Running From Love

by J. Nichole

  Side-by-side, he places his hand on top of my stomach. “You are beautiful.” I place my hand on top of his. “I hope you’re feeling better about the dance studio.”

  “Not better, but thank you for trying.” I should get up and pack a bag for our trip, but instead I reach over Aiden and grab the remote. “Feel like watching a movie?” We’ve probably watched most of the Netflix movies, but a romantic comedy appears in the new releases. Aiden groans when I select it. “But there aren’t any action movies, or comedies,” I say lifting my head onto a pillow.

  The high school couple ignores their mutual attraction until their friendship blossoms, clumsily into more than a friendship. “Did your parents let you date in high school?” Aiden asks during one of the scenes of the girl’s dad driving her to meet the boyfriend at the movies.

  “Yeah,” I whisper. Thinking about my boyfriend from high school, I consider telling Aiden what happened.

  “Was it serious?” He rubs his hand across my arm as the girl on screen leans in for her first kiss with her best friend turned boyfriend.

  “It was.” I sit up and look at Aiden, finally ready to tell him about my past. “I have something I need to tell you about my past.” Aiden stops rubbing my arm and looks at me. “I dated a guy during my junior and senior year of high school. Good guy, my parents both liked him.”

  “Damn.” Aiden sits up in the bed and turns off the television.

  “Damn is right. One night we were kissing, and he started getting handsy.” I blink back the tears burning at the back of my eyes. It’s been years since I’ve told anyone about this story. “I told him we should stop, tried to get up and leave.”

  “You don’t have to tell me anymore.” He wraps his arms around me. “I’m sorry that it happened to you.” In that moment, I felt safe. The tears didn’t fall but I let him hold me. “How are you now?” he asks.

  “It’s had an impact on me, obviously. But as time goes on it isn’t as Earth shattering.” Removing myself from his hold, I say, “Didn’t think that Netflix movie would do all that.” I laugh. “I need to pack.”

  With my suitcase wide open I put in my dresses; one for rehearsal dinner, my bridesmaid dress, and one for the day after send off. “Have you been to Tennessee before?”

  With my shoes in hand I say, “No, this will be my first time in Tennessee. Laila has said it’s beautiful. Have you been?” He shakes his head. As I pack the rest of my clothes Aiden asks questions about the girls. I fill him in on Nicole, Monica, and even Tanya.

  “I should get going. One more day then we’ll be spending the entire weekend together.” He stands up and pulls me into his arms. With his hands on my ass he says, “All. Weekend.”

  Stretching my head I kiss his lips. “You’ll be back over here tomorrow night, right?” He nods his head and his hands begin to roam. “Make sure you bring your suit.”

  He looks down at me and squints his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll have my suit.” His lips cover mine and his tongue explores my mouth. Just when I thought sharing my past with him would make him less passionate, he proved me wrong. I’m almost ready to push him back onto the bed, but I stop myself.

  Pulling away I say, “You better get out of here before I don’t let you leave.”

  He laughs and replies, “If only that were a threat.” He kisses the top of my head and walks out of the room, pulling on my hand as I follow him to the door. “Lock up, twinkle toes.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Laila paces the bedroom for the tenth time, at least. “Listen,” Nicole says. “I know I’m dating his brother and all, but if you need to stand him up we got you. We’ll get you out of here.”

  “Girl, if you don’t just sit down and chill out,” Monica says, her voice calm. “And drink this.” She hands her a glass. “What’s really going on?”

  Laila gulps the drink down and hands the empty glass back to Monica. “I love Chris. With everything. I just don’t know if I’m ready to be married.” She looks around the room. “I mean, I’m only twenty-five. Before long his mom is going to be looking for grand-babies.” She looks at Nicole and Nicole shakes her head.

  Tanya grabs Nicole’s face. “Chick, first of all, kids aren’t that bad.” Tanya speaks from experience, her daughter Ava running around the massive mini mansion while we are cooped up in this room with Laila. “Second of all, nobody expects you to spit out a child as soon as you’re married. And last, we all saved our coins to be here. On this weekend. For your wedding. Your ass is walking down the aisle, or whatever your rich mother-in-law has made of her backyard.”

