by Holt, S. w.
“Enough Tracie. That was ages ago and she'd had too much to drink and was only being flirtatious. She didn’t mean any harm.” Melissa was quick to correct.
Tracie snorts, “Easy for you to say, she wasn't caught with her hand on Stan's package.”
I about choke on my drink, “Tracie, you are hilarious. Sometimes I don’t know what gets into you but I can say she's not as bad as you think.”
Tracie flips her long dark hair over her shoulder and looks at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah well how would you like it if she made a pass at that tall drink of water you call your husband? I'm pretty certain you wouldn’t like her hand on his junk or whispering in his ear.” She holds up her finger, “Not to mention she told Kyle he was one of the most handsome men there. Now how would you feel about that?”
I collect my thoughts for a moment because of recent events I do know how I feel about Amelia and my husband.
“I'd say she was right and be thankful that my husband was going home with me.”
“Oh stop being so diplomatic. You know she was wrong.” Andrea scolds.
I giggle, “When she told me she wasn’t going to make it, she predicted you would react like this. Do you realize it was nearly three years ago? Don’t you think you can put that behind you? Besides, she's with Ryan and they are solid.”
She snorts again, “Then why won't she marry him? I will tell you why, she is buying time until something better comes along. She is nothing but an opportunist and wants to be free to strike when the situation presents itself.”
I look around the table and am a little alarmed by what I see. All of the girls are silently shaking their heads in agreement. I'm appalled that they all see Amelia that way...or am I just blind to the wolf in sheep’s clothing? Luckily that's not something that I actually have to worry about.
“Speaking of Christmas parties, I'm really looking forward to yours this year. This will be the first that I will arrive as Mrs. Mecchia. I can't wait to show off our matching ugly sweaters!” Candace gushes.
“Honestly, I can't believe it's just weeks away. Thanksgiving just flew by. First we had Marcus's birthday then his sister came in town for a surprise visit and now here we are on this fabulous trip. No sooner when I get back, I'll go into full-time holiday mode. Hey did I tell you that this year we are going to have a scavenger hunt instead of the ugly sweaters?”
“No, that sounds intriguing, do tell!” Melissa chirps.
“Oh no. I'm not giving any surprises away. But I will expect you all to dress to kill this year.”
“Spoken like a true fashion maven.” Andrea purrs.
I look over and notice that Candace is pouting. I pat her hand and smile, “You can still wear your matching sweaters if you like. I don’t want to ruin your newlywed absurdity.” I giggle.
The ladies give a collective giggle along with me. Candace shrugs then a wide grin spreads across her pretty face, “We just might wear our sweaters, you never know”
The subject quickly changes to a mutual friend who was caught with her gardener and is now heading out of town to avoid further scandal. I'm not interested in listening to idle gossip so I excuse myself and head to the ladies' room. Once away from the girls, I pull out my phone expecting to have heard from Marcus. Much to my disappointment, there is nothing. Not even a text.
I quickly place a call to his cell. After it rings four times, I'm about to hang up when he finally answers;
“Hello?” he says in a winded voice.
“What are you doing? You sound out of breath!”
“I am.” He laughs, “I had to run for the phone.”
I sigh, “Oh where are you? I haven’t heard from you so I was getting worried.”
“I'm home. I was planning to call you a bit later. I figured you were dining with the girls so I wanted to catch you when you might be back in your room. Are you having a nice time?”
“Yes, I really am. Earlier I was thinking about the last time we were here. It was so romantic...lets plan another trip back here soon, just you and me! What do you say?”
“Sure. That sounds nice. But we should wait a while maybe at least until after Valentines.”
His reaction puzzles me. Usually, when I suggest we go somewhere alone, he gives me a suggestive come back infused with a lot more enthusiasm than I am getting now.
“Right, we should get through the holidays first. Oh! But I do have a great idea...what if we were to go for New Years?”
He doesn’t answer right away, it's like he's distracted. Then it occurs to me that he's probably watching a tennis match. He likes to do that when nobody is home. That's probably the noise I detect in the background. It's certainly best to make plans when his attention is not distracted by his precious tennis.
“Never mind, we can talk about it when I get home. I miss you and Charlie. Have you called him?”
“Uh no, not yet. I'll do that in a little bit.” He still seems distracted, which is a bit bothersome for me.
“No, it's too late! You know mom and dad uphold a strict bedtime for him. Plus it is a school night so why don’t you call before he goes to school in the morning?”
“Okay sure. Hey listen, I'm going to get off now. I haven’t eaten yet and I've built up an enormous appetite. I love you though...I'll think of you naughty tonight.”
I giggle while feeling myself blush, “I love you too. Call me in the morning after you talk to Charlie.”
“Okay. Now get back to your friends and have a Daiquiri or something for me.”
“Will do. Bye.”
