Bridesmaid Lotto

by Rachel Astor

  When were too tired to dance anymore, we flopped down at the bar.

  “Looks like you’re having fun,” a male voice said from behind us.

  I turned around.

  Jake!

  My mouth dropped open. The alcohol was definitely having a fuzzy effect on my brain and I had a bit of a hard time covering up my shock.

  He laughed a little.

  “Hi Jake,” I said. In my drunken stupor, I think I may have tried to pat his shoulder, but ended up limply brushing past. “What are you doing here… actually how long have you been here?”

  He smiled. Mm. What a smile.

  “Long enough to see you having fun with the studly officer over there,” he said pointing.

  Oh crap. I let out a laugh, which came out sounding more like a snort. “Oh, that was just a little dancing. I’m not interested in that guy.”

  “I guess I’d better try and catch up with you girls,” Jake said, and ordered two drinks for himself. “Would you like another?”

  “Uh. No thanks. I think this one will do me for a while,” I said and tried to smile while I sipped through my straw. It probably looked more like a squint than a smile.

  Good Lord Josie, I scolded myself silently. No wonder you’re such a disaster.

  I was surprised when Jake actually sat down beside me. I thought he would have gone to mingle with the rest of the girls. “So I hope at least you’ve been having fun out here, even considering Emma’s friends,” he said.

  “Yeah, it’s been good,” I said.

  I turned to Jennifer for agreement, thinking she was still beside me. Apparently she decided to sneak off to leave Jake and I alone.

  I turned back to Jake. “We’ve done a lot of laying around by the pool and we went to the rainforest and scuba diving.”

  “That sounds fun,” he said. “I love scuba diving.”

  “Yeah, I’d never done it before! I couldn’t believe all the colors and how clear the water was and how I didn’t even feel claustrophobic like I thought I would, ‘cause you know I’m just a little bit claustrophobic and…”

  I looked up at him and noticed he was looking rather amused.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I tend to talk a lot when I’ve had a little to drink.”

  “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you’ve had a little more than a little to drink,” he said.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I said, dropping my gaze, pretty much dying inside. “I should probably go out and see if some fresh air will help sober me up a bit.”

  “I’ll come with you,” he said.

  “Really?” I said.

  Shut up you idiot, I yelled at myself. I’m sure you don’t at all look like you’re desperately in love with him. Wait a minute, am I desperately in love with him? No, I can’t be, can I?

  “Josie?” he said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay? You kind of zoned out there for a minute.”

  “Oh, yeah, sorry, um, I’m okay,” I said, and got up.

  Jake grabbed my hand and led me out to the patio. There were a few other stragglers out there, probably trying to find a quiet place. There was a small table of Emma’s friends in the corner. They started poking each other and whispering as soon as we stepped out there.

  “What’s with all the whispering?” Jake asked.

  “Well,” I said trying to whisper, but I’m sure it didn’t come out as quiet as I’d hoped. “Emma’s friends hate the rest of us Bridesmaids.”

  “Why?” Jake said in a loud whisper to match my tone and looked around as if we were spies telling each other a very important secret.

  “Because we’re the Bridesmaids and they’re not. And we get to hang out with Jake Hall.”

  He put his hand to his chest, “Moi?”

  I dropped my head once in a feeble nod.

  “Well, I have another secret,” he said.

  “What?”

  I wondered if I was too close to his face. He seemed really, really close.

  “You’re the only Bridesmaid that has been hanging out with me,” he said.

  “Really? What about at the last party with all the old people?”

  “I wasn’t hanging out with the other Bridesmaids there,” he said.

  “Yes you were. I saw you.”

  “I was looking for you that night,” he said. “I thought I caught a glimpse of you a couple times, but then you disappeared.”

  “I was looking for you too, until I saw you sneaking out of the back room with Bobbi Lynne and Rebecca. You were all looking a little… disheveled.”

  I could hear the words coming out of my mouth, but I couldn’t believe I was saying them. Was I actually about to start a jealous rant at Jake Hall? But for some reason, the alcohol most likely, I couldn’t stop myself.

  “Josie, there was nothing going on. They were just playing some kind of stupid trick or something. I found them both quite annoying.”

  “Oh sure,” I continued, my mouth like a train picking up speed. “Except you didn’t look very annoyed when you were coming out of that room.”

  “Geez Josie, what’s going on? I swear I didn’t do anything with those girls.” He glanced sideways at the table of Emma’s friends were hanging on our every word.

  Shit, I’d forgotten about them.

  “Okay, sorry,” I said but continued pouting.

  “I think maybe we should get you to bed,” he said loud enough for the gaggle to hear.

  One of them actually gasped. A flurry of whispers started whirling around the small circle.

  “What room are you in?” Jake asked, quietly this time.

  “Three twelve,” I said.

  I started fishing in my purse for the key card. Jake led me down the hall by my elbow since my hands were still fishing in my purse. In the elevator he asked if I needed any help.

  “No, I’m fine, thanks,” I said and continued digging.

  He led me down the hall to my room. I dug a little more.

