Imperfectly Real (A Series of Imperfections)

by A. E. Woodward

  What. The. Fuck?

  I told myself to pull it together. Seriously, I was going off my rocker.

  I felt her finally relax as she leaned back onto my side. She put her hand in mine and sighed.

  “So,” I said, “are you going to tell me what’s going on with you?” She stiffened and I could tell her mind was reeling, trying to figure out her next move. “You’ve gotta give me something, Half-Pint. I have a right to know what I’m getting myself into.”

  “I know you do.”

  “So …” I prodded again.

  “I want to tell you everything, Tyler. Truly I do. But I don’t want to spoil this. Let’s just wait and see where this takes us. For the first time in a long time, I feel alive. I just want to be with you, without worrying about anything else. Just us.”

  I wanted to argue with her and demand that she tell me the full story, to know what sort of damage had been done. Yet at the same time, all I wanted was for her to smile. I sat up and pulled her back tightly to my chest. My heart jumped to my throat and I kissed her on the cheek. “Just us,” I promised.

  She smiled up at me. “See, isn’t that so much better than worrying?”

  “Well, I can think of something else that would be even better than this.” She immediately blushed at my innuendo. It was refreshing to see someone as prim and proper as her. The only girls I had ever surrounded myself with had been rude and crude—case in point, Emma Sloan. She could cuss with the best of ‘em, and that included Rob. I’d heard the two of them showdown with some downright dirty words before.

  She turned around and let her lips meet mine again. We got lost in one another until I felt little hands slapping my leg. I broke away from her, my stomach in knots, and looked down at Felix who was giggling. “You little devil!” I picked him up and tossed him into the air, and he squealed in delight.

  I looked at Elizabeth, who had a smile plastered on her face. I winked at her, in spite of the road we had chosen to travel down. It didn’t really matter though, it was already too late—there was no turning back now. In a matter of days, Elizabeth Sloan had wrapped me around her little finger … again.

  We were laughing at something Emily had mumbled when we walked back into the condo. Shane, Em, and Rob were sat at the kitchen table and immediately turned from their coffees to look at us. Well, stare would be a more appropriate word.

  “Have fun?” Shane asked while Rob’s eyes pierced right through me. That son of a bitch wasn’t going to let me go on with this without hearing his opinion.

  Ashamed, I looked down to my feet. “Yeah, the kids had a great time,” I muttered as I unfastened Felix from his stroller. Emma quickly stood and grabbed him from my arms, smothering him in kisses. “I missed you, baby boy,” she purred.

  “Well, jeez, I’ve only been gone a couple of hours,” I joked, hoping to divert some attention. Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head before excusing herself to go feed Felix. Elizabeth discreetly followed her up the stairs with Emily and headed straight into Felix’s nursery. The door shut and I grabbed a cup of coffee before sitting down at the table with the guys. Rob glared at me as his foot struck my shin underneath the table. I winced before shifting my attention back to Shane.

  “You guys enjoy sleeping in?” I asked, hoping to change the focus to someone else.

  “We sure did, thanks, man.” Shane stood and stretched. “Well, I’m going up to go take a shower.”

  I watched helplessly as he walked away from us, knowing the onslaught of verbal abuse I was about to face. I wanted to flee, because I knew what was coming. Rob was about to light into me. He smiled smugly while his own eyes followed Shane until he finally heard the bathroom door shut and the shower kick on.

  “What the fuck, Tyler?” he whispered angrily. Leaning closer to me, he continued his verbal assault. “You are a fuckin’ idiot! God! Elizabeth Sloan is poison, you know that better than me. You told me so yourself. Did you forget about that? Did you?!”

  I thought back to when I had issued that warning to Rob. He’d been all sorts of horny over the thought of Emma having a younger sister. When he’d found out that she was going to be coming to New York for our college graduation, he immediately declared her his latest conquest. I quickly deterred him, filling him in on all things Elizabeth Sloan. She was a few years older than Talon, and from what I gathered from him she’d been a bitch throughout high school. Word was that she had become nothing more than a snob and a man-eater. Talon had told me horror stories of how she had terrorized three of his buddies from the football team. She’d toyed with each of their emotions while she sought out some extra attention. She was the epitome of a mean girl, and it spoke volumes to me that Talon despised her, because Talon liked everyone. He was as kicked back as a guy could be. He made Shane look like a head case. Yes, Talon was that laid back.

