by K. A. Linde
“With his what?” Krista asked curiously.
“Uh…hold on.” Lexi pivoted trying to look through the crowd, but she was too short. She couldn’t see anyone.
“Who are we looking for?” Krista asked, scanning the throng of people.
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Bekah stated calmly, as she walked toward them from the opposite direction of where they had been searching.
“Yeah. Sorry,” Lexi stated awkwardly, turning to face her. “I just ran into a friend.”
“What a coincidence,” Bekah said turning to face Krista. “Bekah Bridges.” She extended her hand formally.
Krista took it, but glanced at Lexi conspiratorially. “Krista Hammond.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Bekah replied properly. “Wait. Hammond?” she asked eyeing her appearance. Krista nodded, one eyebrow arched perfectly. “Any connection to Hammond, Stern, & Birch?”
Krista’s eyes narrowed. “That depends,” she muttered. Krista, always blunt, asked her, “Who the hell are you?”
“Beg your pardon?”
Lexi stepped in. “Krista, this is Jack’s girlfriend. That’s what I was going to tell you. I’m here with his girlfriend.”
Krista stared blankly from Lexi to Bekah and back. “You’re dating Jack?” she asked Bekah. “Jack Howard?”
“That’s right.”
“Not Lexi?” Krista demanded.
Lexi wanted to cover her face with her hands. This was not going to help anything.
“Well, no,” Bekah said, confusion crossing her face.
“I already told you Jack and I aren’t together,” she reminded Krista.
“I’m sorry. How do you know a Hammond?” Bekah snootily asked Lexi before turning to Krista, “And how do you know Jack?”
“I used to fuck one of Jack’s friends,” Krista said nonchalantly at the same time as Lexi announced, “We were on the gymnastics team together.”
The look Bekah shot Krista was a mixture of disdain and confusion. Lexi figured she wasn’t used to being around such crudeness especially not from someone who had a name she recognized. This just reminded Lexi why she couldn’t stand being around Country Club types.
Bekah shook her head letting her golden blonde hair swish around her face. A bright smile appeared out of nowhere. “Well, it is so nice to meet another one of Jack’s friends,” Bekah said, adapting to the situation. “Perhaps we could get together sometime,” she offered. “You know coffee or lunch. Whatever works best for you.”
Krista glanced at Lexi. “Yeah, maybe.” Lexi could read her expression clear as day. No chance in hell.
“So, just out of curiosity, are you in any way related to Matt Hammond?” Bekah nosily asked.
“Yeah, we got married last winter,” Krista told her, showing off her massive ring.
“Ahh,” she said, admiring the crystal clear cut. “Well, this is a small world, isn’t it? I’ve known Matt since childhood. He actually used to be a pretty good friend of my brother’s even though he spent the majority of his time in Las Vegas. I’d heard he had just gotten married and was in town running his daddy’s company. My apologies that I couldn’t attend the wedding.” Bekah smiled sweetly. “Will you tell him that I said hello and that he needs to visit?”
Krista had one eyebrow arched. “Sure thing,” Krista said diplomatically. “Hey, Lexi, I’ve really got to be going. It was great seeing you. If you can, you should stop by the gym,” Krista said wrapping her in a hug. Just as she got close, she whispered in her ear, “How is Jack with her?”
Lexi giggled finding it hard to believe herself. Krista slipped her a business card, grabbed her brown paper cup, and made her way toward the door.
“Well, that was interesting,” Bekah said, rubbing her finger around her pearl earring.
“Yeah, I guess,” Lexi said, standing awkwardly now that the comfort of Krista’s presence had dissipated.
Bekah turned to face her. “I heard what she said you know.”
Lexi stared at her uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure which part Bekah was referring to, but with her luck it had to be the part about her and Jack. “Uh...what?”
“That she figured you and Jack would be married,” she stated simply.
“Uh huh.” Lexi wasn’t sure what Bekah wanted her to say. She hadn’t seen Krista in years, and after all, Jack was the reason that she knew Krista in the first place.
