The One Left Behind (The One Series)

by Lena Nicole

  “Okay, no problem. I’ll pull a couple of those as well as other styles. Are you looking for a form fitted dress or more A-line?”

  “As long as I can move and breathe in it, I’m open to try it on.”

  “Hang tight and I’ll be right back.” I’m sitting alone in the dressing room in a robe they gave me waiting patiently. I start to drift off and wonder if I had a day like this planned during my engagement to Colin. Did I have a particular dress in mind? Did we already pick out a venue? Was he as hands on with the planning as Pierce is or was he going to leave it all up to me? I have no doubts about marrying Pierce, but did I feel the same way with Colin? It seems weird to me that I could be so certain about two completely different men. My internal battle is interrupted as Shannon comes walking in with a selection of dresses trailing behind her.

  I try one princess ball gown on that has a gigantic tulle skirt that makes me feel like a cupcake. As soon as I walk out Colby starts laughing. Yep, this is definitely not the one. My mother, of course, loves it so I try to break the news to her gently.

  Next, I try on a couple mermaid-style gowns. One was simple with diagonal ruching down the bodice, another one was completely blinged out. There are pretty, but I’m not in love with them since they’re very form fitting and I don’t feel like I can move freely in them. I rule this style out and go to the next.

  Shannon holds up a few A-line gowns for me next. As soon as I see this silhouette, I know this is what I’m looking for. The dresses are classically shaped with clean lines without being too tight. I really like these a lot. I try a couple on but they’re either too busy or too plain. I put on a third one and after Shannon zips it, I turn and look at myself in the mirror. I know this is the dress I’m going to walk down the aisle in. I feel beautiful and I know Pierce will love it. Imagining the look on his face now almost makes me want to never take it off. It is simple with a diagonally-ruched bodice and a sweetheart neckline. There is a thick crystal encrusted belt that goes around the slimmest part of my waist adding just the right amount of bling to it. The white of the dress is soft and gorgeous and makes me feel like I’m floating on clouds. I glance at Shannon who is smiling from ear to ear nodding her head.

  As I walk out to my group, I get butterflies in my stomach. I really hope they like this dress because I am in love with it. I really don’t want to hear anything negative about it because I have already made up my mind. This is the dress I’m going to marry Pierce in. I round the corner and see my mom’s eyes immediately go wide and begin to flood with tears. That puts a smile on my face knowing that my mother already loves it. I step up on the platform as Shannon fixes the gown making sure the skirt and bodice look perfect. Everyone is silent as she takes a step back to let everyone admire it.

  “Well, what do you guys think?” I ask as I do a turn so they can see the whole dress. When I’m done with my turn and I am facing everyone again, there is not a dry eye in the house. Everyone is crying and starts to tell me how much they love it and how beautiful I look in it. I am happy to have such a wonderful response to it. I look at Shannon and say, “This is the one. I’ll take it!”

  ***

  Catherine and my mom part ways after the dress shop and me and the girls head to dinner. I’m riding with Colby while Lexi and Morgan are in a separate car following us. I text Pierce to ask him if he is able to join us. Colby did the same for Damon. Pierce texted me back saying he was going to bring a co-worker.

  I tell the hostess we have a party of seven and she leads us to a table. We order drinks while we wait for the guys to show. Damon arrives before Pierce.

  “Who is the extra seat for?” Morgan asks as our drinks come.

  “I don’t know. Pierce said he was bringing someone from work,” I reply with a shrug.

  “Hey, maybe he will be hot and single and we can hook you up, Morgan,” Colby says in an excited tone.

  “Eh, no thanks. I’m not really looking for a relationship right now,” she looks down at her drink, avoiding all of us.

  “You never are. You need to get over your man hating ways. So what, you had a bunch of assholes in a row. How are you supposed to find a good one if you don’t put yourself out there and try?” Lexi chimes in.

  As soon as Lexi says that her eyes go wide as she looks toward the entrance. I look to see what has gotten her so worried and see Pierce walking in with Garrick. Oh, crap.

