by Sara Breaker
I shook my head, immeasurably relieved for the change in conversation topic. “Honestly, I was just going to get the first thing I managed to find in the store,” I admitted.
When she smiled again, her eyes were soft. “Now, how did I know you were going to say that?”
Somehow, Marco and Nina’s registry list facilitated as a great ice breaker, keeping the conversation between Claire and I focused on other matters. And even though we were both just begrudgingly shopping for wedding presents for our friends, I was having a good time. Claire and I had never spent that kind of time together alone before. I supposed not being a big fan of Marco and Nina’s wedding certainly gave us both some common ground. It actually surprised me how well we were getting along.
And when eventually Claire checked her wristwatch, she said, “Oh man, it’s so late. I have to go.”
I met her gaze evenly. But then she just smiled, and I mustered up a neutral smile in return. “I’ll walk you home.”
It seemed as though none of the stuff since New Year’s Eve had happened, and all the awkwardness between us was put aside and forgotten for a while, as I walked Claire the eight or so blocks back to her apartment.
“And that thing they claimed was a kitchen tool,” Claire couldn’t keep her laughter in as she tried to describe one of the items we had looked at earlier in the shop. “It looked like a screwdriver but the metal end of it was all twirly—even I couldn’t tell what the hell it was.”
I grinned myself as it had certainly been unidentifiable to me. “What’s Nina going to do with all this stuff anyway?” I had to wonder then, wrinkling my nose as I read another line on the list. “I seriously doubt Marco wanted to have this ’12-piece antique hand-painted miniature Chinese tea set’.”
Claire laughed again. “Oh come on, it’s for Nina’s miniature dollhouse,” she quipped. “It probably matches her ‘My Little Pony’ collection perfectly.”
I laughed out loud as well. We had started a joke that Nina was a four-year-old girl based on her registry selections. The joke wasn’t particularly clever, but it seemed hilarious at the time.
“Aren’t you glad you’re not the one marrying Nina,” Claire stated more than asked, elbowing me lightly.
“No, no,” I shook my head at the preposterous idea. “Marco had called dibs. That was settled in the first two seconds.”
“Oh wow,” she nodded, looking impressed. “Way to go, Marco.”
“Besides,” I shrugged, “you know me. I make it clear to these women that I am absolutely not looking for a relationship.”
“Yeah,” she nodded again, as she definitely knew all about it. “I mean, the mere way you pick up these women is already a clear red flag indicating that.”
“Aw, come on,” I chided. “Where’s the fun in it otherwise? Don’t you remember that time I pretended to be a single dad?” I asked her. “Man, I got laid so many times – that was a classic move.”
Claire was already nodding, but she had also started giggling so hard, she couldn’t speak.
“Then one of the moms caught me out with the kid I was pretending was mine. I was so busted,” I shook my head to myself.
Claire finally took in enough air to manage to respond. “Oh, please. Of course I remember that. I also remember that time when you pretended to be a cop. That’s actually a felony, you know?”
I laughed again. “What? I don’t even remember that one. But I guess sometimes I just get these strokes of brilliance. It makes me absolutely irresistible.”
“You are absolutely repugnant,” Claire shook her head to herself in disbelief, but it seemed more like mirth.
I shot her a look, my forehead creased. “How do you even remember all that?” I asked curiously.
“I am a lawyer,” Claire replied as-a-matter-of-factly.
“No, no,” I shook my head, feigning suspicion. “I knew it. You’re running some kind of tally. Alex Keaton, number of rejections. And here I thought I was the only one keeping a list. This is so embarrassing,” I rolled my eyes.
Claire’s jaw dropped eagerly. “I knew it. There’s actually a list, isn’t there?” she prompted. “I’ve just won a bet with Janice.”
I shot her a strange amused look, but before I could let her know I was obviously just kidding, she said something next that surprised me.
“Seriously Alex, as someone who’s actually on this list, all I’m hoping is that I’m ranked the worst on it,” Claire remarked. “At least, it would speak to your good taste in women, if not your delicacy.”
