Pink Fucking Moscato

by Anna Rezes

  “Oh honey, that bottle is just for me. You’re gonna have to get your own.”

  I laughed. “Whatever! Motherhood has made you a lightweight.”

  She kissed my cheek and stepped toward the cluster of furniture. “So, what are we photographing first?”

  “I guess we should start with the table.”

  I pulled up the camera on my phone and started taking pictures of each of the twelve items.

  As she pulled items out for me, she said, “The sooner we get you in your new house, the sooner we can open up the champagne, and you can tell me about your conversation with Evan.”

  “I don’t want my first conversation in my new home to be about Evan,” I said.

  “You make a good point. You should just tell me now.”

  “I don’t really know what to say. I yelled. We talked. I slapped him twice. He told me I was impossible to love—”

  She gasped, “He said what!”

  “Relax, it wasn’t quite that harsh, or maybe it was. I don’t remember our exact words, but it was long overdue. I told him I broke the plates we bought together.”

  “The ugly ones you spent a fortune on?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You broke them?”

  “Into tiny shards. It felt amazing.”

  “You know you could’ve made a small fortune, but I bet there is nothing better than burning your ex-husband’s money to make you feel better.”

  “I didn’t plan on doing it. It just seemed like the right thing at the time.”

  “Did Oliver tell you to break them?” she asked. She knew I didn’t want to talk about Oliver. I hadn’t given her any more information about him, but she knew he got married, so I’m sure she was dying for the details.

  “Nice investigative skills, Jodi.”

  “Is that a no comment?”

  “It wasn’t Oliver’s idea. It was mine, but he helped me break them. And I promise you, I will tell you about him, I just really don’t want to think about it right now.”

  “Okay, maybe that will be our talk over champagne.”

  “No, I don’t want to sit around and complain. I want to have happy talks about good things that are happening in our lives.”

  “Okay, well hurry and take the last two pictures so we can go. It looks like the guys got all the boxes,” Jodi said, looking toward the front door where my dad and his friend were carrying the last two boxes out to the truck.

  I snapped the last two pictures, and we left.

  The furniture was mostly in place, but boxes were scattered everywhere. It was eight o’clock, and Jodi and I had given up for the night.

  She popped the champagne and we toasted, “To fresh starts and awesome neighbors.”

  “Cheers!” I said as we tapped our glasses.

  As I took a sip, I looked around my new living room. It was half the size of my last living room, but I loved it. There was no dining room, only a little breakfast nook, and I loved that too. It didn’t feel small. It felt just right. Even with naked walls and boxes everywhere, it felt cozy here. It felt right, especially with my mom’s homemade cupcakes sitting on the kitchen counter.

  I grabbed my laptop, tucking it under my arm so I could carry my champagne in one hand and have a hand free to grab a cupcake. I almost tripped over the dog on my way into the living room. She got up and followed me, watching for me to drop crumbs. I sat down on the couch, and she jumped up next to me, her face inches from the cupcake.

  “Bella, get down.”

  Jodi joined me on the couch with her own cupcake. She set her glass on the coffee table and tucked her legs under her before stealing my computer, offering, “I’ll post the furniture. You enjoy your champagne and cupcake.

  “I won’t argue with you doing the work. I’m debating just dropping them at the thrift store, so it’s done.”

  I set my glass down and took a bite of my cupcake while Jodi opened my computer. As soon as I took my second bite, Jodi gasped.

  I realized my mistake instantly.

  “What are these?” she asked, before saying, “Oh my God, what is he wearing!”

  I tried to grab my computer back from her, but she pulled it away and jumped up, moving across the room as she scrolled through my photos. Every photo I had on my phone was shared with my computer, and she just discovered all the images of Oliver and me.

  I sat back down and grabbed my drink because fuck it. I decided at that moment that I wanted to get drunk. As I drank, I watched her face over the glowing screen. I saw her shoulders drop, and her expression change from excitement to worry.

