Falling Away

by Devon Ashley

  “Of course I can smell it.”

  Annoyed, I stepped into the bathroom to wet a wash rag, then lightly wiped my neck, praying the towel was soft enough not to scratch.

  Jhett leaned against the bathroom doorway. “That’s really not going to solve your problem.”

  I moaned my frustration and cursed under my breath. “I was trying to avoid a shower.”

  “Uh…Jenna.” I stopped to look at him when he didn’t continue. It looked like he was trying hard to fight a smile. “You’re dating that Evan guy, right? The one that kissed you in front of Robert?”

  “Yeah.” I don’t know why I sounded so frightened saying that.

  “Well, he’s not here, so I’m guessing you didn’t bring him along with you?”

  Oh. That’s where this was going. I shook my head. “No.” I threw down the towel, leaned on my hands and stared myself down in the mirror. “I didn’t wanna chance the two of them going at it this weekend.”

  “Yeah, I get that. But you’re missing the point of my question.”

  I turned curiously. He motioned with his head to follow him back into the room, where he unzipped my garment bag. I shrugged when he just stood there afterwards. “What?”

  His eyebrows lifted high and hung out for a bit, waiting for me to figure it out, once again pressing his lips tightly to keep from smiling over whatever I was missing. And then it hit me. That was why Jhett could smell Evan’s cologne!

  I gasped and pulled my dress to my nose. “OH-MY-GOD!”

  Jhett broke down laughing, clapping his hands together hard. All this time, I thought it lingered on my skin, but it was coming from my bag. Evan had sprayed my dress! That’s why he gave me that goofy grin as I left.

  Stopping long enough to breathe, Jhett said, “Looks like you brought him with you after all.”

  “I’m gonna kill him.”

  “I hate to say it, but if I didn’t have to side with Robert in this mess, I think I’d really get along with Evan.” There was a knock at the door and he went to get it. “And find out what cologne that is. I like it.”

  Jhett exchanged a few quiet words with Sophie at the door, then he left and she came toward me, sniffing the air long before she reached me.

  “Wow. So I guess Evan’s one to mark his territory,” she joked.

  I yanked the dress from the garment bag. “Ha ha ha. You wouldn’t happen to have an extra dress, would you?”

  “Sorry, no. We’re going home before we hit the honeymoon, so I only brought a couple of things.”

  “Seriously? You didn’t bring ten million things to try on before each event?”

  “I already did my obsessive clothing decisions at home. And if I didn’t bring my entire closet, then I wouldn’t take the time to second guess everything.” She sniffed the dress in my hand. “Maybe we can use the hair dryer to steam the scent out a bit. Come on. Bring the dress. I’ve got the rollers plugged in over in my room.”

  As Sophie began throwing my hair into several jumbo rollers, I desperately tried to air out my dress. The heat from the hairdryer actually did pretty well, and some of the cologne still lingered, but it was wearable now.

  “Uh, Jenna?” Sophie asked, brushing one of the last sections of my hair to roll.

  “Yeah?”

  “By any chance, did Evan give you a few love bites before coming here?”

  I stared at her in the mirror. True to my feelings, my reflection was not amused, as I already had a feeling what she was about to say. I turned my neck and leaned closer to the mirror. “Oh, come on!” I shouted. First the cologne, now a hickey! I was gonna KILL him! “He’s never given me a hickey before!” At least not anywhere above the neckline… “I didn’t even feel it!”

  Sophie dropped my hair and laughed. “Oh, he’s good. Just in case you were able to switch out the dress, he had a freakin’ backup plan. Guess we’re leaving your hair down tonight.”

  “Don’t you have something that would cover this up?” I asked desperately, rubbing the bite as if I could wipe it away.

  “Maybe. Or maybe it’ll just make it more obvious. Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

  “I’m gonna kill him. I can’t believe he’d do something this childish.”

  Snorting, Sophie replied, “I can. With the guy he stole you from here? Of course he’s gonna try to mark his territory.”

  “I’m not territory. Nor am I a pawn in this stupid game of testosterone.”