  “Okay, Morgan. Take everything I just said and forget it, please.” Lexi pleads.

  Morgan turns her head and sees Pierce approaching with Garrick. Before Lexi can explain to Morgan the guys take their seats at the table. Pierce greets me with a kiss before he sits.

  “Hey, everyone, this is Garrick. Rick, you know Addison and this is my sister, Lexi. This is Damon and his girlfriend, Colby, and this is Morgan the one I was telling you about.” Pierce’s eyes dart to Lexi, eyeing her suspiciously, but she doesn’t notice because her attention is locked in on Garrick.

  Morgan shakes Garrick’s hand and Lexi has a scowl on her face. Morgan is a very smart girl and I’m almost positive she put two and two together. If Lexi’s scowl didn’t give it away, Garrick’s nervousness does when Pierce said, ‘The one I was telling you about.’ The men order drinks and I fill Pierce in on our successful day of shopping.

  “By the way, Pierce, I had the honors of meeting your ex,” Colby says. Pierce has a confused look on his face as Colby continues, “You know the one with the stick up her ass? Samantha? She seems like a real bitch.” My eyes go wide and I give Colby a look to chill a little when Pierce starts laughing and turns his attention to me.

  “She didn’t do anything to you, did she?” he asks with his eyebrows drawn in with concern.

  “No, I can handle my own business. Although, I think she might be crying on her pillow right now. She ran into us in front of the dress shop and was telling me how she knew we wouldn’t last blah, blah, blah. So I showed her my ring and shut her up.” Pierce throws his head back and laughs again and I snicker beside him.

  “I wish I could have been there to see that.” Suddenly, Pierce shifts gears, “Morgan, I was telling Garrick here a little about you. I figured you two could go on a date sometime. I mean, he is the best man in my wedding so maybe you guys can get together a couple times before the big day.”

  Morgan raises her eyebrow and turns to me giving me a look that says ‘Is he for real?’ I shrug my shoulders. I have no idea what Pierce is doing. He never spoke to me about wanting to hook Garrick up with anyone, let alone Morgan. This was all news to me. I look at Lexi whose shoulders are slumped forward with her head down staring at the table and my heart breaks for her. This has got to be painful and awkward at the same time.

  “I would love to, but something tells me his heart is already taken,” she replies. A small smile spreads across Lexi’s face and Morgan winks at her. I knew Morgan was smart enough to figure it out.

  “You don’t say. I was actually thinking the same thing. When I told him about this beautiful, exotic looking woman he didn’t really seem intrigued. No offense,” he says to Morgan.

  “Guys, in case you forgot, I am right here,” Garrick finally pipes in.

  “Oh, believe me, I didn’t forget. In fact, now that I think about it I just remembered a while back one of the elevators broke down at the office.” I immediately turn to Lexi and her eyes are as big as saucers. “I was called by security to be alerted of the problem. Well, imagine my surprise when I went down to the security office to apologize for the inconvenience and I see my sister making out with Garrick on the video.” Garrick starts choking on his water and Pierce reclines back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest all with a smirk on his face.

  Damon pats Garrick on the back and says, “Are you okay, man?”

  “Yeah, are you okay?” Pierce asks with the same smug look.

  I look at Lexi who is beat red with embarrassment, and poor Garrick looks like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Morgan bu
sts out laughing and soon we’re all joining in.

  “Pierce, I was going to tell you. I just didn’t want Garrick to get in trouble at work if anything happened and we didn’t work out,” Lexi tries to explain.

  “No, it’s my fault. I should have came to you right after we started seeing each other and told you. It’s not your fault, Lexi. Pierce is my best friend and I should have been honest with him,” Garrick says defending Lexi.

  “Are you two done?” Pierce questions looking between the two of them. They both nod their heads. “Okay, then let me say this. Lexi, I am happy you’re with Garrick because he is a good man and dad would be proud that you picked someone like him to be with. Garrick,” he says pointing his finger at him, “if you break my sister’s heart, you won’t have to worry about your job because I will snap your neck.”

