it would have been an ugly mess.

But he found his orange sherbet. She's as orange sherbet as orange sherbet gets. And so he's getting married. It's nothing against pistachio. Pistachio is a really great flavor, it's just not what he wanted. And there is nothing against being orange sherbet. It's a fine flavor and it was even fun to try orange sherbet things out for awhile. But I'm just not ever going to be orange sherbet. So I wouldn't have wanted to spend my life pretending to be orange sherbet. See?"

"God help me but I think I get this." James wasn't sure if he should be relieved or worried that he now understood what Rebecca, Allie and Zach were talking about.

"I just need to find someone who loves pistachio. That's all."

Zach held his glass up, "So I say again, Here's to pistachio ice cream! May we all find our favorite flavors. Even if it's plain, boring, vanilla."

James laughed with the others and thought to himself, "Vanilla and pistachio go well together, right?"