  She looked up at me with accusation and fear. I swallowed my emotions and shook my head

  She spun the computer around, showing me a pic of me, asleep and drooling on Oliver’s jacket.

  “He took a picture of you sleeping?”

  I nodded.

  “Did you know he took this?”

  “I didn’t know about half of those until after I left the hotel. I almost deleted them all, but I couldn’t.”

  “Who was taking the pictures of you together?”

  “Some woman we met at the winery.”

  “You’re fucking hot, girl! But what are you wearing? And what’s with his romper?”

  “We picked outfits for each other.”

  “That explains a lot, but it doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me it was serious.”

  “It wasn’t.” I shook my head, barely believing my own words. “We barely knew each other. It was nothing.”

  “You slept together?”

  My silence was an admission.

  She blew up a photo and turned it toward me. It crushed me, and she must have seen me flinch because she said, “Okay, so you not only slept together, you fell for him, and he obviously felt something for you, or he wouldn’t have snapped a picture of you sleeping. And you can see the chemistry through these damn photos. The way he’s looking at you . . . ”

  I pulled my knees up to my chest, feeling foolish. “I thought so, but he married her. It’s . . . I mean, you should’ve seen them together. You think you see chemistry, but it was nothing in comparison to the way he looked at Addison.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said, continuing to scroll back through.

  “I was his rebound,” I said, “I don’t think he meant for it to happen, but when he saw her again all those feeling must have come back because . . . because I believed he loved me back. There was this crazy connection between us, like his broken heart called to mine. I knew it was a bad idea. I did, and I tried to be smart, but Jodi—”

  “But you fell in love with him.”

  “I swear it’s not as crazy as it sounds.”

  “I want you to tell me everything,” she said, sitting next to me and twisting to face me.

  I nodded.

  “I mean every single detail,” she reiterated.

  “Okay,” I agreed and then began, “When I arrived at the hotel, Oliver was there at the front desk with a bottle of Pink Moscato.”

  I was on my fifth glass of champagne by the time I finished my story. “I saw the photos of them dancing together on their wedding day. So, there is nothing left to do, but get over him,” I said, wiping my eyes and shrugging. “I deserve better than that. I just wish he was the guy I thought he was.”

  Jodi pulls another tissue out of the box, wiping her tears and blowing her nose before adding it to the tower she’d been building. “There had to be something that made him go back to Addison. Like, maybe someone was being held hostage and would only be released if Oliver went through with the wedding or something.”

  God, I loved my best friend. Only she would come up with something so outrageous. “Or he just loved her,” I said.

  “Well then, we will find someone better,” She said, picking up my computer. She began typing away.

  “What are you doing?” I was afraid to ask.

  “I’m signing you up for online dating. And then I’m going to track Oliver down and murd
er him for hurting you. And you can’t object. You wouldn’t let me kill Evan, so you have to let me get this one.”

  “I can’t handle life without you, Jodi. I won’t let you go to jail on my behalf.”

  “Fine, then the least you can do is let me find someone for you. Online dating works. I know so many couples that met that way.”

  “I don’t know the first thing about dating, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

  “Well, while you’re getting yourself ready to date, you can go on practice dates.”

  I shook my head. I would fight her later.

  Willa

  It’d been two months since the house sold and school was getting ready to start. My new house felt like a real home. I didn’t go overkill on the pink, but the bedroom was incredibly feminine.

  I had a good tan from the week before when Jodi and I took our girls trip. I rarely let my skin get very dark. It stemmed from my childhood when I’d been self-conscious because I didn’t want to look different from my parents, so I never knew that with a tan, my skin was the color of creamy milk chocolate. It was liberating and made me feel beautiful.

  I got to tell Jodi all about the disasters of online dating. I received so many dick pics and terrible pickup lines. Then there were the super direct men who were not interested if you didn’t put out on the first date. They weren’t all assholes. Some of them were just weird or awkward.