  I lean in and give Pierce a kiss and smile at Lexi. She gets up and runs around the table to give her brother a hug. The rest of dinner Lexi and Garrick hold hands and share kisses. It is cute and I’m happy for them.

  IT’S ABOUT NOON on a Saturday. I’m flipping through the channels on the TV looking for something to watch. Why is it there is never anything on when it’s the weekend? It’s like some kind of conspiracy to get you out of your house to spend money or something. After cycling through about a million channels twice, I settle on watching the news.

  I’m about to get up to look through the fridge when I hear my phone beep from the coffee table.

  Addison: Hey! I know it’s last minute and all, but we’re hosting a game night at our house and wanted to know if you’d like to join us. I know Colby, Damon, and Morgan are coming for sure. Morgan was supposed to talk to Jeremy and see if he’s coming.

  I keep staring at the words “our house.” That means I’d have to go to Addison and Pierce’s house. Am I ready to face that? It has been months since she moved in so I should be able to go over there and not be a big pussy about it. Plus, she’s marrying the guy for crying out loud. I’ll have to get used to this anyway.

  Me: Sure, what time should I be there?

  Addison: Does 7:00 work for you? I think that’s about the time everyone else is getting here.

  Me: Yeah, that works.

  Then I start thinking. This is going to be just like Colby’s party at the club. Everyone is going to be paired off and I’m going to be the odd man out. Maybe I can bring a friend. I instantly think of Charlotte.

  Me: Do you mind if I bring a friend from work?

  Addison: No, not at all! That would be great!

  Me: Okay, I’ll see you at 7.

  She did say a while back she wanted to meet Charlotte. I hope she doesn’t have any plans already. It is Saturday after all. I scroll through my contacts on my phone and call her.

  I hear a loud roaring noise in the background and then it goes silent. Suddenly she says, “Hello.”

  “Hey, it’s Colin. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

  “Nope, I was just vacuuming since my life is so fabulously entertaining. What’s up? Are you working?”

  I grin at her even though she can’t see me. She has a way of making everything sound fun and exciting. Even something so mundane as vacuuming. “Actually, I was wondering if you have plans tonight. Addison text me and said their hosting a game night at their place and I asked if I could bring a friend. So if you’re not busy, I wanted to know if you’d like to go with me.”

  She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Let me get this straight. You want me to hang out with you, your ex, her new beau, and a bunch of friends I’ve never met?”

  “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

  “Oh man. You owe me big. I’m talking huge! I’m going to need you to make me a cup of coffee at work for at least three days.”

  I laugh at her. “You run a hard bargain. Seriously though. If you don’t want to go that’s cool.”

  “It’s not like I have anything better to do. I was just getting ready to scrub some toilets, so really you’re saving me from having to glove up and get in there.”

  “Okay, I can pick you up. Everyone is supposed to be there around 7. Will you be ready around 6:45?”

  “You mean I only have six hours to get ready? I’ll have to rush, but I think I can manage.” I can hear the smile in her voice as she shoots off her sarcastic comments.

  “Thanks, and just think, you’ll have coffee sitting on your desk for at least three days starting Monday.”

  “That does make it worth it. I’ll see you at 6:45.”

  I go back to making my lunch and hang around until it’s time to get ready. I hop in the shower, throw on some dark wash jeans, a plain green T-shirt, and some sneakers and head out the door to get Charlotte. I had her text me her address so I put it in the GPS and drive out her way.

  I pull up to her driveway and look at the small bungalow style home that is sitting in front of me. I’m walking up the steps on the porch when she walks out the door. I’ve never seen her in anything but her business attire so her outfit kind of catches me off guard. She has on some dark skinny jeans, a loose, sheer, cream colored top with a tank top underneath, gold flats, and a long gold necklace with a gold and orange pendant at the end that reaches her navel. Her hair is pushed out of her face with a simple gold headband. She looks casual but a little sexy too. It’s weird to think of my friend as sexy so I divert my eyes and lead the way to the car. I open her door so she can get in and make my way to the other side.

