by Lily Foster
“Did you get a tie?”
He held up a small bag. “Extra nerdy. It’s got some pink whale print shit on it. Margot will be pleased.”
“Yeah?” I asked, truly surprised. “Your mother has a great sense of style, Dylan.”
“I know but she always likes us dressing the part. On the Vineyard we aim for the casual, prepster vibe. Prepare yourself for a lot of bright pink, navy blue, and kelly green. Although with the holiday, you may get some very obnoxious red, white and blue ensembles.”
As we walked backed to the car I commented, “Casual in my book does not entail collared shirt, tie, long pants, or pricey slip-on moccasins.”
He spun me to him and, with a flair for drama, sighed, “As I feared, Kasia, it’ll never work. We’re simply from two different worlds.” Then he planted a raunchy kiss on me as he backed me against the side of his truck.
By the time we made it back I had less than half an hour to get myself together before the guests arrived. I’d been working a lot with linen lately and had sold a good number of the simple shift dress I was wearing today. Mine was orange linen cut a few inches above the knee but not quite mid-thigh. The back had an exposed zipper to show the navy tape surrounding the zipper itself. It was classic, I thought, with a little edge. I slid on a pair of flat, delicate, navy blue patent leather strappy sandals and inspected myself in the mirror. I looked good but was fighting off butterflies in my stomach nonetheless. Trish and Brian would be here early, thank God, but otherwise it was me and the society gals, plus their mummies and daddies, for an entire three hours before the younger crowd would be trailing in.
I heard a soft knock on the door then and Dylan walked in. The satisfied smile on his face calmed me. “You look beautiful, Kasia. Come on, people are here already and I want to show you off.”
Well, I met the infamous Bunny, Cecilia’s mother. The name actually fit her. Her matronly frame was stuffed into a bright red and navy print dress, vodka tonic perched in her hand at all times, and she spoke about goings on at “the club” as if they were major world events. Her daughter seemed nice enough and more interesting, as she told me about the master’s in art history she was about to begin in the fall. I also met Melanie’s mother, who reminded me of Cruella DeVille—all hard angles to her face and sharp, pejorative eyes that she raked over me from head to toe; like mother like daughter. Dylan intercepted that exchange soon after Mrs. Pierce approached me and I was thankful.
He was close by most of the afternoon, holding my hand in his as he introduced me to everyone as “his girlfriend”. I found his protective nature sweet and was grateful for it. “Dylan, would you let go of the girl for a moment? You’re positively hogging her,” Mrs. Cole purred as she led me over towards a group of women on the other side of the large deck.
“Kasia, I think you know a dear friend of ours,” she smiled at me as we approached the group. One girl’s back was to me but I knew it was Samantha Paulson before she turned around. “Samantha, you know Kasia from Prep, don’t you?”
She turned and did her best fake-happy “Oh-my-God-it’s-been-so-long” reaction. “Kasia, it’s so good to see you! I ran into Dylan a few weeks ago when our entire crowd was out and he told me he was hanging out with you.”
Dig number one—out with our whole crowd. Subtle, I’ll give her that, but meant to ensure I knew that I was not one of them. Dig number two—hanging out with you. As in, you will never be anything serious to him. “Right, Dylan mentioned it. You look great, Samantha.”
I could be just as bitchy. She did not look great. In fact, she’d packed on a good fifteen or twenty since high school. Her face wasn’t unattractive but she was not a beauty either. The nose, the exact one purchased by her and several other girls I went to high school with, didn’t do much to improve her looks. In fact, the way the surgeon made it turn up slightly at the end accentuated the stuck-up vibe she gave off. To me, it made her uglier.
“So, Dylan said you’re living in Brooklyn now.”
“Yes, I’m back with my parents for now. What about you?”
“I just got a fabulous place in Tribeca. I need to be close to my job, the hours are murderous at the magazine.”
“Isn’t Melanie working for a magazine too? Do you work together?”