As I head back to the table, another warm breeze tickles my skin blowing my hair around my shoulders again. Up ahead the lights from the boats on the Bay appear to twinkle.
“Look who decided to come back. Where have you been?” Melissa insists.
“Oh I just got off the phone with Marcus and I wasn’t gone all that long. Seriously though, I think it's time to order some food. We have a full day tomorrow and an early start would be good. So no more drinks on empty stomachs.” I cringe at just how motherly I must have sounded. But no one else seemed to mind and after we finished our meals of fresh seafood, we walk back to our suites and say goodnight.
Alone in my room I quickly prepare for bed and crack the door to my balcony. Laying in the plush bed, I miss Marcus. Thankfully the low roar of the ocean lulls me into a deep sleep before my mind begins to do its usual wandering.
The next several days whirl by with body treatments, sightseeing, a few games of tennis and by the end of our trip, I am more than ready to go home. I miss Charlie terribly and can hardly wait to wrap my arms around him. I rarely go away and this time was especially hard because Marcus wasn’t here with me to keep me distracted. Not that I haven’t had a good time, but I haven’t spoken to him much because he's kept himself extremely busy. Despite his apparently working a lot, I've never known him not to text me numerous times a day. I know he's all right and that I shouldn’t worry so much. Taking one last look around the suite, I decide to drag my luggage to the lobby instead of waiting for a bellhop.
In the lobby, I see the girls have gathered in a huddle looking at something. As I approach, Andrea is the first to notice me and appears to say something to the rest of the girls as the group separates looking at me as if I were intruding on something.
“Hey! What's up?” I feel like I'm back in school and someone is telling secrets.
“Oh hey! Look at you lugging your own baggage around. Why on earth didn’t you have someone help you with that?” Andrea snickers.
“Um, I didn't want to wait?” I reply as more a question than a statement. Judging by all of their body language, I know something is up. “What's going on ladies?”
“Nothing.” Melissa shakes her head with curls bouncing, “We are just waiting for our transport.”
“Oh no, when I walked up, you were all huddled but when you saw me, it was obvious you all changed your demeanor.”
Andrea looks at th
e rest of the girls then walks over to me taking me by the arm. “It's nothing but idle gossip. I figured since you aren’t into talking about other people behind their backs, I would nip it before you joined us. Now see, nothing to worry about.”
I look at each one of their faces and though I'm not the best at reading people, I can tell that's not the full story.
“Well, why don’t you try me...what's the gossip?” I ask cheerfully. “It can't be that bad can it?”
“Of course not, it's just that...” She looks to the others then back to me, “It's about Amelia and Ryan.”
My pulse begins to quicken. “What's wrong? Are they okay? Nobody's hurt I hope!” I feel panic rising.
“No, calm yourself. It's nothing like that, but it appears they've had a wicked fight and Ryan has gone back to his condo...permanently.” Andrea coos.
“Where did you hear this?” I demand.
“It’s on Facebook. As a matter of fact, I saw it the day before we left. I assumed you knew so I didn’t bring it up but as the weekend progressed and you didn’t say anything, I figured out that maybe you didn’t know. I didn’t really think it was our place to tell you something that your best friend ought to have told you.”
“I didn’t honestly know and it's extremely strange that she didn’t think to mention it to me on Thursday. Not only that but she didn’t let on that she was upset over anything other than not being able to join us down here. I find it strange for sure.”
Our car arrives just as I complete my sentence so saved by the interruption for now. I do find it odd that my best friend didn’t share with me that she and Ryan are having problems. Although maybe she thought she should stay behind and work things out with him and that there may not have been an emergency at the clinic.
While we wait to board the plane, I decide to pick Andrea’s brain about Ryan's post on Facebook. I lean in so others can't hear me, “So what exactly did Ryan's post say?”
She laughs, “You mean posts and tweets? Why don’t you see for yourself, don’t you have the app on your phone?”
“Now I'm embarrassed, I don’t actually have my account set up on my phone, I only have the app loaded. Can't you just give me a brief overview?”
She sighs, “My dear, we need to get you current on your technology. You know that's why you have a data plan.” She shakes her head in disgust coupled with a smile on her face. “Okay, here it is. He posted something on Jake Thor’s page asking if he would loan him one of his cargo vans. He said he was moving back to his condo and had some exercise equipment and electronics that were obviously never going to fit in his little car.”
I nod, “Yeah he has a little Maserati sports car. So he asked Jake for one of his vans, go on.”
“Yes and Jake said sure then asked when he needed the van. Ryan's response said as soon as possible that he wanted to get away from his two-timing so-called fiancée.”
I gasp. “To hear Ryan refer to her that way is surprising if not shocking. He worships the ground she walks on and they had what I thought to be a rather balanced relationship.”
As balanced as someone like Amelia can be that is...with her odd notions and quirky approach to life, I doubt much is in complete harmony with her existence. But I suspect that's how she prefers it to be.