  “I know what I said, Rob, but I knew her when she was just a kid, it’s different. Hell, she was different then and deep down I know that the little girl she was is still in there … somewhere.” I paused because I truly believed in what I’d said. “Besides, I think there’s more to her than any of us could ever begin to imagine.”

  “God! She’s married, Ty,” Rob whispered harshly. He pushed away from the table causing the chair to drag across the floor. “Not only that but she’s part of our family. You’re going to fuck everything up. Mark my words, this will come back to bite you harder than anything you’ve ever done before.”

  I watched as Rob stalked angrily out of the front door. I wanted to be pissed at him for butting into my business, but he had a point. Elizabeth was fire, and I was attracted to it like a moth—surely I would get burned.

  I carried myself to the futon where I fell and absent-mindedly watched the Sunday morning cartoons. Minutes passed and I kept opening and closing my eyes. I was still exhausted from the previous night’s antics when Shane appeared in the living room, a shit-eating grin on his face and a towel wrapped around his waist.

  “You’re a fucking creep,” I muttered before closing my eyes again. Hoping that if I ignored him he would leave me alone.

  I felt something drop into my lap. Opening my eyes, I looked down and saw a small turquoise box with a white ribbon tied around it. I wanted to be surprised, but I wasn’t. It only made sense for them to take their relationship to the next step. I smirked, seizing the opportunity to make a weak joke at Shane’s expense. “Aw, man, Em is going to be pissed, but yes! Yes, you big stud muffin! I will marry you!”

  “Shhhh!” Shane grabbed the box from my lap and put it between his hands. “Idiot.”

  I chuckled. “Seriously though, man, Em is going to be pissed. I thought you guys decided you weren’t going to get married?”

  “She decided that,” he groaned as he fell back onto the beanbag. “But damn it all to hell, I want her to be mine.”

  I rolled my eyes. He should have been happy with what he had. I know I would have been thanking my lucky stars to think I wouldn’t have to walk down the aisle. But not Shane. No, Shane was as old school as they came. He wanted it all—always had, always would. Someone to take on his name and love him forever. He didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that to me, or anyone else for that matter. “She already is, dude.”

  “You know what I mean,” he scoffed.

  I did know what he meant. Shane was a true gentleman. A dying breed, and everything his dead-beat dad wasn’t. He prided himself on that. As a kid he’d vowed that he would never be the asshole that his father had been. He believed in the sanctity of marriage and wanted nothing more than to marry Em. But he had met his match on this one. Emma, was a bit of an extreme feminist, and she never wanted to get married. If for no other reason than the sheer fact of her knowing what a spectacle her mother would make of it. Shane had spent the last year trying to convince her to marry him anyway, but every mention of it was instantly shot down. She didn’t think a piece of paper was necessary to prove that they loved each other. I kind of agreed with her on that
one.

  “So when are you going to do it?” I questioned, my curiosity getting the better of me.

  “Today,” he smiled.

  “Holy shit!”

  “Yep. I’ve got the sitter coming over here later. How do you feel about a day trip to O’Malley’s?”

  I needed no further explanation to know what his plan was, and I had to hand it to him—it was absolute perfection. I smirked, imagining the shit-show that would surely follow his proposal. Hilarity would ultimately follow his public display of affection considering that Emma hated all things romantic. This was gonna be good.

  Rob skipped ahead of us as soon as he caught sight of that tacky little leprechaun dangling off the ‘O’ of the sign at O’Malley’s. He’d been giddy from the moment Shane had informed him of the day trip plan. Two consecutive days of celebration was right up his alley. Although Rob knew nothing of what was about to take place his excitement was infectious. He was always high on life, and you couldn’t help but join him.