Just then Melanie slithered up behind me. “No way, Samantha and I are direct competitors. Love this dress, Kasia,” she actually slid her index finger up the zipper as she said that. Guess the rumors were true about her interest in both sexes.
I stepped to the side slightly. “Thanks, Melanie.”
Cecilia walked up then and it seemed our group had broken into young and old. Melanie looked to Cecilia, “CeeCee, have you met Kasia yet?”
So she was CeeCee. “I have,” Cecilia smiled warmly.
Samantha seemed like she was up to no good when she said, “CeeCee, I haven’t seen you since Palm Beach!” and grabbed her in a choke-hold of an embrace, from which Cecilia nearly stumbled back. “That was just the best, craziest break ever. I needed a week to recover after I got back to school.”
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy,” Melanie grinned in a self-satisfied way.
Samantha looked to me then. “Next year, if you’re still with Dylan, you have to come.”
What. A. Bitch.
“Why on earth would she want to go there? Don’t you have to like—show your AARP card to gain admittance? Aunt Margot dragged me down there this past winter and I’ve already told her that I’m out on that trip next year.” Ah, Anna—loved her.
I turned and gave her the truest and warmest hug. “Hey you! I’m so happy you’re finally here.”
She whispered, giggling, “You owe me one of these cute little dresses with the sexy zipper for that rescue.”
“Done!” I smiled down at her.
Melanie gasped, teasing, “Anna, is that you? Where’s the belly ring and the Mohawk?”
“Up yours, Melanie.”
Melanie laughed in response. I sensed Anna and Melanie had an ongoing love-hate banter between them, but Samantha looked as if she was still trying to recover from Anna’s blow. She walked away then and I saw Trish coming in with Brian so I dragged Anna away to introduce her to them.
I felt a sense of relief wash over me as the party morphed from stuffy, entitled adults and their offspring to college reunion mode. After Dylan’s parents left I went up to change out of the dress into a bikini and shorts, like most of the girls were wearing. When Dylan saw me come back onto the deck dressed like that he made a bee-line for me and grabbed me close, swaying to the music as he planted kisses along my neck. “Hey, no mauling me in public, remember?”
“Mmm…it’s hard not to…I’m hard,” he laughed. But he reluctantly broke apart from me. I looked over my shoulder to see if we’d made a spectacle only to see Samantha, Cecilia, and Melanie standing clustered together, staring in our direction. Samantha looked sour-pussed, Melanie was leering as if she’d liked to have joined in, and Cecilia looked downright depressed. My Spidey senses told me there had been a hook-up between Cecilia and Dylan in the past but I’d decided to take the high road. Dylan did have a past; I knew that and I was no longer letting it cloud my feelings about the present or the future.
Being with Trish was great but it made the absence of Val and Bernadette harder. We had been video chatting on a weekly basis but I had the feeling that while I would be seeing Trish and Bernadette, Valerie would be a person who drifted away. She would become someone I’d see every couple of years as we got older, if I was lucky. She didn’t attach closely; I’d sensed that before but since she’d gone down to Atlanta to start workshop groups, even the relationship between her and Cooper had started to dwindle.
All in all, it was a great night. I met—or should I say met for the second time—Dylan’s high school friends and this time, felt like I actually got to know several of them better. Our college friends made plans to visit us in New York and Dylan and I made tentative plans to hook up with friends out west w
hile Dylan was in Chicago. I also made the rounds with Dylan’s other crew, happy to see the few friendly faces I knew from that crowd, like Charlie Price. He was still the same nice, funny, down to earth guy who admitted tonight to passing calculus thanks only to my large handwriting. I met James and his girlfriend, Lucy, liking them both and feeling like I could maybe stomach some of these get-togethers in our future.
Samantha ruined that feeling when she came over and said to Dylan excitedly, “Cecilia told me she’s leaving for Chicago next month and your mom told me that you’ll be based there too. That’s great! I’m sure Cecilia’s glad she won’t be out there all alone.”
