by Aimee Brown
I can feel myself unintentionally holding my breath as I pull the ribbon off and unwrap the black paper revealing a tiny white box. It’s too flat to be a ring box, unfortunately. I glance up at Jack who is standing at the edge of the bar, arms crossed, a smile on his face. I pull the lid off the box and stare down at a key.
“What’s this?” I ask looking over at him confused. “Wait… are you…?”
“I am. I mean… unless you don’t want to? You spend almost every day over here anyway, so why not make it official and move in?”
“Are you sure?” I ask, worried that he’s doing this only because he knows I need somewhere to live. I guess we’ve been moving towards this, but I hate that he’s asking during a moment where I’m just about homeless.
“I wouldn’t have made the key if I wasn’t sure.”
“Do your parents know?”
“Emi, I’m almost twenty-eight years old. I don’t need to run everything I do by my parents. Besides, you heard my mother the other day, she loves you. I’m surprised she didn’t ask you to move in permanently first.” His eyebrows rise in anticipation of my answer. “So… yes or no?”
It’s not the ring I’m always hoping to get, but it’s pretty darn close. I’ve never lived with a man before so I’m more than nervous. I do know I for sure do not want to say no. This is a big step towards true adulthood, and an even bigger step towards a possible husband.
“Yes.” I bit my lip with a giggle. “Yes, I will move in with you.”
Jack pulls me off the stool and lifts me off the ground before kissing my forehead. “Awesome.”
“So, which room is mine?” I joke, looking at the extra bedroom Jack’s turned into an office.
“That part is not negotiable… We share a room. Now go, call Lily because I know you’re absolutely dying to tell her.”
“You are seriously the best boyfriend ever!” I kiss his lips and grab my phone off the counter to call Lily on speaker phone so Jack can witness just how excited girls get over these kinds of things.
“GUESS WHAT?” I scream into the phone.
“What? God… Why are you so loud?” She laughs, but I can tell she’s a bit annoyed with the screaming.
“Jack asked me to move in with him!”
“He did?!”
“Yup!”
“You know what’s next, right? A proposal, I bet he’ll go all out.” Jack coughs in the background, probably in shock that girls think that moving in together automatically predicts a proposal. “Oh, oops, am I on speaker?”
“Yeah…”
“Well… At least I’m not calling to verify the reservation of a wedding venue, like on Friends.”
“True,” I respond, wondering how Jack would react if something like that actually happened.
“When’s the big moving day?”
“As soon as Emi wants,” Jack says before I can speak. “This weekend if you like?”
“Really?”
“Of course, Andy told me the house was already up for sale, and Evan and I are moving everything into storage this weekend, so we might as well do it all in one go.”
“We can help if you want?” Lily volunteers herself and Josh to help me pack up my whole life and move.
“OK!” I enthusiastically announce. “Let’s do it this weekend!”
Thirteen
The Reception
Present Day
Downtown Portland, Oregon
“Attention, wedding party!!” Botoxed Muffy claps as quietly as possible as she attempts to line us all up to get the wedding started.
“Let’s all get with our partners! Make sure you haven’t forgotten bouquets, tissues, rings…” She glances around at all of our faces. “Are we ready?”
I kind of feel like we should all yell, ma’am, yes ma’am here and watch her finally smile. She’s been bossing us around, yelling, and just being generally obnoxious for the last thirty minutes. With it being so close to the wedding and the fact that the guests are just beyond the doors she’s standing in front of, this is the quietest I’ve seen her yet.
“Once I open these doors we will walk down the aisle just like we practiced last night.”
“Today is the day, Ems,” Jack says, as he takes his place next to me in line.
“The day our siblings get married? Yes, I know, Jack. I’m here.”
“No… The day we finally talk.”
“I don’t think this is the time or the place.”
“No time or place has been right for you for months. Please,” he looks over at me, pain filling his eyes. “Please let me do this, Em. If not for you, then for me.”
Even though I wanted him to gain twenty pounds and lose his hair, I’m glad he didn’t. He’s still just as gorgeous as he was the last time I saw him and even though I don’t want him to, he still stirs up something inside me.
I nod. “OK.” I want to say more but there is something about the processional music starting and the entire atmosphere that prevents me from being the stubborn Emi I would usually be.
“Thank you.” He nods with a smile, reaching down and pulling my hand into the crook of his arm and holding it there like he’s taking me hostage until we’ve had this conversation.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to walk down the aisle.” He grins down at me, knowing full well that wasn’t what I was asking and not seeming to care at all. “Do you like him?”