  I give her the scoop on everyone that will be there. I got in touch with Jeremy earlier and he’s going to ride over with Morgan. I’m glad he’ll be there. He might help take the edge off of this. I still haven’t told Charlotte the whole story between Addison and I. She’s under the impression we broke up for normal reasons; fell out of love, didn’t get along, the spark was gone, whatever. She doesn’t know that a drunk driver is basically what separated us. I don’t think I’m going to tell her though. I’m afraid of the reaction I’ll get from her. I’m sick of people feeling sorry for me.

  We pull up to Pierce’s house and, of course, it’s huge and immaculate.

  Charlotte lets out a low whistle, “Wow, looks like this Pierce guy has money,” she says to me while eyeing the massive home.

  “It would appear so,” I respond flatly.

  I notice Jeremy or Morgan’s car isn’t out front so I’m assuming they’ll be late, as usual. I wonder who will get the blame this time. Thankfully, Colby and Damon are here so it shouldn’t be so awkward. It feels weird going to the house of the guy who is marrying your ex-fiancé.

  I knock on the door and wait. I instantly hear barking, so I guess they got a dog. How domestic of them. Okay, I chastise myself, enough of the foul mood. I’m here to have a good time.

  Addison opens the door as she’s pulling back a rather energetic boxer. “Ali, sit! Sorry guys. She gets excited when we have company. Hi, I’m Addison,” she reaches her hand out to shake Charlotte’s.

  “Hello, I’m Charlotte. You guys have a lovely home.”

  “Why, thank you. Please, come on in and make yourselves at home.”

  We walk in and I see Pierce sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand watching TV with Colby and Damon. I sit next to Damon which is on the other side of Pierce. This feels so weird.

  “Hey, man, how’s it going? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” I say to Damon.

  “I know. It has been too long. I’ve been dealing with a lot of crazy shit at home with the folks. They’re finally separating. I’m almost glad so we won’t have to hear the back and forth anymore, especially my little brother. How are things with you?”

  “They’re good. By the way, this is Charlotte. We work at the law firm together.” I introduce her to everyone. They all say hi and are talking when Addison comes back into the room and sits on Pierce’s lap. I’m surprised this doesn’t upset me more. I don’t like it, but I don’t have the urge to rip his arm off and beat him with it either. Okay, my jaw might have ticked a littl
e, but there were no violent impulses so that’s progress, right?

  About fifteen minutes later there’s a knock on the door followed by loud bickering. Colby opens it and we hear Morgan say, “Well if you’d put your pants on faster we wouldn’t be late!”

  Everyone freezes and looks at them. Did we hear that right? And why were Jeremy’s pants off? I look at Jeremy and raise my eyebrow at him when he looks at me. “I fell asleep on my couch and she starts banging on my door. I got dressed in literally two minutes, but apparently that wasn’t fast enough for princess over there.” I see Morgan rolling her eyes at Jeremy from over his shoulder.

  Eventually, Addison brings out the board games and cards. We all agree to play a game of Taboo. It can be quite tricky to get your partner to guess the word without saying any of the buzz words on the card. I find that Charlotte and I are actually pretty good at this game. We communicate to each other almost flawlessly. As expected, Morgan and Jeremy are the worst. Not only do they give awful clues, but they get mad at the other person for not being a mind reader too. It’s their turn again and I can’t wait to hear what they say now.

  Colby tells them, “Ready, set, go,” and flips the hourglass timer. Addison is standing over Jeremy’s shoulder with the buzzer making sure he doesn’t say any of the buzz words.

  “Okay,” Jeremy begins, “it’s a thing.” He gives her a look like she should know it by now.

  “Okay…”

  “It’s in.”

  “What? I don’t know, uh—“

  “Oh come on Morgan! You know, when something is in?” He moves his hand in a gesture that says ‘come on, put it together.’

  “I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about. Give me more clues!”

  “I can’t! They’re all on the damn card!”

  This continues on until Colby finally shouts, “TIME!!”

  “What was the word?” Morgan says.

  “Fad. Really, Morgan? How did you not get that?” Jeremy drops his hands into his lap in frustration.