Oh, if you could only say exactly what you thought. If I could, I’d have said, “What’s your problem, bitch?” Instead I just waited for Dylan’s reaction. His body stiffened at her words, as did his grip around my hip. “I’m not based there, Samantha. I’ll be in and out and very busy while I’m there.” He flashed Samantha a big smile and then looked to me. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to drag Kasia out there as much as possible so that I can stand it.”
She tried her best to look sincere but I knew Samantha and was certain she was incensed beneath the surface. “I’m sure Kasia would jump at the chance to be with you.” She wasn’t worth the spit it would take to form words for a comeback.
When she skulked away I laughed, “I swear, I never did anything to piss her off in high school.”
“They’re all the same, Kasia; they have no talent, no drive. They’ll work a meaningless job at a society-page magazine that’s only in print because of their parents’ subscriptions. Even Cecilia; that impressive masters in art history will lead to an unpaid assistant curatorship at a gallery until her parents purchase her a gallery of her own that will, by the way, never turn a profit. Just by being the beautiful, smart, independent girl that you are, you make girls like Samantha seethe.”
I vaguely remember making my way upstairs with Dylan at, what had to be, around four in the morning. I woke up early, in dire need of a glass of water and some aspirin. I put a bathing suit on, figuring that a dip in the pool would ease my headache. As I made my way downstairs, the smell of stale beer assaulted me and my stomach churned. There were cups on every surface and I couldn’t help but start clearing the counters and tabletops. “What are you doing?” a grating, reprimanding voice called out to me. It was Samantha. “Kasia, there are people to take care of that. You’re not the cleaning lady, are you?” I burned with the condescending reference to the menial job many Polish immigrants took as they struggled to gain their footing in this country.
“Samantha, you haven’t changed one bit over the years, have you?”
“And that’s supposed to mean what, exactly?”
“You’re still a nasty, mean-spirited witch.”
“Oh, poor Kasia. If you’re expecting a warm and happy reception from people in our circle, you’re a fool. And do you think Dylan’s parents are pleased with you dating their son? Think again, Kasia.”
“You know what, Samantha? I don’t care what your circle thinks of me. I certainly don’t care what you think of me.” With that I went out onto the deck and, where she could definitely see me through the sliding glass doors, I slowly stripped down to my bikini and then raised my arms above my head leisurely as I tied my hair up in a band. Yes, it was immature and petty on my part but I thought, let that cow get an eyeful. I knew to girls like Samantha, you could never be too rich or too thin.
As I dove in I felt my headache ease and I was happy that I’d called Samantha out on how unkind she was. I should have done it years ago.
“Well, good morning, Kasia. I’ll regret not asking you out while we were in Prep for the rest of my life,” Charlie greeted me as I reemerged from the water. He must have fallen asleep on one of the lounge chairs last night. Ugh, I’d inadvertently just given him a show too.
“Well you missed your chance, she’s mine,” Dylan answered him before doing a cannon-ball into the pool.
There were several people passed out on the back lawn and one or two on loungers like Charlie had been. The rest were doubled and tripled up in guest bedrooms, of which I’m sure there were at least five or six. “Hey, good morning to you,” I kissed him as he moved closer. “The water just took my pounding headache away.”
“Did you have fun last night?”
“Yeah, it was great. The earlier part of the day wasn’t as painful as I’d expected either.”
“I’m glad. At one point I saw you surrounded by Mother’s friends and their daughters. I was worried,” he laughed.
“I can hold my own,” I said, indignantly, as I splashed him.
“That’s it, Mazur, you’re going down.” With that, he sprung on me and pulled me under before slipping one hand underneath the fabric on my backside while tickling under my arm with the other.
“Stop!” I pleaded as I came up for air, barely able to breathe.
“Yeah, stop, get a room, whatever,” Charlie teased.
My eye caught Samantha standing in the doorway with Cecilia, looking out at us. I decided that maybe getting to know that part of Dylan’s social circle better wasn’t such a good idea after all. I knew I’d never be able to let my guard down around those girls. And really, I had enough friends; life was too short to waste my energy on people who weren’t worth it.