“Um,” I wasn’t sure how to reply. After all this time, trust Claire to bring it up again in such an unaffected, neutral, almost comical way. I tried to be light-hearted about it as well. “There is no such list, Claire,” I told her. “But rest assured if there was, your name would have a big star next to it—most difficult, but absolutely worth the effort,” I said, in no way lying.
“Oh, don’t try to flatter me now,” she waved dismissively. “Surely, any number of these women were far better than little ol’ me,” she said with a mimicked accent.
I creased my forehead, amazed. Claire was just so engaging and funny… And she had such a strength and confidence about her that I just couldn’t help but be awed by. My thoughts strayed back to New Year’s Eve, and I wondered if maybe Claire was also thinking about that night. Maybe after having been gone for so long, she had actually missed me. I mean, she was the one who approached me this afternoon. She could have said no when I offered to walk her home. She hadn’t been wary around me all evening. In fact, I thought if anything, she was even responding to me. Maybe after all this time, she had somehow come around to reconsider. And maybe—maybe she wanted me too… The thought made my heart pound all over again.
“Here we go,” Claire’s voice broke into my thoughts, and I looked up at the homey three-storey pastel-colored apartment building, before following her up the steps to the front door. “I’m so sorry you felt like you had to walk me home,” she apologized with a slight laugh, as she fished out her keys from her purse.
A corner of my mouth turned up in a slight smile. I had managed to keep myself in check all afternoon, but after what had felt strangely like a date, I was wondering how the evening was going to end. I discreetly glanced up at her apartment window upstairs, trying to forcibly shake the thought out of my mind. Except my pulse was already racing in anticipation and I was starting to breathe heavily.
I thought about New Year’s Eve again. What were the odds that what had happened that night between us was just a fluke? Surely, that was a theory that needed testing. Closure or not, I was also starting to wonder if maybe I was actually more into her than I’d initially thought. Then I shook my head briskly to clear it. Stop it. That’s ridiculous. What was more likely was that I just couldn’t let that one night of perfect sex go without a reprise. I swallowed hard, watching her turn the key and open the door.
Then she looked back up at me with those eyes.
Just one kiss, my mind screamed. I was staring down at her mouth. I wanted to stroke her soft red bottom lip with my thumb, cup her face in my hands, dig my fingers up into her hair from the nape of her neck… It had been four whole months. I couldn’t believe how much I wanted her right then.
“Alex…?”
And the way she spoke my name sent shivers up my spine, as I remembered how she had moaned it in bed, and all my control crumbled.
***
I collapsed on my back against the bed, out of breath and bewildered all over again.
Nope. No fluke. Claire was absolutely completely hot. Being with her was like nothing else I’d ever known. I couldn’t stop wanting more.
Claire sat up in bed again, except this time I heard her let out a slightly nervous laugh. “Well,” she began, “you’re still incredible. Oh my god…”
I felt like my grin would crack my face in half. Still…? If that wasn’t a compliment, I didn’t know what was. I sat up to nuzzle her bare shoulder, my fingers in her ha
ir, my lips moving up the side of her neck, as I murmured, “You—are absolutely perfect…”
She moved away, ticklish, with a slight giggle, before she let out a soft groan. “Ohh, you’re exactly what I need to get through this wedding.”
I creased my forehead slightly puzzled, not yet fully understanding what she meant, but I didn’t press. I was still much too elated that she hadn’t rushed to kick me out the door after two minutes. I watched her get up from bed, reach for a dressing gown off a hook beside the closet, and put it on. Her movements were so graceful, I leaned back on my elbows in bed, just enjoying watching her.
Claire leaned over slightly to check a little clock by her dressing table. “Oh wow,” she remarked at the time. “I’m glad I told Janice I was busy working this week. Otherwise, she would have been expecting me at the bar.”
“Hey,” I smoothed back my hair as I sat up again, “maybe tomorrow, we skip the bar and have dinner at that new ramen place, the one that always has a long line outside,” I began. “We can get there ridiculously early and…you know, wait,” I smiled suggestively. I was still smiling because I was definitely not expecting a rejection. But then she replied.