  When as cologne- and hickey-free as I was gonna get, Sophie and I made our way downstairs to the elongated room where the wedding ceremony would take place. I was actually surprised she wasn’t gonna blow a crap load of money on flowers at the wedding. Hmm… Maybe my less-was-more lifestyle was finally rubbing off on her. All she was gonna do was drape some garland and flowers to the center walkway, and add a few large arrangements up front, but nothing was there yet except the arch they would stand beneath.

  When we stepped inside the room, I made an immediate beeline for Mom. She embraced me in a long hug that swayed us, and we casually chit-chatted. At Sophie’s shower, I had filled her in on my version of the past seven months. Sophie had already told her a little, but I felt the need to share with her as well, as she was the closest thing I had to a mom, and had always been kind enough to listen and support me, no matter where my road was leading. But the more I spoke to her, the more I felt heat warming the back of my neck, and my heart began to beat a little faster.

  When Sophie finally joined us, I sorta blabbered, “Okay, confession. I’m suddenly very nervous about seeing Robert. And I know he’s in here ‘cause I can feel him watching me.”

  Sophie visually scanned the room. “Yep. Definitely watching.”

  “Does he look mad?”

  “Hmm…grumpy, maybe. Mad? Don’t think so.” She squeezed my shoulder and soothingly added, “Hey, don’t worry about it, Jenna. A few minutes into conversation, you two will probably be joking about old times again.”

  Sophie left, but Mom stayed to gently rub my back for the last few minutes before rehearsal, trying to keep our conversation light and focused on Rutgers.

  “Okay,” Charlotte said, clapping her hands loudly. “Let’s do a run through. Where’s my bride for the night?”

  Oh, God, that was me. I only got one step out when I was tugged from behind, and Dana approached Charlotte and Jhett. It was Sophie that had kept me back, and she took my hand and led me toward the back of the room, where I spotted Robert leaning against the wall, finishing a conversation with a teenage guy that looked like a mini version of Jhett.

  Crap, crap, crap! I thought panic mode had already kicked in before, but my feet deaden, forcing Sophie to put more effort into dragging me along. “Wait! I thought it was the maid of honor’s duty to be the bride in rehearsal?” Robert stared now that our eyes had connected, but there didn’t seem to be any anger residing behind his set. They just watched without emotion.

  “Since when do you know what the duty of a maid of honor is?”

  “Hey. I did my homework for this weekend and I was prepared to do my part.”

  She swung my body around and planted me beside Robert, who intently watched Sophie like me. “Here’s the thing BFFs. With all that’s happened, you two are gonna need a practice run as much as Jhett and me. So say hello, catch up and play nice.” Then she grabbed Jhett’s mini-me and walked off with him.

  Crap. It took a few seconds, but I found the courage to look Robert’s way. His body weight pressed into the wall, including his head, which rolled my way with a nonchalant expression. My head might have nodded a quarter of an inch, but I guessed it was enough for him, ‘cause he imitated it before turning his attention back to Charlotte’s announcement.

  Okay. Slightly awkward, but not horrible. So we probably weren’t gonna do a whole lot of talking this weekend. Could be worse.

  My heart calmed down as we quietly awaited our instructions. Joining arms to practice our walk was weird the first few seconds, bu
t he was so indifferent about the whole thing that I got over my nerves pretty quickly. At least, if he planned on freaking out on me this weekend, he wasn’t gonna do it in front of an audience.

  We had dinner in a private room at the hotel’s restaurant, and apparently, my buddy system with Robert was destined to continue. Not only were we asked to sit at the end of the table, but across from each other as well. Yeah, Sophie and Jhett were beside us, and managed to converse with us a little, but their attention kept getting drawn to the guests sitting at the opposite end. At least Robert had a smart phone that let him do ten million things when he was bored.

  Was it possible to get a headache from doing nothing at all? I ate my meal incredibly slowly, but long after I was done, we were still waiting for our plates to be cleared for coffee and dessert. Apparently the wait staff knew not to rush our table, so the transitions seemed endless. My head rolled back and I sighed louder than I probably should have. When I came back down, I caught Robert watching me. He took a moment to mess with his phone, then slid it across the table to me.