“Well, apparently she did something to bring this on. Of course, Tracie has been ranting about it all morning. I should never have told her about it last night. It's just that he posted that he was settled back into his beachfront man cave and if his 'bros' wanted to find him, that's where he'd be.”
Chewing on my lower lip, I quietly digest this unsettling information. Amelia usually shares everything with me but since she is with Marcus’s best friend, which explains why she hasn’t said anything to me yet. That, and if I know her, she probably thought Ryan was just blowing smoke. He has been known to fly off the handle from time to time. I suspect this is a misunderstanding and it'll blow over soon enough. I always figured it was a good thing he kept his condo because they have gone through several breaks throughout their roller coaster ride of a relationship. Though I am slightly alarmed because this is the first time it's been over her supposedly cheating, which is something she's always said she would never do to Ryan. Now I'm beginning to dread going home, however, all of this totally explains why I haven’t heard much from Marcus over the past several days, he's probably been helping Ryan out.
“All I can say is that I hope it works out with them, I actually thought they made a suitable match for each other. That, and can you imagine if they had babies how gorgeous they'd be?” Andrea gushes.
“Yeah, I can only imagine.” I reply with a sardonic tone.
She flashes me a puzzled look then before she says anything else, our boarding is announced. Once we find our seats in first class, I find a renewed enthusiasm for returning home when I take one last look at my screen saver on my phone before turning off the power. On the screen are my absolute favorite people in the world, my husband and son. Yes, I certainly have something at home to look forward to.
Chapter Six
Just over two weeks later and the Christmas season is in full swing. With our party in just days, I have been spending a lot of time putting the finishing touches on decorating the interior of the house. I have left the outside to Marcus, who hires contractors to install the lights on the grounds both in front and in back. This is my favorite time of year and I do everything within my power to make it as magical and memorable as possible for Charlie. Since he hasn’t any siblings to share the excitement with, we make every effort to plan activities that include friends with kids. This year though, we are having a kid-free party. The last several years it's been kid-friendly so I thought we'd change it up this year. We hired a nanny service to provide nannies whose only job is to keep the children entertained. Judging by everyone's reaction so far, you'd think I was a genius among our friends. Everyone is delighted that they don’t have to come up with sitting during this busy time of year.
Planning the party has indeed allowed me to keep my mind off of other things like my best friend destroying her relationship with Ryan. The day I got home, I called her and I was astonished by what she told me.
“Listen Laney, someone like you wouldn’t be able to understand why I decided to break things off with Ryan. He's not my forever...that's why I couldn’t say yes when he proposed. I knew it was breaking his heart...”
“Why did you accept his ring and lead him on all that time? That doesn’t make much sense.”
She clicks her tongue, “Yes, I know it doesn’t make sense to you. Obviously I have a different compass than you do.”
“Obviously.” I snipe. “So what now? Andrea told me that Ryan moved back to his condo and that he was accusing you of cheating...is he right? Have you been holding out on me?”
She doesn’t answer right away but just clears her throat. I hear something jangling in the background, but I can't tell what the sound is. I just about ask her what it is when she finally responds;
“Well...” She drawls, “Yes he did move back to his condo so now I have my place all to myself again.” Her voice lifts.
“And...?”
“I cannot lie to you, there is someone else but before you probe me about him, I'm going to put a stop to any and all questions. I'm not telling you or anyone else about him, at least not yet.”
“But why?” I protest, “If he's worth ending an eight-year relationship then he ought to be worth telling your best friend about!”
“That's just it, I'm not sure if he is worth my leaving Ryan. Even though I don’t believe he was my soul-mate I wasn’t unhappy and neither was he. You know as well I that we truly did have a good thing going, but this other person sparks something in me that I can't really explain. And the sex is mind boggling. Anyway, I know you have a million questions that you are going to put me through and you won't stop until I relent. Let me just set you straight now so we don’t have to go through all of that and end up in a wick
ed fight.”
“Um, ok...”
“So here it is...I have no intention of telling you about my new man...leave it alone. Okay?” She sounds almost chipper.
I'm chewing on my lip wanting so bad for her to tell me everything. I digress.
“I'm sorry. I don’t mean to be so meddling, but at the same time I also don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to share this with me. I thought we told each other virtually everything...within reason.” I attempt to plead my case.
She sighs, “I know that we normally do but in this case, I don't know that I should be with this person. In fact, I know I shouldn’t, but I can't help myself. I feel so incredibly amazing when I am with him and when we are apart, I feel empty. The ladder propels me to ignore my inner voice and just go with how I feel. Anyway, my assistant is standing in my doorway shooting daggers my way, and I hear that the critters are growing restless. Just do me a favor, don't give my love life any more thought. You have your own life to worry about and wasting your energy on me is pointless. I'll see you at the club for a match on Saturday...that's still the plan...right?”