“Oh, no I can’t. I have a date tomorrow,” she said, tying up her hair into a careless ponytail.
I blinked, somewhat taken aback, “Oh.”
“Yeah, I’m sort of seeing someone,” she said with a casual shrug.
That felt like another punch in the face. I dropped my gaze to the sheets I was still tangled in in bed, a disturbing realization dawning on me.
“Hey, uh—I assume we’re already on the same page, but what just happened,” she gestured to the two of us, “it stays between us, right?”
I snapped to enough to respond. “Uh…y-yeah, of course.”
Claire smiled, reaching towards the night stand for my phone, proceeding to put her number in under a codename – like any old booty-call on speed dial. Then she leaned over me in bed to kiss me again. I reached my hand up to touch her face but she pulled away right after just a brief kiss. “Alright,” she said casually, “I’m going to hop into the shower. You can let yourself out, right Alex?”
I hadn’t even managed to reply before she disappeared into the bathroom. I shook my head briskly to clear it, before I stood up to gather up my clothes and got dressed back up again. I thought about waiting for Claire to step out of the shower first before leaving so I could say goodbye, but then decided against it. And within a few minutes, I was back outside in the cold. I shoved my hands in my pockets and headed home.
What the fuck just happened…?
I was sure I was supposed to be happy with the sudden unexpected turn of events. I forcibly pushed all my confusion aside. That was, of course I was happy with the turn of events. This was even better than what I had initially planned. What other guy in town could boast the booty-call number of the gorgeous Claire Hale on their phone?
But actually, I never got to use it. Mostly because Claire always seemed to beat me to it.
I didn’t want to seem presumptuous. In fact, the first time she had called me up to come over, I even brought over a bottle of wine, thinking it was a social call. But Claire, bless her soul, was all about the business. Not to mention, she was totally addictive! Like I would seriously ditch another girl in the middle of fooling around just to go hook up with Claire—it was almost ludicrous.
Hooking up with Claire felt like heaven and hell. Not counting work and wedding preps, it was the best—and worst two weeks of my life.
Marco and Nina’s Week Of
I walked into The Irish, after what had felt like ages, to attend a “bridal party meeting” instigated by Nina. I was already planning to go even without Marco saying he wouldn’t take no for an answer. With the wedding only a week away, I could just imagine that Marco and Nina were probably in an all-the-time all-wedding frenzy by then. I also thought it was finally safe to come out of hiding. Even if I knew Claire would most likely be there too, I had the feeling that she was all ready to lift my exile order. I had been seeing her on and off for the past few weeks already anyway. What was one night?
Naturally, my arrival was an event of some peculiarity and wonder.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Marco mused aloud.
“Hey! Alex! You’re here! What a surprise!” Janice greeted brightly.
“The prodigal son returns. Where have you been, bro?” Tyler asked, waving me over. “You disappeared into the woodwork.”
“Yes, yes, I’m back. We’ll have a group hug later, okay?” I dismissed nonchalantly, quickly noting that Claire had not arrived yet.
Admittedly, I felt eager to catch up with everyone after so long. And it was highly entertaining to meet Nina’s two hot blonde bridesmaids, Bridgette and Alyssa from her college sorority, who were both absolutely thrilled to meet me.
“Dude, it feels like we haven’t seen you in a year. Where the heck have you been?” Marco prompted, thumping on my back good-naturedly as I sat down in the booth.
I shrugged. “Just working,” I replied, as it was the hardly debatable response.
“You’ve missed two bridal party meetings so far,” Nina informed me, as she pulled out her phone to check a list of some type. “Aaand it looks like you haven’t shown up for suit fittings yet either…or picked out a task to do for the day itself from my short list—”
My eyes widened. “Whoa…” I remarked, a little bit disoriented that Nina sounded organized, before I mistakenly added, “Is someone being a bridezilla already?”
“Ohh!” Tyler, Janice, Alyssa and Bridgette cheered as Nina’s eyes widened.
I looked around, startled, clueless. “What? What?”