  “I’m going to the bathroom,” he said, tossing the napkin off his lap before leaving the room. Why the hell didn’t I think to go there? I picked up the phone and released a short chuckle when I saw the Angry Birds game. Grateful for the distraction, I began the game, which Robert had already set to silent. I don’t know how long I got to play, but the night went a hell of a lot quicker after that, ‘cause when Robert came back, he refused my attempt to give it back. When I did later, Sophie smiled at me, happy to see the two of us finally acknowledging each other.

  At the end of dinner, Robert said goodnight to Jhett and his family, then completely bailed. My goodbyes to Sophie’s parents took a bit longer ‘cause of how close I was to Mom, but after about fifteen minutes, I too began to leave like some of the extended relatives were. When I rounded the corner to the elevators, I was completely shocked to see Robert waiting there, his hands buried in the pockets of his pants. “Hey,” I said. “Figured you’d be in bed by now.”

  He shook his head. “I went to get a drink first.”

  I nodded. I could have used one myself. The elevator opened and we were the only two to get on. I was about to ask him to hit my floor, but it turned out he already did. “You’re on ten, too?”

  “I think we’re all somewhere on ten.”

  “Oh,” I replied quietly. Awesome.

  When we got to our floor, his arm motioned for me to go first, and he followed in the same direction down the hall. I got to my room first, and Robert softly said goodnight as he passed behind. I repeated the sentiment and entered my room. Part of me was curious where his room was, but I didn’t dare linger to find out.

  Soaking away the day in the tub sounded marvelous, but I was so tired that all I did was bury myself under the fluffy bed cover. I stripped down and slid into a camisole and shorts and submerged myself in darkness. An annoying red light flashed repeatedly, and it took me a moment to realize it came from my phone. I dragged it over from the bedside table and found a text from Evan that made me smile. I replied I miss you, too, and buried myself in fluff and darkness once again.

  I startled awake. The room was still dark but light squeezed in where the drapery ended. Fists banged on the door again, and I realized that must’ve been what woke me up in the first place. I clumsily made my way to the door, swearing in pain when my shoulder crunched as it hit the wall. I peeked through the peep hole.

  Sophie. Of course.

  Half asleep, I opened the door and stared at her. “What?” I said, a mixture of whiny and bitchy. I jerked when she threw something at my chest, and she used my backward momentum to push her way into my room. The fabric in my hands was flannel, a matching pair to what Sophie was wearing, a soft pink with ivory hibiscuses. “Pajamas?”

  “Throw ‘em on, girlie. We’re going down for breakfast.”

  “What? I’m not wearing PJ’s to breakfast!”

  “Please. It’s ten A.M. on a Friday morning. Hardly anyone will be there. Come on, it’s my weekend and being my maid of honor means you agreed to do my bidding.”

  I reluctantly, and slowly, traded out my clothing, not even bothering to dig a bra out of my bag. Screw it. I was too tired to care, and was a little surprised it was as late as it was. To hell with my hair too. I pulled the ponytail loose and shook it out as we left the room.

  Of course Jhett and Robert were already there, done eating and wearing normal clothes. Luckily, I was too tired to feel embarrassed. It was impossible to avoid sitting next to Robert, as he and Jhett sat across from each other. Sophie made her way to the buffet but I collapsed into a chair instead, still waiting to wake up before grabbing breakfast. I laid my phone on the table and hitched my cheek onto my hand, supported by my elbow. Jhett and Robert exchanged glances, smiling over a private joke, which I feared I was the butt of.

  “What?” I muttered. “I’m not a morning person.”

  “Clearly,” Jhett snarked.

  Robert poured a cup of coffee, stirred in a creamer and half a sugar, then slid it my way. “Thank you,” I said, and began sipping at the caffeine.

  Sophie reappeared with a plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit and a croissant. Guess she wasn’t worried about packing on the pounds with just one day left to go. “Eat something, Jenna. I told you that you weren’t allowed to get any skinnier.”

  “I haven’t!” I defended.

  “I don’t know, Jenna,” Jhett said, looking over what part of my body he could see. “If you had a little more body weight you wouldn’t get cold so easily, and your headlights wouldn’t be shining right now.”

  I knew he was just trying to embarrass me for the fun of it, but I turned the joke around on him. “Why are you always staring at my breasts?”