“I just want you to know that I don’t think any less of you.”
Lexi gawked at her. “Um, what?”
“I mean…that girl was so vulgar. I have no idea how Matt...you know what? Just never mind. Let’s not go down that road,” she said, running her French manicured finger nails through her pin-straight hair. “I just want us to be open and honest with each other. I heard what she said about you and Jack and it made me a little uncomfortable.”
Lexi could tell Bekah was waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to say. So Bekah had eavesdropped on their conversation? Lexi didn’t give a shit. She had told Krista that they weren’t together. She and Jack had never been together together, in fact.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Bekah chirped. “I found us a table.”
Lexi had no idea what to think of this girl. She was all over the charts. She wanted to be completely honest one minute, and then her best friend the next. Lexi wasn’t sure if she could handle this anymore.
Lexi plopped down in the booth. She twirled her hair around her finger several times before shoving it carelessly behind her ear.
Bekah faced Lexi. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
Lexi forced a smile. “Why do you say that?” Lexi could have given a million reasons why she could never...would never like this girl. She still wanted to hear what Bekah thought on the subject.
“It’s just...we were supposed to get this over with in the morning, and then I half-dragged you to meet my family. I just don’t want those things to cloud your view of me,” Bekah said, twirling her earring again.
“Oh...um, ok,” Lexi said noncommittally.
Sure the Country Club experience made being around her more difficult. However much that bothered her, nothing bothered her more than just the plain fact that she was dating Jack. This girl, who seemingly had nothing in common with Jack, this girl, who he hadn’t even wanted to date to begin with, this girl, who was practically forcing him to propose to her so she wouldn’t be cut off from daddy’s money, was who he had picked over her. Somehow, she just didn’t think their friendship could recover from that.
“Well, either way, I suspect you know why Jack asked you here,” Bekah said, smiling sweetly.
Lexi fixed her with a blank stare. Was this girl serious?
“But I just…I really don’t want this to be awkward, you know?”
Lexi didn’t know. She already thought this was awkward enough.
“So, I thought we could just get to know each other a little bit. I mean, I know I wouldn’t confess…or tell a perfect stranger about my past, especially not my love life.”
“I have a hard time talking to anyone about my love life,” Bekah said easily, blushing at the statement.
“Uh huh,” Lexi finally added in.
“It’s just that I make a good judge of character. Jack obviously liked you at some point.” Lexi couldn’t even form words for that statement. “Ramsey seems to know and like you. Though, he isn’t exactly the best judge of character...or the best character, but regardless. I mean not to mention, you put up with Jennifer for at least a year, and nothing short of a miracle can make a person go through that.”
Lexi’s mouth dropped. “You don’t like Jennifer?”
Bekah’s crinkled her little nose. “She’s a little much for my tastes.”
“But I thought Ramsey said you were friends.”
“Friends is such a loose term. Our parents are friends so she was always...around,” Bekah said, shrugging her should
ers. “What I’m saying is that I know nothing about you.”
Lexi hated how sincere Bekah was being. She was supposed to hate the girl. She was supposed to think she was an annoying Country Clubber like everyone else, and go home with a semblance of closure.
“Yeah, I don’t really know anything about you either,” Lexi admitted.
“Right. Well then, tell me about yourself, Lexi,” she said immediately, returning to her diplomatic demeanor. Lexi hadn’t exactly been prepared for the shift. “You don’t mind me calling you Lexi, do you?” Bekah asked politely, her smile strained at the edges.
Lexi returned her fake smile. “That’s my name.”
“Oh, of course. I didn’t know. I thought, perhaps, it was a nickname of some sort. I’ve never met a Lexi before.”
“Well, it’s sort of a nickname. Birth certificate says Alexa. I never much felt like an Alexa though, if you know what I mean,” Lexi said, trying to fall back into Bekah’s more personable character.
Something about her statement must have worked, because this time Bekah’s smile was sincere.