  For obvious reasons, Elizabeth didn’t quite get it. “What’s the deal with this place?” she whispered to me, curious as to what all the excitement was about. To an outsider it was just a bar—and a skuzzy one at that. Nothing special. But to us, it was home. A place that linked all of our most precious, and special, memories.

  “It’s hard to explain, but this …”—I opened the door and motioned for her to go inside— “… this is our place.” We entered and started walking to our ‘new’ booth. Emma had insisted we still come here even after we caught ‘Mr. Wonderful’ in the act, but she had demanded that we claim a new booth. She refused to sit somewhere that some asshole had disregarded her—even if it had all been for the best. Our new spot was toward the front of the bar, and I liked it because it made it easier for us to make trips for beers.

  We slid into our seats and Elizabeth scrunched her face up with disgust. “It stinks in here.”

  “Ah, don’t worry about that. That’s just the smell of dreams come true. You get used to it,” Shane laughed.

  Rob, carrying a tray with pints of Guinness, joined us once we settled into our seats. “Nom nom nom. I just don’t get to drink this shit often enough,” he muttered as he proceeded to chug his pint. Once finished, he slammed the glass down onto the table and let out a loud belch.

  “You’re a pig,” Emma murmured as she grabbed her glass.

  “What is that stuff? It looks like chocolate milk.” Elizabeth questioned, her nose still scrunched up. We all stared at her again, completely in awe of her naivety.

  “You really have lived a sheltered life, haven’t you?” Rob muttered, shaking his head in shock and looking towards Emma. “How is it possible that the two of you are sisters?”

  Elizabeth looked on in disgust while Emma proceeded to chug down her pint of Guinness. She finished and slammed her glass on the tabletop. Emma laughed. “I ask myself the same question every day.”

  Rob entertained us for a while with his recounts of his latest conquest, who happened to be the daughter of one of the partners at his firm. We all threw our two cents in, knowing that this would surely not end well but, despite our concern, we laughed anyway. That man was a master with words, and I for one never got tired of listening to him tell a story.

  “She is 18, right?” Shane asked in between giggles.

  “Of course she is … 21 in fact. I ID’ed her,” Rob answered proudly. I shook my head. I should be shocked to learn that my friend actually cards his dates, but I wasn’t. It was typical Rob. Nothing could shock me when it came to that guy.

  “Did you ever think that she could have given you a fake?” I asked.

  His face went white as a sheet. “Oh shit, I never thought of that.”

  We started laughing again, and he just shrugged his shoulders in response before grabbing another pint from the table.

  Space was hard to come by and the five of us had squashed into the booth. It was a good thing Elizabeth was so tiny, or I didn’t think we would have fit. Rob had done everything to ensure that he snuck in next to her, but that didn’t stop us from stealing sideways glances every chance we got.

  Shane eventually excused himself to go grab another round and, knowing what was about to take place, I was anxious to see how it would all unfold. If I knew Emma like I thought I did, she was going to be shocked and probably a little miffed. Returning moments later with a tray full of five golden pints garnished with oranges, he squeezed back into the booth next to Emma. He shared a smile with me and I chuckled. Emma was going to be pissed. Not only was he about to go back on his word, but he had violated an age-old rule. Just then, as if on cue, he set the platter on the table and she huffed in annoyance.

  “Since when do we drink Blue Moon at O’Malley’s?” she questioned, a slight edge to her voice. She was pissed already. We only ever drank Guinness at O’Malley’s.

  Shane started handing out the glasses, and I saw a glimmer on the bottom of the one he handed over to Emma. “Since now,” he said without missing a beat. “A toast …”

  We all smiled and lifted our glasses to the middle of the table, waiting for Shane to continue. “I don’t know what I did to deserve all this.” He paused and directed his gaze at Emma. “We’ve been on a hell of a journey together, watching each other grow up as we went, and I will be forever grateful that you decided to walk into my room that night.” Emma’s face flushed as the memories of that moment invaded her thoughts. “You’ve given me more than I ever thought I wanted. I love you, Em.”