  We still have to make it through the night with Laila on edge. We were all just getting ready for the rehearsal dinner when she had this epiphany about not being ready to get married. I can only imagine how tomorrow will go. She may need a Xanax.

  “Okay. Y’all are right. It’s all good,” Laila says. “Maybe just one more drink.” She looks at Monica who is already pouring another glass of Jamaican Rum.

  Checking Laila’s make-up and making sure each of her hairs are in place, we give her one last glance before we are all ready to leave the house for dinner. “The cars are ready, ladies,” Mrs. Clark announces from the doorway. The bridal party is staying at the Clark house tonight, and the guys are all bunkered down at a nearby hotel. Aiden wasn’t too excited to spend a night in the hotel alone, but Chris promised to get him out with the rest of the guys tonight.

  Laila has been low-key about the wedding weekend, but Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Clark have been on level ten. They coordinated most of the events surrounding the wedding, and Mrs. Clark picked the restaurant for tonight since it’s traditionally the groom’s parents who pay for the rehearsal dinner. Laila told me the restaurant is pricey, so I’m glad the food will be covered for us.

  In front of the house we separate into a few cars. Monica and I manage to snap a few pictures of the mini mansion on our drive away from the house. “I need to find me a dude who comes from money,” Monica whispers as she looks at the picture on her phone. I nudge her in the side and laugh. “I need Laila to put her magic on me and her soon to be brother-in-law.” Monica refused to bring a date to the wedding in hopes she’d be able to snuggle up to the last remaining Clark brother.

  “Girl, you know he’s older than Chris and Bryan, right?” She looks at me out of the side of her eye. “Right, age doesn’t matter to you.”

  When we arrive at the restaurant we all walk into the reserved room where the guys and other family members are talking over cocktails. I look around and find Aiden talking to Nick, Laila’s brother. I walk up to the two of them and give Nick a hug. “Hey, Nick.”

  Nick looks down at me and smiles. “Whoever would have thought I would have gained three more sisters when Laila went off to college.” He points to Aiden. “Your boyfriend and I were just getting acquainted.” I smile at him before turning to Aiden giving him a hug.

  “You look beautiful,” he whispers in my ear. “I can’t wait to have you to myself.” I frown, knowing that won’t be until after the wedding tomorrow.

  “What are the plans for you guys tonight?” I ask after accepting a champagne flute from the passing server.

  “They were talking about a cigar lounge.” He shrugs his shoulder. “I’ll probably tag along to get out of the room.” Nick tells him he’ll be there for sure. Like Monica, Nick came alone to the wedding and is probably looking for a weekend fling.

  Mr. Jackson clears his throat. “We should get seated.” The room is setup banquet style with two long tables. More intimate than tomorrow will be, but somehow Laila and Chris managed to have a number of people here tonight. “Thank you all for being here tonight. Many of you traveling in from long distances. I know we are humbled by the expression of love for Laila and Chris, and I’m sure they are as well.”

  The servers start with a wedge salad and soup. Aiden looks at me and says, “This is nice. Thanks again for inviting me.” I nod my head.

  The ladies and I have a pres
entation of gifts for the couple, their parents and the groomsmen. Once our entrees are complete and dessert is being passed, Tanya circles us together. “Like the Jacksons and Mrs. Clark, we are thankful for everyone being here, but especially thankful to the parents of the lovely couple.” Monica hands a gift to Laila’s parents and one to Mrs. Clark, Chris’ mom. “On behalf of the couple and the wedding party we wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done to make this weekend possible.”

  I take the microphone next and announce our gifts to the groomsmen. “We also wanted to give you fellas a gift of our appreciation. We love our girl, and we know you all will love her as much as we do. For that, we thank you.” Monica hands each of the four groomsmen their gift of engraved flasks.