“Yes, I think I do. I’ve never felt much like a Rebekah. Now, please, tell me about yourself. Jack has not said a word about you besides that you went to college together and as soon as you graduated you zipped right off to New York City. Of course, I know some other things,” she said, her eyes shining mischievously. “But as a whole, he has left you a complete mystery to me. And I do love solving mysteries,” she commented, folding her arms across one another at the table.
Lexi didn’t even know where to begin. She knew that Jack hadn’t told Bekah about her in the beginning, but he hadn’t told her that Bekah knew nothing about her. How awkward! He hadn’t even bothered to prep Bekah with the basics about their um…relationship even after Kate had run her mouth. So, thus far, Bekah had only heard terrible things about her. Great!
“Um...well, what do you want to know?”
“Just, whatever you want. It’s up to you. I can tell you a little about myself if you like.” Lexi just stared at her. Bekah, taking that as an affirmative, said, “I graduated summa from Duke with degrees in business and psychology. Let’s see. What else? I currently work for my father as a Senior Vice President of Bridges Enterprise. He wanted Ramsey to run the business, but well...Ramsey always has his own ideas about things. I’m sure there’s more, but I’d really like to know about you.”
“Oh, well, I’m at NYU Law, about to start my third year. I worked all summer at a criminal law firm in the city. Anyway, that’s really about it,” she said.
“I’ll be the one to judge that,” Bekah stated. Lexi smiled weakly. “Did you want to go into criminal law or did you have something else in mind?”
“Oh, I’m really not sure,” she told her honestly. “I’ve been doing a good deal of alternative dispute resolution cases in class. You know mediation, arbitration, and negotiations.” Bekah nodded along even though Lexi wasn’t sure she knew what she was talking about. Though if she had been raised in a Bridges household, then maybe she did. “But a part of me wants to go into a big corporate firm working seventy hours a week making a ridiculous amount of money. I don’t know why. It sounds awful, but once I do that, I really think I could do anything.”
“Hmm…interesting. I would have pinned you more as environmental law or public interest work.”
Lexi laughed heartily. “Um…no. It’s not that I don’t care about those things. I just couldn’t see me concentrating in anything like that.”
“Well, if that’s what you’re into,” Bekah said with a shrug. “Oh…hold on. There he is.” Bekah waved at a tall, lanky, disheveled looking man who immediately veered toward them.
“Rebekah,” he said, as she hopped out of her chair. He gathered her up in a hug. “You look fantastic. You’re not in here enough. You need more coffee for that stressful job of yours.”
“You know perfectly well that it’s not stressful. And anyway, I don’t really drink coffee, Connor,” she reminded him.
Connor was over six-feet tall with wiry brown hair and dull brown eyes. He’d obviously had acne problems when he had been younger. His nose was a bit too large, but it kind of fit him in a strange sort of way. He wore brown corduroy pants with a faded green coffee-stained, deeply wrinkled button-up, and tweed vest. This was not someone that Lexi would have ever in a million years pictured Bekah knowing let alone hanging out with.
“Oh, I’m so rude,” Bekah said, tearing her eyes from Connor. “This is Jack’s uh…friend, Lexi. Lexi, this is Connor. He owns the coffee shop.”
Lexi was able to put the pieces together. Bekah seemed to only know people who were important enough for her. If this guy owned the shop, then he must be rolling in money, even if his appearance didn’t give that away.
“Nice to meet you.”
Connor took their orders and let them know that the drinks were on the house. As soon as he left, Bekah got right back to business.
“So, I don’t really know where to begin with you, to be honest.” Lexi didn’t know what that meant. “I had a plan when I talked to Danielle and Kate.”
Lexi rolled her eyes and then let them wander around the shop. She had completely tuned out what Bekah was saying. It’s not like she really wanted to talk about this. She just wanted to get things out of the way.
“Did you hear me?” Bekah asked, touching Lexi’s arm lightly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I spaced out.”
“I just asked how many serious boyfriends have you had?”