  “Cheers!” Rob called as he quickly clanked his pint with ours before lifting it to his mouth.

  “Cheers,” we all chimed and clinked. Instead of downing my beer I watched intently as Emma lifted her glass. She took a tentative sip and then she finally saw it. “What the fuck?” she questioned, lifting her glass closer to her eyes for further inspection. Her brow furrowed as she looked into the glass. Suddenly the realization hit and her face softened. “Holy shit …”

  Shane grabbed her hand and stood her up from the booth in front of him. He dropped to his knees on that scummy floor and looked up to her with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes. “Emma Sloan, I think I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. You’ve been my best friend, my girlfriend, and the best mother to our son. Will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”

  “Shane, we talked about this …” Emma spoke softly, looking somewhat embarrassed.

  “I don’t care what you said. We’re going to have a wedding. You’re going to be my wife and become a Strout. Now please don’t make me beg, the guys will never let me live it down.” The booth filled with tension. Honestly, it could’ve gone either way.

  Emma grabbed her beer and proceeded to chug until the ring was the only thing left. It sparkled at the bottom of the glass, despite the lack of light in the bar. Shane had done good—the thing was huge and gorgeous. I guess. She smiled as she grabbed Shane’s hand and dumped it out onto his palm. “You’re such a girl,” she teased before leaning down to kiss him. “I suppose, if it will make you happy.”

  Shane immediately stood and took her into his arms. I looked away, not wanting to intrude on their intimate moment. My eyes fell on Elizabeth, she was gazing at them with longing in her eyes. I wondered if her engagement had been as emotional … if she had been happy when Mason popped the question. Part of me thought that maybe she hadn’t. She turned to me and smiled through the apparent sadness on her face. I directed my attention back to the happy couple just in time to see Shane slip the ring on Emma’s finger. She turned to Elizabeth and smiled. “Mom is going to make this so difficult isn’t she?”

  I remembered hearing Emma bitch about their mother’s behavior when Elizabeth had been planning her wedding. But even I knew that Mrs. Sloan would be a pain in Em’s ass over this.

  “You know how she loves to plan parties.” Elizabeth forced a smile, offering Emma hope that she could deal with Mrs. Sloan. I wondered if she and Shane would just end up eloping in o
rder to avoid the shit-show.

  “Any excuse to show off,” Emma added as she sighed. She knew that she was agreeing to a torturous few months of planning—Mrs. Sloan would surely make this process a living hell for her.

  “I love you so much for this,” Shane spoke as he kissed her cheek one final time.

  Seeing my moment, I stood and congratulated the happy couple before excusing myself to the restroom, leaving the others to celebrate alone. I knew that this was going to make things all the more interesting now. I was going to be forced to see Elizabeth more than I’d been expecting, and I was happy about it.

  We got back to the condo just in time to relieve the babysitter of bedtime duties. It was a hustle of activity as the girls hurried around trying to get the kids ready. Dinner was served, baths were run, kids screamed—It was chaos. Rob left to go meet up with the partner’s daughter, leaving me to my own devices with no real opportunity to escape.

  Once the kids were asleep, the four of us sat in the living room mindlessly watching T.V. Shane and Emma were curled up together on the futon. She was absently twirling the new ring on her finger as Shane dozed off. I kept looking at Elizabeth, desperately wanting to be alone with her. She was leaving in the morning and I wanted to steal a few more moments with her before then.

  “Sheesh, I’m exhausted,” Shane spoke, standing and scrubbing his face. “I’ve got an early day in court tomorrow so I should head to bed. I’ll be gone by the time you leave in the morning, Liz.” He paused and she stood to give him a warm embrace. “It was good to spend some time with you and Emily. I’m glad you were here this weekend. You’re welcome anytime.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “Thanks for showing me a good time.”

  “No problem.” Shane turned to Emma who was still perched on the futon. “You coming, Em?”

  She stood and stretched. “Right behind you.” She looked over at her sister sitting in the chair. “You all set, Liz?”