  Finally, Nicole takes the microphone and reminds everyone in the room why we are even here celebrating. “Y’all are true couple goals, friend goals, and cupid goals.” She winks at Bryan across the table. “We love y’all.”

  Before we leave, Laila and Chris give a speech and they thank everyone again. Aiden and I walk hand-in-hand as we leave the restaurant. “Have fun tonight, but not too much fun,” I tell Aiden as he wraps me in his arms.

  The rooms we are sleeping in at the house are lit when we make our way up the stairs. Laila, looking far less stressed than she was earlier, asks us all to join her in the room she’s sleeping in, Chris’ childhood room. “I can’t thank y’all enough for being here for me tonight.” We take seats around the room and look at her as she starts to get emotional. “This weekend would be nothing without y’all.” She opens the closet door and pulls out a box. “I hope we can always be here for each other.” She hands each of us a small box wrapped in royal purple to match her wedding colors. Inside is a pearl bracelet with a silver monogrammed letter for our initial.

  Monica pulls out the bottle of Jamaican Rum and asks, “One last shot before bed?” We laugh and tell her she’s going to have us waking up late in the morning. “You think the guys are calling it an early night tonight?” She has a point; I’m sure they are not rushing to get in the bed.

  After we take the shots to the head we agree to leave Laila to rest. “Let us know if you need anything.”

  As I’m walking out of the room Laila says, “Hey, Jennifer.” I turn around and look at her take a seat on the bed. “Come here for a second.” Taking a seat next to her, I look around Chris’ room hoping to see pictures of him as a kid, but there are none.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask. She doesn’t look nervous, but I’m worried she is going to ask me to sneak her out of the house and I don’t know if I’d be able to do it.

  “Yeah, I’m good. I was just going to talk to you about Aiden.” I smile, glad she wants to chat about Aiden and even more excited I don’t have to break her out of here. “His last name is Boyce, right?” I nod my head. I haven’t talked much about Aiden to the girls, and I certainly don’t remember mentioning his last name. “The Aiden Boyce?”

  “What do you mean, the…” As if he is some sort of celebrity, which he’s far from.

  “Oh.” She looks at me before taking a deep breath. “Guess you haven’t read all of my articles.” Now Laila is all over the place and I’m lost. “He’s Aiden Boyce, the creator of DateNight.” I shake my head as the words she said sink in.

  “He’s in technology, but DateNight?” I ask. She continues telling me about her visit to Houston and not being able to meet with him when we were at the event. I remember her mentioning the guy she was meeting with flaked and she had to interview his partner. “How do you know it’s him though?”

  “Have you never Googled your boyfriend?” As she says it I realize I didn’t do any serious digging on Aiden. She pulls her phone from her clutch and types a few things before handing me the phone.

  “Damn. Why hasn’t he ever told me this?” I say as I scroll through the numerous articles on the self-made millionaire who started DateNight and other app platforms. The article Laila wrote is also in the search results. “What else could he be hiding from me?”

  “Listen, I’m sure he has a reason why he didn’t tell you. His partner did tell me he was private and the thought of blasting his business in the magazine turned him off.”

  “Thanks, Laila.” I sigh before giving her a hug. “Get some rest.”

  Instead of joining the girls for more drinks I tell them I’m headed to bed. After showering, I lay in the bed thinking about my interactions with Aiden. The many times he’s had the chance to tell me who he really was cross my mind. The most notable, is just a few nights ago when I was telling him about what happened to me in high school. Sure it wasn’t related, but he could have said something. His moment of truth.

  When my phone dings with texts from him, I ignore them. I can’t act like I don’t know who he is now, and a text or phone call won’t do this conversation justice.

  Holding the power button of my phone, I turn over and let my eyes close.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Laila walking up the makeshift aisle of Chris’ backyard brings tears to my eyes. When Mr. Jackson hands her off to Chris, I damn near lose it. Dabbing at my eyes, I find Aiden staring at me from the audience. He smiles before turning his gaze back to the beautiful couple.

  When they recite their personal vows Chris’ line about trust catches my attention and I don’t listen to any of the other words he says. I fight with myself about the reasons Aiden could have kept his background a secret from me, and the rational reasons are stamped out by the fact that it’s still not the truth.