“What?” We take a step forward, me glancing at Liam in the crowd, now looking comfortable with Greta by his side, like a trophy wife. Which, now that I think of it, I’m sure is her destiny in life. She’ll become some bitchy trophy wife and make anyone’s life miserable who doesn’t bow to her greatness. I can just picture her as the villain on The Real Housewives of Portland one day. I refuse to be one of her victims.
“The bartender, do you like him?” Jack stares towards the front of the room as he speaks. “Romantically?”
“How do you know he’s a bartender?”
“I know things,” he says, as we take another step forward.
I shake my head, “You don’t know anything.”
“I know you just met him.”
“Wha—”
“SHHH!” Muffy glares at us, motioning for the couple ahead of us to start down the aisle.
“Why do you think that?” I whisper, as quietly as possible, but Jack just shrugs his shoulders and holds my hand even tighter. “You’re wrong, anyway,” I say with a clenched tooth smile. “I met him in Dallas.”
Think Emi, think. I need a good lie and I need it fast. I can’t believe I didn’t think of a plausible back story before now. I should have known Jack would research him; he’s a freaking lawyer.
“No, you didn’t,” he says under his breath, smiling at the crowd as if nothing is going on between us.
“Yes, I did.” I hiss through clenched teeth, moving my lips as little as possible so no one notices our conversation. I suddenly spot Lily’s face, her eyes wide, a questioning smile. We obviously aren’t being as subtle as I thought we were. Thankfully the end of the aisle comes quickly and we part before the music changes.
Hannah and her father step into the doorway, both beaming with excitement. Hannah truly does look lovely in her giant princess gown. When I glance over at my brother he’s fighting back tears but looks as in love as anyone I’ve ever seen. They’re absolutely perfect for each other. I smile at him when he looks my way but then notice that Jack and Liam are both watching me, with very different smiles on their faces.
Liam’s smile is that smile every girl wants to see. The one they make internet memes out of that say something like Find a man that looks at you like Joe Biden looks at Obama. Honestly, that smile freaks me out far more than it should. I didn’t really come here to find love or anything like it. This is supposed to be something just short of a business arrangement. But this smile, the kiss last night, and his flattery have somehow convinced everyone, but Jack, that we are almost a couple.<
br />
Jack, though? His smile is almost a silent plea that is piercing right through my soul. It’s the same smile he would use when we were together and I was mad at him. Which was rare. How is he doing this to me? He’s got me wondering things that have nothing to do with getting back at him.
I force a small smile back in their direction, but for some reason, my eyes are on Jack. Damn him. I can’t get the memories to stop replaying in my head. It was so much easier to be in control when I was two thousand miles away.
If I’m honest, that’s partly why I left. I wanted to be in control and I couldn’t do that seeing him every day. I deserve the man who would do anything to make sure I knew how much he loved me and Jack lost that the day we broke up. He sat back and waited. Waited for me to decide to forgive him, to take second place to Madison or Greta, or whoever. I don’t want to be in second place.
*
“Wasn’t it beautiful,” I say to Lily, as we walk into the reception room.
Amelia really spared no expense with this wedding. Sheer panels hang from the ceiling, backlit with soft lighting. Giant crystal chandeliers hang over every table with centerpieces of all white flowers taller than me. “Did you see Evan as Hannah walked down the aisle?” I ask, mesmerized by the atmosphere of the room.
“I did,” she says, glancing at me as we stand near the bar. “I also saw you and Jack as you walked down the aisle. You both looked… happy? What was that about?”
“What?” I grab a glass of wine from the bartender and guiltily glance back at Lily.
“What happened?”
“I agreed to talk…” I spot Liam heading in my direction.
“I told you,” Liam says, planting a kiss on my cheek.
“You told her what?” Josh asks.
“That she’d be the most beautiful girl in the room.” Both Lily and Josh’s eyebrows rise in confusion.
“That’s too sweet,” I force a pinched smile in their direction to gloat about me being the prettiest. “It’s not true, but it’s sweet.” It might not be completely true but that doesn’t mean I have to ignore it.
“I think it’s true,” Liam says, but his attention is on Lily and Josh.
“Thank you. How was Greta? I saw she made herself comfortable next to you. Sorry about that.”
“She’s an odd one, that’s for sure. She kept asking what I thought of your hair. And your spray tan.”
“Why would she care about those?”
“I don’t know,” he shakes his head. “But she made sure to tell me what a morning you’d had, and how everything had gone wrong for you. She said you’re always this unlucky and that I should run as far as possible from you.” He laughs when he says it. I, however, can almost feel the steam rising from my head. How dare she try and control the situation through my date!
Wait… Did she? The hair, the spray tan, the purple shampoo…
“You don’t think—” I start to ask Lily, who is already nodding her head.