  “Here it is!” I said, holding the card up.

  I handed it to Jake who opened the door.

  Thank goodness. I might have been fiddling with that card forever.

  He held the door open for me and followed me into the room.

  “Well,” he said, “I just wanted to make sure you got back okay.”

  “Thanks Jake,” I said. I really wanted him to stay for a while, it felt like we hadn’t really gotten to talk, and I didn’t know when I’d see him again. “Hey, did you want to stay and watch a movie or something. I’m sure we can find one on the pay per view.”

  “Sure,” he said with a smile. “That sounds nice.”

  There wasn’t much choice as far as movies went. There was, however, one of Jake’s movies as a choice.

  “Oh no! No, no, no,” he said when I suggested we watch it. “That would be way too weird and uncomfortable for me.”

  We settled on a comedy that I heard was pretty funny. Jake knew the director and said he was good too.

  It must have taken me about six seconds of stretching out on the bed to fall asleep.

  “Shit!”

  I was yanked out of my dreamless sleep by the sound of Jennifer screaming. “Shit, shit, shit!” she repeated.

  Jake started stirring beside me.

  Oh my God. Jake Hall is in my bed!

  I looked around to see if there was any indication of what Jake and I had done last night. My clothes were all still intact and a quick glance over at Jake confirmed that he was still in his clothes too. I did notice that his arm was draped comfortably over my back.

  “What?” I asked her, shaking my head to try to wake up.

  “Oh God! We’re going to miss the plane! It’s already 9:45!”

  “What! The flight leaves at 10!”

  “I know!” she yelled, scrambling to pick up odds and ends off the floor.

  Jake lifted his head for a moment, then flopped back over to sleep again.

  “Jake, Jake!” I yelled and st
arted shaking him. “We have to get going.”

  He rolled over slowly while I jumped up to start packing. I didn’t even have a second to wonder what I must have looked like. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be waking up next to Jake Hall and yelling at him to get a move on, obviously I would have laughed in their face.

  “There’s no way we can make it, there’s just no way we can make it,” Jennifer kept chanting over and over again.

  “How in the hell did we sleep in?” I wondered aloud. “They must have forgotten our wake up call.”

  “Unless somebody cancelled it. Those girls weren’t too happy with you when you took off with Jake last night,” Jennifer said.

  “Those bitches! It probably was them.”

  “Girls are weird,” Jake said.

  “I know, just because they’re jealous doesn’t mean they have to…” Jennifer said.

  “No, I mean you two,” Jake said cutting her off. “You know, I have my plane here. I’m scheduled to leave tomorrow morning. I’ll fly you guys back to the city.”

  “Really?” Jennifer said.

  “Sure,” he said shrugging. “I’m going there anyway.”

  “But I’ll miss work,” I said. I started to panic. My boss was already really pissed off with me for ducking out early so many days for all the wedding stuff.

  “Call in sick,” Jennifer suggested.

  “I suppose I could get Mattie to cover for me,” I said.

  “Good,” Jake said. “Then we have all day to relax and enjoy the islands.”

  “Fantastic,” Jennifer said. “I was in no hurry to get back anyway.”

  “Okay,” I said, though I was still a little worried.

  If my boss ever did find out what I was actually up to, he would probably fire me. And that would pretty much be the end of life as I knew it. Although the prospect of a day on a tropical island with Jake Hall certainly didn’t sound so bad. If ever the risk might be worth it, this was most likely that time.

  “I’ll get dressed and check with the front desk to make sure we can have the room for another night,” Jennifer said.

  “Cool,” I said and lay back down on the bed resting my head on my outstretched arm.

  “So, thanks for letting me crash last night,” Jake said.

  “You’re welcome, though I don’t really remember inviting you,” I said, and gave him a little playful shove.

  “Oh, so it’s like that is it?” he said. “Well I guess I know now that I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course you can stay as long as you like.”

  “Cool,” he said. “Does that mean I can crash again tonight?”

  Hmm. Another night sleeping in the same bed as Jake Hall. Let me think about that for a second. “Sure.”

  He smiled. “Do you always get up this early? I haven’t had to wake up this early since I was filming in New Zealand.”

  I smiled, enjoying the surreal moment with Jake Hall in my bed talking about filming the movie that was the biggest blockbuster of last year.

  “What should we do today?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we can take a trip into that little town that we passed on the way in from the airport.”

  “Oh yeah, that place looked so cute. I bet the shopping is fantastic,” I said starting to salivate over the thought of finding some great tropical clothes.

  Jake groaned. “Oh, you girls and your shopping. Isn’t there anything else to life?”

  “Um. I don’t think so,” I said.

  “Pfft.” Jake rolled over so his back was facing me. He pulled his pillow over his head. “What have I gotten myself into?” His words were muffled under the pillow.

  I laid there and watched him breathe. Within a few minutes he was asleep again. I wondered how he could breathe with that pillow over his head. Then I wondered how he could fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position. Then I wondered if he might sleep without his shirt on that night. Then Jennifer came back into the room just as I was about to try for a mental picture of it.

