Sway

by Melanie Stanford

  Eric probably didn’t like that any more than being called the next Frank Sinatra.

  “I’ve heard him on the radio,” Mari said, shooing away a fly. “What’s that song he’s got out now?”

  No one answered. “‘Miss Me,’” I replied with a sigh.

  Mari pointed at me and said, “Ha!”

  “Wait, he did that song… What was it called?” Lacey looked around for help. “I absolutely loved it when it came out, and then it was in that cellphone commercial.” She frowned, thinking hard, then snapped her fingers. “‘No Two Hearts.’”

  I stared at the table, trying to keep my face smooth. “No Two Hearts” had been Eric’s first single. The song made him famous. And it was about us.

  “I love that song!” Lacey went on. “And that guy is hot. Did you read the article about him in GQ?”

  “What article? All I saw were the pictures,” said Mari. “Yowsa!”

  “Nice,” Charlie said.

  I picked at my broccoli with my fork. I had no idea Mari was keeping up with Eric’s career or reading articles about him. Well, looking at the pictures anyway.

  Mari and Lacey continued to talk about Eric but “No Two Hearts” had started in my head, drowning them out. His song, his sweet voice singing those painful words played through my mind and I couldn’t shake them loose.

  Once there were no two hearts so open

  Once there were no two minds so alike

  No feelings so in harmony

  Now we’re strangers and it’s killing me

  Once there were no feelings so in unison

  Once there were no faces so adored

  No tastes so much the same

  Now we’re strangers and it’s killing me

  Once there were no two souls so happy

  Once there were no lovers so close as one

  No perfection so complete

  Now we’re strangers and it’s killing me

  Once there were no two hearts so open

  Now we’re strangers and it’s killing me

  No two hearts so open

  Now we’re strangers and it’s killing me

  They talked about Eric the entire night. Lacey and Mari made plans to buy his CDs so they’d know his songs by the time he got to Kellynch. At first, they were just going to download everything, but then Lacey pointed out that they wouldn’t have anything for him to autograph.

  I eventually retreated to my room, unable to listen any longer. I knew I was supposed to be over him, and I was. But for some reason, the more they talked about him, the worse I felt. In rare moments, I still got aches over Eric, but mostly I kept him out of my mind. He was the past, why dwell on it? But they kept repeating it, Eric Eric Eric over and over, like an annoying techno dance beat. I just wanted to run from the room.

  Grabbing a book from my luggage, I snuggled into my borrowed bed. Mari and Lacey could spend all the time with Eric they wanted. I would stay away. Nothing good was going to come from seeing my ex-fiancé.

  * * * * *

  I pushed Aiden on the swing while Mari pushed Landon. The sun covered me from head to toe like a warm blanket, brushing over my skin. Sweat pooled underneath my floppy hat, but I closed my eyes and reveled in the fresh clean heat, different from the muggy thickness that was summer in New York.

  “Push me, push me!” Aiden yelled. I gave Aiden a harder push on the back and he squealed.

  “It’s too hot out here,” Mari complained, wiping the back of her neck with one hand. “I can feel my scalp burning.”

  “I told you to wear a hat.”

  She groaned. “I didn’t want to ruin my hair.”

  Mari had big plans that night. Eric had finally made it to LA and Charlie had called him up, eager to see his old bestie again. They made plans for dinner at STK, a restaurant so posh that vowels were beneath them. Mari and Lacey were going, as well as the Crofts. I made plans with Lexi to get out of going, not that anyone expected me to. Lexi had argued with me—she wanted me to go just so she could tag along and meet the infamous Eric Wentworth—but I finally convinced her that it was a bad idea to the power of ten.

  “You’re going to want to shower anyway,” I said to Mari. A thin sheen of sweat glistened down her arms and her neck.

  “We should never have come to the park,” Mari grumbled. She stopped pushing Landon and the swing slowed. Landon and Aiden both hopped off and ran to the playground. They grappled with each other, trying to be first up the steps.