  I had Jodi laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her face. She was still determined to find me, Mr. Right. I told her to get me a vibrator, and I’d name it Mr. Right, but she didn’t think that was funny.

  Oliver called me three weeks ago. I’d answered, but when I realized it was him, I hung up. Addison had announced her pregnancy on social media, not that I was looking or anything. I wanted to be happy for him, but I wasn’t. I was angry and hurt. He reaffirmed my belief that men could not be trusted.

  He left me a voicemail explaining he got my number from when he called his dad from my phone. He asked me to give him a chance to explain things. I sent him a text asking him to please never contact me again.

  I didn’t receive any more calls, but he texted me good morning every day for two weeks before I blocked his number. I hated him. His wife was pregnant, and he was seeking me out. What the fuck?

  I looked at myself in the mirror as I applied lipstick. I was never a lipstick person before, but it made me feel pretty, and this was the summer for reinvention, so I decided I was now a lipstick person. I put the lid back on the tube and spun to Bella, who was lying in the bathroom door watching me. “How do I look?”

  Her ears perked, and she tilted her head to the side. I laughed and said, “Do you want to go outside?”

  She flopped her head the other way, and when I took a step, she jumped up and ran toward the back door. I let her out and adjusted the thin straps on my new yellow maxi dress. While I was reinventing myself, I discovered I really loved dresses. They were comfier and made me feel pretty. I twisted my hair into a thick braid that wrapped around my shoulder.

  I let Bella back in before leaving. I drove to the coffee shop where I had agreed to meet my newest suitor. Jodi found this one. I was pretty sure his profile picture was fake. It looked like a male model’s headshot, but I guess I would find out soon enough.

  The August evening was hot, and the sun was bright as I pulled into the parking lot. I walked inside and didn’t see my date, so I got a drink and sat at a table facing the door.

  While I watched the front door, someone came from behind me. My whole body froze as Oliver sat across from me in his ridiculous pineapple romper and short hair. “Hey, duckling.”

  I scooted back in my chair and stood, ready to leave.

  He sat up straighter and said, “Addison and I are no longer married. We broke up during our reception. If I had never met you, I might have been happy with Addison, but she dulled in compassion to you.

  “Willa, you brought me to life. She came to the hotel that morning to tell me she was pregnant and begged me to give her a chance and I thought I could try, but it’s not fair to anyone. I couldn’t leave her at the alter because I couldn’t embarrass her like that. I care about Addison. Part of me will always care about her because she’s been a huge part of my life and she’s going to have my baby. But I’m in love with you, Willa, and I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

  I shook my head. “Not this time, Oliver. I politely asked for you to stop contacting me, which you ignored. I had your number blocked which should’ve been a sign I wasn’t playing hard to get. I don’t know how you found me here, but I’m not interested.” With my cup in hand, I walked out of the coffee shop without looking back.

  “Willa,” I heard behind me.

  I kept walking, determined not to let him hurt me. Not this time, except seeing him did hurt. It fucking hurt because it reminded me how real it felt. It made me remember how I had let him in only for him to destroy me, or at least he would have if I weren’t so well acquainted with agony.

  Oliver followed me out, saying, “I know you’re angry, but you felt it too. You know what we have is real, and it’s worth fighting for.

  I spun on him. I pursed my lips, trying to stop myself from speaking, but the words came anyway. “Let me get this right, you broke up with your pregnant wife at your wedding reception, and I’m supposed to feel okay about this because you’re in love with me?”

  “Addison isn’t in love with me either. She loves me, but we aren’t a match. She’s a rose, delicate, high maintenance, and beautiful. Her thorns stuck in me years ago, and I just thought that was it, but then I met you, and you’re a fucking wildflower, spontaneous, tough, and gorgeous.”

  “Ha,” I laughed. “See that’s the thing, Oliver, I might look like Queen Anne’s lace, but I’m Hemlock. I might look harmless, but I will fuck you up if you don’t leave me alone.” I turned toward the parking lot.