Dylan
My goal for the night was for Kasia to have a good time and I was pretty certain I’d succeeded. I felt relieved that she didn’t seem intimidated by the other girls and didn’t feel slighted by any of my mother’s friends. They could act superior and downright nasty, especially when they sensed that a good marriage prospect—me—might be in danger of being whisked away by a lowly commoner.
Besides those girls, my friends from high school and others from my parents’ circle seemed enamored with her. It’s not that I cared if they accepted Kasia—they could go fuck themselves if they didn’t—it was more that I wanted her to feel happy and comfortable wherever we were.
As I jumped in the pool that next morning, I was thinking two things. First, I was gonna slap the shit out of Charlie if he didn’t stop looking at Kasia like he wanted to fuck her and second, I was excited that Kasia and I had an entire day and night ahead of us before we had to head back on Monday. Maybe we’d get to christen the pool after all.
I was thankful that some people left early on Sunday, leaving only about ten of us hanging out at the house together that night. Ben and the girl he was hanging out with, Sabine, I think her name was, Trish, Brian, Melanie, Christian, James, Lucy, Justin and Deena, a friend from UV that apparently had been hooking up with Justin. She was based in New York now too, which gave Kasia and I another couple to hang out with.
This night was mellow in comparison; no one was up for drinking as much as they had the night before. Brian lit a fire in the pit and we all just hung out bullshitting, drinking beers at a considerably slower pace and smoking. As the joint made its way around the circle, I was surprised when Kasia took it from Melanie’s outstretched hand and even more surprised with the truly friendly way that Melanie asked Kasia if she wanted to give it a try. Melanie didn’t tease or dare her; she just seemed truly curious to know if Kasia had ever tried it and then instructed her not to inhale too deeply the first time. Of course Kasia did and we all had a laugh—with her—when she choked on it. Although I was not looking for those two to be buddies—I mean I still felt a little anxious when Melanie so much as spoke to her without me within earshot—I didn’t want them to hate each other either. Melanie was, for all that she was, someone I would probably always consider a friend.
The one hit had hardly any effect on either of us and I was glad for that. I wasn’t into being out of my mind when I was with Kasia. I wanted to experience her, talk to her, hold her, and remember every minute of it. That one crazy night we’d had still made me cringe when it came to mind.
We went upstairs as the group started to break up. I saw Melanie and Christian were hanging ba
ck. We would have to wait until next time after all; those two would definitely be stripping down in the pool. Kasia called to me from the bathroom and when I got in there she was perched, in her birthday suit, sitting up on the counter. “Hi,” she said as she smiled shyly and swung her feet, crossed at the ankles. I didn’t tell Kasia this but she was in one of my favorite places and positions—I liked the bathroom counter— gave me the perfect angle to get in deep. Afterwards, we showered together and then fell into bed, bone-tired and satisfied. The next morning I got to sleep late with her curled up into my body. As I laid there content, I thought to myself that people probably contemplated marriage just so that they could experience waking up together like this on a regular basis.
My parents came over for lunch to see us off and then were staying in the Vineyard a few extra days before heading back. I guess my father felt like he could take more vacation time now that I was at Cole Industries full-time.
On the plane ride back I wanted to talk to Kasia about the next few months. I pulled out my tablet to show her my calendar for the rest of the summer. There would be ten days in Chicago at the end of July, a quick four-day trip to Dublin mid-August, and then the last ten days of that month in Chicago again. I asked her about coming over to Dublin with me, being honest that I would probably be free only for dinners with her. She rubbed her hand along my thigh and smiled at me. “Dylan, I don’t want you to feel worried about this. I know you have a lot on you right now. You have to be working when you’re traveling. Once in a while maybe I’ll tag along but I’m not looking to be your plus-one, ok?”
“Oh, I definitely know that.” I looked at her, unable to hide the longing. “Sometimes I wish you needed me, Kasia, and had nothing to do but globe-trot with me.”
“I would hate following you around and really, you wouldn’t like that either. I’ll plan to pop out to Chicago when it works for us, though.”