  “I still can’t believe you’re not coming,” Mari said, sitting down on a park bench and stretching her white legs in front of her. Mari was unnaturally pale for a Californian. Not that I thought she needed a tan, but some vitamin D would be good for her. “It’s STK! I’ve wanted to go there for so long but Charlie would never make reservations.”

  I sat beside her, crossing one leg over the other. Dad would tell me not to because I’d give myself varicose veins but I was more concerned with flashing a kid in my mini skirt. My eyes followed the boys down the slide. Their giggles floated through the air.

  “You know why.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, I guess. Although I don’t know what the big deal is. You’re going to have to see him eventually.”

  Not if I could help it. He had to go back on tour someday.

  “Lacey bought me a new outfit for tonight, did I tell you?”

  Only a few hundred times. “I bet it will look amazing.”

  “I should’ve told her to get something for Charlie too,” she said. “He’s got nothing but t-shirts and jeans. And sweats.”

  A smile quirked my lips. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Charlie in anything but what Mari just described. For senior prom, the dressiest he’d gotten was a blazer over a Star Wars tee.

  “He’s got to have a nice shirt somewhere in his closet,” I said.

  “I should text Lacey and tell her to bring him something, just in case.” She pulled out her phone.

  I watched Landon scramble down the stairs of the playground. My eyes scanned, searching for Aiden. I found him at the top, reaching for the fire pole.

  “Um, Mar,” I started. Landon stood at the bottom of the pole, looking up at his brother. I stood. “Can Aiden climb down that thing?”

  “What?” Mari asked absently. She looked up, and gasped. “Aiden, no!”

  Aiden reached his arms out, grasping the pole. From our vantage, he seemed almost horizontal.

  We ran for him. “Aiden, stop!” Mari yelled. Aiden stepped off the platform. He managed to get one small leg wrapped around the pole but not the other. For one long second, he hung suspended. Then his grip loosened and he fell to the ground.

  Aiden lay on his back. He didn’t move. His eyes were open, but his face was paler than the sand underneath him. Landon began to cry.

  “Are you okay?” Mari asked, crouching beside her son. “Does it hurt?”

  Aiden stared at his mom. His lower lip quivered but he didn’t cry. He didn’t make a sound at all.

  “Mari.” I stared at Aiden. Below his neck, a bone was pushing against his skin “I think he broke his collarbone.”

  Her eyes went to the protruding bone and she began to scream. A small crowd of parents and kids gathered around us. “My baby! Oh no! What do we do?” Landon cried even harder.

  “I don’t think we should move him, in case we make it worse.” I reached into my pocket for my phone and dialed 911. I wrapped Landon in my arms and attempted to settle him and his mother down while we waited for the ambulance.

  Chapter Eleven

  An x-ray, arm sling and some pain medication later, the doctor told the worried parents that Aiden would be fine but he needed to rest for two to four weeks. The doctor reset the bone but it was still fragile. Back at home, this caused a massive argument between Mari and Charlie.

 
“There’s nothing for me to do here,” Charlie said to Mari. “Aiden only needs one of us. I’ll go to STK and you can stay home with him.”

  “Of course you get to be the one to go.” Mari slumped into a chair and crossed her arms, a mulish expression on her face. “Whenever there’s work to do, men always weasel their way out of it.”

  Charlie threw his hands in the air. “You’re his mother. He’ll want you more than me.”

  “But what am I going to do?” Mari said. “I’ll be stuck here while you guys have fun without me. I’m the one who wanted to go to STK so bad.”

  “Eric’s my friend,” Charlie countered.

  “What about the nanny?” I asked.

  “She’ll have Landon,” Mari muttered. “That’s already a full time job.”

  “I’ll stay.” As one they looked at me. “You guys go, I’ll stay with Aiden.”

  “Ava, you don’t have to do that,” Charlie said. “He’s not your responsibility.”

  “I’m his aunt,” I said. “I wasn’t going to dinner anyway.”