“Well, two since high school.” Hearing the words out loud really made Lexi want to crawl into a hole. She hadn’t thought about the fact that she hadn’t had a serious boyfriend in so long. Sure, she had dated, and she had been in strictly uh…sexual relationships, but she didn’t count those. So her number still stood at two. Two guys in six years. Pathetic.
“So one other than Jack?” Bekah asked, lacing her fingers together.
Lexi swiftly glanced up trying to read Bekah’s expression. Was this girl clueless? “Um…no. Jack and I were never together.”
Bekah narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“You already met Jack’s two serious girlfriends: Danielle and Kate.”
“Right,” she said, leaning forward in her chair. “But y’all were together. I mean I talked to Kate.”
Lexi blushed at the accusations that were clear in her tone. “I wouldn’t believe everything Kate told you.”
Bekah twirled her earring contemplating what Lexi had just told her. “I realize Kate is probably biased to a degree. But she said that y’all were together so I just took her word for that. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not sure why you’re sorry. You claim to know nothing about me. And anyway, it’s an easy thing to misconstrue. You heard the conversation I had with Krista. I haven’t seen her in years, and she thought Jack and I were together. But it simply isn’t the case.”
Connor reappeared with their drinks. “Okay. So you and Jack weren’t together.”
“Nope.”
“I guess that clears up why he didn’t tell me about you,” she said under her breath. Lexi decided to just pretend like she was deaf. “So, how did y’all meet?”
Lexi desperately shoved her hair behind her ears. She hadn’t thought that a simple question could seem so difficult...so terrifying. So much of what she and Jack had gone through had been covered up and hidden for so long. The thought of peeling back the layers and revealing it to someone else constricted her. She reached out for her coffee, realizing for the umpteenth time that morning that she was desperate for the stuff…maybe even something stronger.
“Sorry,” Lexi said smiling weakly. “I haven’t really talked about Jack to anyone in a long time. Our uh...situation wasn’t exactly healthy, to put it nicely.”
“What do you mean by that?” Bekah asked sipping on her chai tea.
“The reason we were never together was because every time we tried, things or uh...people,
” she said averting her eyes, “just kept getting in our way. For the longest time, I thought that Jack and I really were going to end up together.” She could feel her skin warming with embarrassment at the statement. “But some shit went down between us, and we just stopped talking. Pretty much end of story. I’m not sure what else you want to know,” Lexi stated bitterly.
Lexi could feel Bekah’s piercing gaze evaluating her. It wasn’t a comfortable look, and the silence that followed was even worse. “I get that y’all aren’t together and haven’t been for quite some time. I mean, I’d at least surmised that much,” she said giggling. “Jack and I have been together for a year and a half, and he’s never mentioned you before.”
“Not that he would,” Lexi said under her breath.
If Lexi had thought the last look she had received from Bekah was uncomfortable, it had nothing on the look she was giving her after that comment. “Excuse me?”
Should she tell her? Yes. She had come down to Atlanta to talk to this girl; she might as well start from the beginning and with the truth for once. Slowly, pulling back the first layer of their relationship, Lexi began, “You asked how we first met. We met at a coffee shop, similar to this one actually, where he worked for some time in college. We were together constantly for more than a month before I found out he had a girlfriend. And Danielle never found out about me,” Lexi said bluntly. Bekah’s jaw dropped slightly. Whatever she had been expecting, that wasn’t it. Not even close. “So when you say that you had never heard about me, I wouldn’t take it for granted that was because we hadn’t spoken.”
Lexi hated admitting all of that stuff, but the girl had asked for the truth. She might as well be frank with her. Jack had always been best at lying. Some people were good at sports. Some people were good at school. Some people were good at working. While some people were good at commitment, Jack was good at avoiding commitment.
“So, you’re saying that y’all have spoken or...done more than speak since we’ve been together?” Bekah asked, getting choked up at the thought.
“Uh...no,” Lexi said awkwardly. She hadn’t meant to imply that. “I haven’t spoken with Jack since he left New York almost two years ago. Well, up until he called me about you.”