  We follow Laila and Chris down the aisle, into an outdoor tent. Fortunately, it’s an evening wedding and the tent is air conditioned. Otherwise, this Tennessee heat would have been the death of me and the other guests in attendance.

  The bridal party kicks off the reception with a dance to a mix of pop songs before Laila and Chris walk out for their first dance. When we can finally sit down I’m happy that Laila was kind enough to not have the wedding party singled out with her at the head table. Although, besides me, the rest of the wedding party wouldn’t mind being stuck at a table together.

  Aiden smiles widely when I take the seat beside him. I smile as he drapes an arm around my chair. I tell myself not to bring up any shit while we are here celebrating. While the food is served and the speeches begin, I stare at Aiden sitting beside me in what looks like a well-fitted custom suit. Before, I wouldn’t have probably thought twice about it, but now it’s bothering me.

  He leans over and whispers, “Are you okay?” I realize my ability to act normal is failing. Miserably. I shrug my shoulders before he asks, “Feel like dancing?” I look over at the dance floor filled with all my girls, and most of the wedding guests.

  He stands and takes my hand and I follow him to the floor. It doesn’t take long before we get into a groove. The live band helps me get out of my head as Aiden twirls me around the floor.

  Laila signals us to follow her into the house where she changes out of her floor length, fitted wedding dress into a thigh length, loose fitting gown. “I’m having so much fun, Laila,” Monica gushes as we zip the wedding dress into a garment bag. Tanya laughs, noting that Monica is cozied up real close to David, the last standing, single Clark brother.

  When we return to the tent, Laila’s dress change signals to the band to pump the party up. The men remove their tuxedo jackets and we indulge the band, staying on the dance floor for hours.

  “It’s time for us to send off the lovely couple,” the ceremony host announces. Those of us who remain, some of the older family members left earlier, crowd to the front of the house where a vintage Rolls Royce awaits Laila and Chris.

  The ladies and I hug Laila before she climbs into the car. We’ll have a brunch with them in the morning before they leave for their Bali honeymoon so we keep our sendoff short. Instead of staying at the Clark house tonight, we all go back to the hotel.

  Aiden pulls the rental car around and opens the door for me. He compliments my dance moves and friends
hip with the girls on our way back to the hotel. “Yeah, my girls are the best,” I say as I reach for the radio knob, lowering the volume. “Thanks again for coming out here with me.” He places his hand on my thigh. “I have a question for you.”

  I look at him, his head straight without wavering. “Okay,” he says calmly.

  “Do you have anything you want to tell me?” I ask, wanting to give him the opportunity to tell me about his business. About his millionaire status.

  He looks away from the road and at me before saying, “What about?”

  “Your job,” I whisper.

  He nods his head and removes his hand from my thigh as he makes a turn into the hotel parking lot. “We’ve talked about my work before. What in particular do you want to know about?”

  My foot starts tapping the mat of the floor as Aiden finds a parking spot. “Let’s see, how about the fact that you aren’t an employee. That you own the tech company.” I look at him, sighing deeply before continuing, “Or the fact that you already knew about Laila before we met.”

  “I see.” I turn to face him full on to watch the words leave his mouth. “Where do I start?” He looks at me. “I didn’t know the journalist from Millennial Magazine, at the time, was Laila. At the time when I declined the interview it wasn’t important. My partner decided the interview would be a good PR move so he took it on himself.” He laughs to himself. “Obviously, he and I are different in many ways. He wants people to know who he is when he walks into a room, and I don’t.” His head rests against the seat. “For the same reason, I didn’t tell you who owned the company I work for.”

  Rolling my eyes, I say, “I get it. When I told you about my past the other night I was letting you in on my vulnerabilities. I thought if you had something you would want me to know, if it hadn’t come up before, then would have been a good time to tell me.” Aiden doesn’t respond so I continue my rant. “Because of that same situation I have to feel I trust the man I spend my time with.”