  “But don’t you have plans?” he asked.

  “It’s no big deal.” Lexi would understand—our night was just a sham anyway.

  Mari leaned forward in the chair. “Ava’s right.” Charlie tried to interrupt but she spoke right over him. “She should stay. Her plans weren’t anything special. We have a reservation. With Eric Wentworth!”

  “He’s just my buddy from school, Mari. Don’t go all fangirl on him.”

  “Besides,” Mari added, getting up from the chair, “Ava isn’t his mother so she won’t feel his pain like I would if I stayed.”

  I turned my head so she couldn’t see me roll my eyes.

  I texted Lexi to cancel and Mari and Charlie were out the door in less than an hour. I grabbed some yogurt and some snacks and headed to Aiden’s room. Lying beside him on the bed, we watched his favorite movie and ate popcorn and gummy worms. I tried to lose myself in the movie, but I couldn’t stop thinking about their dinner at STK. About Eric, closer to me than he’d been in years. Did he still look the same, act the same? Would he ask about me? Would they talk about me?

  My cell phone rang just as Aiden was falling asleep.

  “Hello?” I whispered, tiptoeing from the room.

  “Why are you whispering?” It was Lexi.

  “Sorry.” I raised my voice to a normal level. “I didn’t want to wake Aiden.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  “He’d rather be running around, but he’ll be fine.” Heading to my bedroom, I left the door open in case Aiden woke up. “How’s Elle?”

  “The usual. Tantrums most of the day, followed by moments of extreme cuteness. It helps me forget the screaming.”

  “Well, she’s two.” Like I knew what I was talking about. I propped my pillows against the headboard and then sank into bed.

  “I’d gladly trade my crappy day job for listening to those tantrums all day. Except, guess what?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “There’s a new guy at the office. He’s going to make coming into work a lot more interesting.”

  “What does he look like?”

  “Tall, dark, handsome—totally my type.” She moaned. “And his voice! It’s all low and smelty, like James Earl Jones. Or Barry White.”

  I laughed. “Is smelty even a word?”

  “I dunno but it should be.” Her laugh echoed through the phone, joining with mine. “He should do a duet with Eric. Join his smelty bass with Eric’s smooth tenor.”

  Baritone, I corrected in my head. My laughter died. We were both quiet.

  “Do you wish you’d gone?” Lexi asked after a few seconds.

  I twisted the white bed sheet through my fingers. “To dinner tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  “No.” I hated to admit it but I was scared to see Eric again. I didn’t know how he’d react, or how I would handle it.

  “You’ll have to see him sometime,” Lexi said.

  “Who says?”

  “It’s inevitable. It’s going to happen whether you like it or not, so you should prepare yourself.”

  “How? With a hot outfit and a manicure?”

  Lexi laughed. “Exactly. Show him what he’s missing.”

  I stared down at my hand, at the bare finger where a ring had lived for a few short weeks. Eric wasn’t missing anything—his life had become everything he wanted. Even the hottest outfit wouldn’t make a bit of difference to him.

  “So, when are you going to ask this new guy out?” I asked Lexi, changing the subject.

  “I’ve gotta break the kid news to him first, then see if he’s still interested.”

  “He better be, or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” Lexi broke in with a laugh. “Have words, lots of words?”

  “Exactly.”

  We hung up a few minutes later, still giggling.

  * * * * *

  “You missed such a fun night, Ava,” Mari said the next morning. She sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of Lucky Charms while I sipped a green smoothie. “Why didn’t you ever tell me how amazing Eric Wentworth is? He’s so funny, and super-hot. And his voice—wow!”

  I stared out the window, sadness creeping through my chest like a disease.

  “We had the best time,” she continued, not noting my lack of enthusiasm for the subject. “We—”

  “Mari,” I warned.

  “Okay, sorry. But you should know…”

  When she didn’t finish the sentence, I looked at her. She squirmed in her chair.

  “Know what?”