“We’ve started a game,” Bridgette explained. “Well, actually, Nina made us start a game. Any time someone refers to her as a bridezilla,” she reached under the table to retrieve something before standing up to walk over to me, “they get to wear this gorgeous veil,” she said, plunking something on my head.
I shook my head to myself, carelessly flipping the back of the cheap veil fabric with my hand. “Matches my hair,” I remarked, making everyone laugh again, and I turned back to Marco. “Well, from the sounds of it then, I’m glad I wasn’t around to be tortured like this,” I said jokingly.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You didn’t make it to my awesome engagement party, you jackass,” Marco reprimanded. “And just when I managed to get that DJ we found in Daytona during spring break, remember him? He was like fucking van Buuren. He was super awesome! And then you totally flaked out on me, man—”
“What’s going on?”
I looked up when I heard Claire’s voice, as she seemed to just materialize out of the bar crowd. She gave me a look. “Is Alex the blushing bride today?” she prompted with a smirk, noting my awesome veil.
My eyes lit up and I was going to retort something playful back when I noticed another guy materialize out of the same bar crowd from behind her, before he settled beside Claire to casually sling his arm around her shoulders. My smile faded instantly.
“Oh, hey Wayne,” Janice gave him a quick wave. “Guys, shift down,” she motioned for Tyler and I to make space in the booth for Claire and ‘Wayne’.
And before anyone else could get another word out, Nina spoke up, “Claire, great, you’re here,” she said. “Finally, we’re complete, for once.”
I zoned out instantly as soon as Nina started to talk about wedding stuff. I glanced over at Claire and Wayne again. And for some reason, I couldn’t help but instantly hate the guy. Obviously, I’d seen Claire with boyfriends in the past. They had always just barely registered on my radar. That night however, I couldn’t help but notice that Wayne was clearly not as good-looking as I was, nor as tall, nor as charming, nor better dressed. I gritted my teeth. And if he was an architect, I was going to choke somebody. But I forcibly shook it off and tried to focus on something else.
Alyssa was making eyes at me across the table. I managed to g
ive her a tight smile in response. I could already tell that I would have no problems getting Alyssa, or even Bridgette, to sleep with me, but instead of thinking about that, or listening to the usher duties that Nina was doling out, I couldn’t stop thinking about the mind-blowing sex that this Wayne guy was probably going to have later that night.
“Bro,” Tyler elbowed me suddenly.
“What?” I blinked, snapping to.
Nina’s eyebrows were raised in a prompt as she looked at me. “Tomorrow please, suit fittings. Do not miss it,” she said in a surprisingly firm, almost threatening tone.
I pursed my lips to stifle my chuckle and just nodded. “Uh, yes ma’am,” I replied. I glanced over at Marco who was just shaking his head at me in amusement, and I tossed my veil at him, making him laugh. I laughed too, creasing my forehead somewhat, at how happy he looked. And for the first time, in spite of myself, I noticed that the way they were doing their “couple talk”, and ending each other’s sentences, was actually a sort of proof of how supportive and in-synch they were with each other. I cracked a smirk, surprised, amused, impressed—slightly annoyed too, but still sort of impressed.
When the “official meeting” ended, Nina and her bridesmaids had to leave to take care of some bachelorette party planning, and Marco happily walked them to the door.
I watched Marco leave with them before looking over at Tyler, shaking my head, “Can you believe that guy?” I prompted. “It’s like he has to ask Nina for permission to stay behind to hang out with his friends.”
But Janice was the one to reply. “Hey, he’s in love,” she reprimanded lightly. “Leave him alone.”
Claire decided to make a wry joke. “I think Alex is jealous.”
Tyler and Janice laughed, and I shot Claire a curious look, but she had turned to Wayne to explain the situation. “Alex is Marco’s BFF,” she relayed, even as she shot a mischievous quick glance back at me.
I rolled my eyes when Wayne chuckled. “Whatever happened to ‘bros before hoes’? It was such a noble idea,” I shook my head to myself, even as I reached my hand out across the way towards Wayne. “Dude, we haven’t officially met. I’m Alex.”