  “We got the room for another night,” she said.

  “Awesome, thanks. Jake’s asleep again.”

  “You wear him out last night or what?” she teased.

  “Ha ha.”

  “Let’s go hang out at the pool ‘til he wakes up,” Jennifer suggested.

  “Cool. You think they’ll bring us food out there? I think I might need something to help settle my stomach after last night.”

  “You did sort of overdo it with the cocktails my dear,” Jennifer said.

  “Oh yeah, like you didn’t?”

  She gave me a sideways glance and chose to ignore the comment. “So which one of those bitches do you think cancelled our wake up call?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I hope Emma is pissed at them, and not us. I’m sure they had enough giggling fits for her to figure it out.”

  “Oh my God, yeah. What is with all that pointing and whispering? I mean seriously, when did time reverse and send us back into high school? I didn’t even like high school the first time around, and I don’t need someone making me feel like I’m back in it.”

  “I know me too. My high school experience was less than stellar, there was this whole McMaster the Disaster thing.”

  “McMaster the Disaster,” she said with an amused expression. “That’s actually pretty hilarious.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s taken me eight years to try to get over that horrible nickname and the pitiful self esteem that went with it.”

  “I can imagine,” Jennifer said. “But it looks like it made you a stronger person. You seem pretty confident now.”

  I shrugged. “I guess so.”

  “You guess so? Josie, you’re dating Jake Hall!”

  “I wish,” I said. “I really don’t think that anyone in their right mind would call it dating.”

  “Well, you’ve gone out on a date with him.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’re dating.”

  I leaned back in my lounger and waited for the cabana boys, this time for food, not to gawk. Or drink, for that matter. I began to daydream about ‘dating’ Jake. In fact, I even started to daydream about calling him my boyfriend. But of course it wouldn’t stop there. I started thinking about if I would take his name when we got married. Josie Hall. Hmm. Has a nice ring to it. And I certainly wouldn’t miss the whole last name rhyming with disaster thing either.

  ~ 15 ~

  I phoned Mattie to let him know that I wouldn’t be in to work that day. “Could you smooth it over with Don?”

  “Of course,” Mattie said. “Now, tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.”

  “Um. I can’t really talk right now, but I’ll tell you about the trip when we get back,” I said.

  “Oh my God, is he sitting right there?”

  “Yeah.”

  Mattie gasped. “You are so gonna marry him.”

  “I’m hanging up now,” I said.

  “Okay. But just to get our stories straight, I’m telling Don that you have a migraine.”

  “Cool. Thanks Mattie. You’re a life saver.”

  “He sounds like a good friend,” Jake said as I hung up.

  “The best.”

  “Is he your roommate?”

  “No, that’s Calla. She’s pretty great too,” I said. “Actually I’ve been feeling kind of guilty lately because with all this wedding stuff going on, we haven’t really had much time to hang out, just the two of us. And then we were supposed to do something this weekend, but all this came up,” I said motioning around the room.

  Jake nodded. “Well, the wedding isn’t that far away now.”

  “And hopefully life will get back to normal again,” I said.

  “How normal are you hoping for it to get?” he asked. He seemed to be fishing for something.

  “Well, it doesn’t have to go completely back to normal,” I said.

  He leaned in and kissed me. A so
ft, perfect kiss. A kiss that I could really get used to.

  Before we went out for the day, I snuck to the bathroom to try to clear my big head.

  Dear Disaster Diary,

  I was so excited for the junior high dance. It was the first time that I had a date for a dance and was feeling pretty special. We’d just finished taking swing dance lessons in this special arts class at school, and my date had also been my partner in that class. That’s probably why he asked me to the dance, come to think of it. Anyway, there was one really difficult move that we had not yet mastered where the guy swings the girl over his head and then pulls her back down to continue dancing seamlessly.

  So at the dance, a swing song comes on. Me and Mark get really excited and head out to the dance floor. Soon everyone stops dancing and forms a circle to watch us dance. I felt like a superstar. And I guess Mark must have too, because all of a sudden he decides we’re going to do “the move.” He pulls me up, over his head, and for a moment, I hang in midair, poised perfectly above him. I’m thinking, it’s working! It’s working! But then I begin to tip. The wrong way. Mark tries to compensate to catch me, causing us both to end up in a heap on the floor with the entire school circling around us, dying of laughter.

  After a glorious day of relaxing on the island with Jake, who was a complete gentleman and made a point to include Jennifer, we flew home. We were all tired, but Jake was a pro when it came to flying and made sure that he was alert. I switched back and forth from the cockpit and the back to keep both Jennifer and Jake company. Jake even made sure that Jennifer took a turn up front so she’d have the experience of flying up front in a small plane. She absolutely loved it.

  “I’ve got to go take some flying lessons,” she said when she came back to the rear of the plane. She’d spent quite a while up there and I could hear her asking Jake all kinds of questions about flying and his plane.

  “Really?” I said.

  “What a rush! Jake let me take over the controls for a minute and, oh my God, it was so exciting. I felt so powerful. I mean, I was flying!”