  “I don’t know what those are, but I know you love me too.”

  I spun back to him. “What gives you the impression that I want anything to do with you?”

  He rocked from heel to toe in his stupid highlighter shoes. “Because you got my tattoo.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Unless I’m wrong and that isn’t an olive branch on your left shoulder.”

  My breath came heavily, and my heart raced. “It’s an olive branch right in the spot you requested,” I admitted, “but it’s not for you. It’s for me, to remind me that what we had was real and special and so easily broken. You made me fall for you, but love isn’t enough, Oliver. Not for me. Not anymore.”

  Oliver said, “You’re wrong, Willa. You’re afraid. What I did to you was awful, but I’m not going anywhere this time. All I’m asking for is a chance. You saw me at my worst. I was confused before, but I know what I want, Willa. I want you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oliver, I saw you and Addison together in the hotel. The love between you is stronger than anything you’ve shown me. She will always be a part of your life. She should be. You’re having a kid together, but I won’t share you with Addison. I need someone whose love doesn’t feel like a competition. I will always worry about you leaving me for your ex. You don’t want that, and before you try to explain yourself further, I understand the situation. If I were you, I probably would’ve married her too, but it made me unable to trust you, Oliver, and I won’t start a relationship with someone I don’t trust.”

  “What can I do?” he asked.

  “Stop trying to reach out. I won’t change my mind.”

  I watched as it sunk in. I did love him, and I hated him for making me walk away again, but a relationship with trust issues would be a bad relationship, and I wouldn’t set myself up for failure.

  Oliver didn’t try to stop me as I left, and as soon as I got back onto the road, I cried for what could have been.

  Bella was snuggling next to me on the couch when Jodi let herself in the front door, saying, “I love you so much girl, but what is wrong
with you?”

  I paused the show I was watching and watched as Jodi readjust her youngest daughter on her hip. She was in a tizzy about something, and I wasn’t in the mood. I was still raw from leaving Oliver an hour ago.

  While Bella went to greet our new guests, I said, “Listen, Jodi, whatever this is, can it wait? I’ve had a really rough evening.”

  “Well, I’m about to make it much easier,” she said, but the way she said it gave me the impression things were only going to get worse.

  Jodi asked, “What did you to say to Oliver to make him back off?”

  I tilted my head in question because how did she know about Oliver. And then I put it together. She was the one that set up with the fake profile picture guy.

  “You set me up?” I asked in disbelieving anger.

  “You bet your ass I did. Six weeks ago, I wrote Oliver a nasty private message scolding him for hurting my best friend. He wrote back, telling me how he had messed up. He begged me to give him your number and put in a good word for him. I refused. He begged for your last name, and I refused, but he wrote to me every single day. He told me the annulment would take too long, so they did a dissolution. He sent me documents as proof. And the whole time, I was sending him the photos of the guys you were going on dates with because he hurt you so he should feel hurt or jealous.”

  Her daughter started fussing, and she rearranged her and started swaying as she continued talking, “I thought you were moving on, but then you got that tattoo and gave me some bullshit about it being a reminder that anything can fall apart when really, it’s because you don’t want to get over him. You’re both crazy about one other, so I thought I’d get you two together and let you guys figure it out, but then I get a call from him, saying he’s backing off. So, what did you say to him?”

  “Jodi . . . ” I was almost speechless. “You’re the last person I would expect to side with Oliver.”

  “I’m not siding with Oliver. I’m siding with love.” Her baby started crying, so she came over and sat on the coffee table across from me, bouncing her curly-headed sweet one-year-old daughter. As she bounced the babe, she looked at me, saying, “Sweetie, I think you’re making a mistake. I’ve tried so hard not to say anything, but he’s crazy about you. Every day, for the last six weeks, Oliver has sent me something he loves about you.” She slipped her phone out of her pocket and pulled up her messages, handing it to me.