  His mouth fell and his eyes bugged out a bit, but it was Sophie that replied, “’Cause he’s a guy and can’t stop himself.” Robert glared and shook his head at him, and then Sophie turned on him. “Oh, please Robert. You’re no better. I’ve seen you check out my ass plenty of times.”

  “What?” he cried, coffee sloshing and dribbling down his cup and onto the table linen. Oh, that definitely got my attention, and I raised my eyebrows at him when he turned to check for my reaction.

  “Mirrors are a bitch,” Sophie added.

  “Dude!” Jhett cried.

  “Well, someone has to stand behind her when she bends over in those damn miniskirts! How can I not notice? And better she bare her ass to me than some middle-aged creep or horny frat boy,” he defended.

  Now Sophie’s jaw dropped. I didn’t think she planned on him saying something like that!

  “And what are you duding me about?” Robert challenged. “Jenna’s right. You always seem to notice when she’s cold, which means you’ve stared at her breasts a hell of a lot more times than Sophie’s bent over.”

  I broke out in a fit of giggles, but was quickly distracted by my vibrating phone. I flipped it open and read a text message from Evan wishing me a good morning. Aww… One day and I already missed having him beside me. Miss you more! I typed. He was quick to reply with a Not possible. I smiled and was in the process of dragging out our conversation when a chunk of bread hit my chest and dropped to my lap.

  “Earth to Jenna!” Sophie sang. I looked up to see three completely different faces. Sophie had a suggestive smile, Jhett was suddenly bored and Robert was expressionless, with a hint of pain in his eyes.

  “Sorry. What’d I miss?”

  Robert exhaled loudly and put his coffee down. To Jhett, he asked, “You ready?”

  “Yeah.” Together they stood, Jhett leaning over to quickly kiss Sophie on the lips. “See you in a bit.” He, at least, acknowledged me with his eyes before leaving. Robert just turned and left.

  “Jeesh. Way to clear the room there, Jenna,” she said before biting into her croissant.

  “What?”

  “Girl, it’s great you’ve got a new boy toy and that you’re happy, but yo
ur old boy toy was sitting at the table having to watch the cutesy expressions as you sexted someone that wasn’t him.”

  “I wasn’t sexting,” I said slowly, laying my phone on the table.

  “Whatevs. But did you notice how we were all getting along like old times right there? How everyone was comfortable, even though we were admitting to checking each other out like it was nothing? Next time that happens, do us a favor. Ignore the phone and stick with the conversation, alright?”

  “Sorry.” I excused myself to fill a plate before the buffet closed.

  That afternoon, Mom, Dana and I all watched as Sophie tried on her wedding dress for one last check and decided the best way to wear her hair, and ours. (Mine in particular since that damn hickey was still obvious). When we were done, I went back to my room for a quick nap before I was forced to participate in the bachelorette party that night.

  I lay in bed and called Evan, a warm feeling filling my insides as we chatted for an hour about everything and nothing at all. Of course he still tried to get invited, claiming he’d happily make the six hour drive, heavily emphasizing how we could be sharing a bed again this evening. Tempting. Very tempting. But to his dismay, I turned him down again.

  My wake-up call, a.k.a. Sophie banging on the door, came in at exactly eight o’clock. Apparently, I needed her approval for hair and attire for the evening, which neither seemed up to her par. I was forced into something she brought for me: black heels, a powder blue sequin tank and a flirty black miniskirt with a thin stretchy material covered by three overlapping layers of tulle. It was cute, and similar to the one Sophie was wearing, but I groaned internally when I thought back on Robert’s comment about Sophie and her miniskirts, and vowed not to bend the whole night through.

  I went back to my room, grabbed my purse and spritzed my sweet floral perfume onto my neck. I checked myself in the mirror and shook my head. It wasn’t that I looked slutty or easy, it just wasn’t me, and I felt a little exposed with this much air creeping around my bare thighs.

  I paused in the hall, my back pushing against the door to keep it open. Sophie and Jhett stood in front of her door, having a hushed argument. Sophie’s arms flailed about, and Jhett shrugged his shoulders as high as they would go, throwing his arms up in a manner that screamed, oh, well. He pushed his way through the door across the hall from hers and disappeared.