  She leaned over her bowl of cereal. “Lacey really likes him. She’s worried about what you’ll say but I could tell. She’s got it bad.”

  “Isn’t Lacey seeing someone?” I asked.

  Mari shook her head. “She was dating some construction worker but they broke up a few weeks ago. Good riddance.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he was so gross!”

  “What do you mean?” I was instantly worried. Lacey was so naïve, it would be easy for her to fall prey to a pervert or a wife beater or a fortune hunter.

  “He was always dirty and smelly, and the way he talked…” Mari shuddered. “Like Joey from Friends but totally not as cute. And his salary was ridiculous.” Milk from her cereal dripped down her chin but she didn’t notice.

  I sighed.

  “Eric is a way better catch,” she said. “If you’re okay with it.”

  As if I had a choice. It wasn’t my business anymore. “Does he like her?” See, I was totally fine with it. The words weren’t even hard to say.

  “It seemed like it. He was really flirty with her.” Mari eyed me, seeing how I would take this news. I sipped my smoothie with a blank expression.

  The doorbell rang. Mari jumped from her chair and wiped her hand across her mouth.

  “Who’s that?”

  “Eric,” Mari said. “Didn’t I tell you?”

  I froze. “What?” My earlier nonchalance evaporated like an echo.

  “Charlie talked his ear off about some video game.” Mari rolled her eyes, but her lips were wide in a grin. “He invited Eric to come over and play co-op. He didn’t think you’d care.”

  “I… I don’t.”

  Mari left the kitchen but I didn’t move. My mind panicked. I wanted to run, or hide, but what was the point? Lexi was right, I couldn’t avoid seeing him forever. There was no better way to show everyone I didn’t care about Eric than by facing him. I might as well get it over with.

  I stared at my empty glass. My heart pounded in my throat. My fingers tapped loudly on the table. My knee bounced. I was twitchy. I needed to get up and do something.

  I mechanically cleaned off the kitchen table. Dirty dishes in the dishwas
her. Milk and juice back in the fridge. Lucky Charms in the pantry. Wiped the table down with a cloth. After that was done, I had nothing left to do but take deep breaths, my hands gripping the counter. Voices drifted from the front hall. Then footsteps. Coming nearer.

  I was wrong. I couldn’t do this. I had to get out of there. Too late to go out the door—maybe the window?

  “Want something to drink?” Charlie came into the kitchen first and went straight to the fridge.

  Too late. I turned my back, moved out of the way, unconsciously tugging my shirt down over my hips. So much for a hot outfit, I thought, looking down at my v-neck and cut-off shorts. At least I had gotten dressed. That was something.

  “The graphics are incredible,” Charlie was saying. “And with the head tracking software, it’s like you’re there, right in the thick of it. You won’t want to stop playing.”

  “Maybe some water.”

  Eric’s smooth baritone slid over my skin. I knew that sound so well I could pick it out of a voice line-up. I trembled.

  “Are you sure?” Mari asked. “We’ve got Coke, juice, milk, purple stuff…”

  “No, water’s fine.”

  My sweaty hands shook. I had to turn around. Standing with my back to him was rude. I told myself not to be such a coward. To get it over with. My heart thumped. I couldn’t swallow. I took a deep breath, then another. Then turned around.

  It was like I had stepped into the past.

  Eric’s hair was shorter, the blond a little darker. His face had filled out. So had his body, he wasn’t as lanky as he used to be. His shoulders looked broader, his chest more defined in the light blue shirt he was wearing. But he was still the same. He still looked like my Eric. Except he wouldn’t look at me at all.

  I tried to smile, but couldn’t. “Hi.”

  Eric’s eyes were still the same mysterious blue. He smiled, but it looked tight, painful. It disappeared as quickly as it had come.

  “Hey.”

  Silence descended on the kitchen. Charlie, with his head still in the fridge, had stopped moving. Mari leaned her elbows on the counter, watching us as if she expected a show.

  “So…” I fumbled for something to say. “How are things?”