“It makes sense, considering nothing went wrong with any of the other girls, and she was there the entire time.” She inhales through her nose, her nostrils flaring. “I can’t believe we didn’t see this before!”
“She sabotaged me? For what?” I say it far too loud, causing people near us to turn in our direction to see what the commotion is about.
Right then she and Jack walk into the room. Without a further thought, I start marching towards them until I feel a hand pull me to a stop.
“Emi, I don’t think this is a great idea, not here.” Liam tries to stop me but I pull away from him and stomp my way to them.
“YOU BITCH!” I spit at her in a hiss much louder than intended. “You did this!” I point to my hair. Greta starts to back away from me slowly, putting Jack between us as a human shield.
“What’s going on?” Jack asks, glancing between the two of us, obviously more than clueless.
“She hates me… For what, though? You know she tried to make me look like a complete fool today?” I snap at Jack who tries to process what I’m saying.
“Come on…” he glances at a trembling Greta. “She would never…” His face drops in disbelief when she doesn’t offer any explanation or denial.
“Ask her… Ask her about my hair, or my spray tan…”
“PLEASE WELCOME, OUR STAR COUPLE… MR AND MRS… EVAN AND HANNAH HARRISON.” The DJ interrupts us and we all stop speaking and look towards the doors that Evan and Hannah are running through, hand in hand.
“Emi, let’s not do this here.” Lily and Liam are now either side of me, trying to convince me to walk away from Jack and Greta. But I can’t.
“Not until she admits it.”
“Girls… What is going on?” Amelia approaches us, glancing between the two of us. “I’m not sure what’s happening, but let’s move it outside the reception.” She corrals all of us out into the hallway, and closes the doors to the reception room. Greta keeps Jack between us as a buffer. “Now what is the problem?”
“Go ahead and tell them, Greta.” I cross my arms over my chest waiting to hear the lie she’s about to tell.
“There is no problem, Mrs Cabot.” Greta shrugs her shoulders with a nervous laugh, probably trying to convince herself that she hasn’t been caught.
“How did you even get in my room to change the shampoo?” I wait for her to answer, but she just rolls her eyes. “Or the spray tan, how did you set that up? The hairdresser who fried off my hair, was that planned or was that just a lucky coincidence?”
“Puh-lease. You can’t prove I did any of that. You’re just bad luck… always have been. By the way, I’ve heard about your so called lucky dress, and trust me, there isn’t enough luck in the world to help you out, not even in an ugly, so two seasons ago, dress.” Greta rolls her eyes with an irritated groan, as if I’m the most pathetic person on the planet to believe in something like luck. That dress is lucky. She might be right about it being from two seasons ago but who cares? Some of the best moments of my life have happened while I was wearing it. There is no other explanation for it but luck.
Amelia’s glare towards Greta makes even me shiver in fear. “Maybe we should contact the spray tan employee and ask her? Surely that would prove your innocence, right, Greta?”
We all watch her open her mouth to speak, but then suddenly decide against it.
Liam steps up beside me. “Greta, I do find it unusual that everything Emi just mentioned are the very same things you asked me about just before she and Jack walked down the aisle. There is just one more thing I hadn’t mentioned to Emi yet…”
“What?” I turn to Liam, worried about what other damage she’s done.
Liam glances to Greta’s left hand, everyone’s gaze following.
My heart stops in my chest. Like freezes. “My ring,” I look over at Jack who’s now got a hand on the back of his neck as he turns away, walking a few steps and then turning back to look back at her hand with narrowed eyes. “You asked her to marry you?” I ask, when he glances back at me.
“No,” he shakes his head before grabbing her hand and staring down at the engagement ring that once sat on my hand. “Where did you get this?” he says with his voice raised.
“I uh – stumbled across it in your desk drawer. Obviously, you were just planning it out, so I saved you some time. I thought maybe we could announce it tonight?” she bats her eyes as if trying to convince him telepathically.
Jack backs away from her, his head shaking the entire time. “No, no, no. NO, I wasn’t planning anything out and there will be no announcements. I’ve had that ring in my desk since Emi and I—” he looks to the floor, obviously mortified that he’s living this in front of his whole family.
“Did you do those things to Emi?” Amelia interrupts as Jack walks down the hall partially losing it with Greta’s revelation.
Greta shakes her head in denial, but the glistening of sweat on her forehead isn’t the physical reaction of someone who is innocent. I know from watching too many w
ho-done-it TV shows.
“Fine, OK? I may have had something to do with them, but you totally deserved it. Look what you do to Jack when he’s around you. He hasn’t been the same since you got here. He’s miserable.”
I’m staring down the hall, my eyes never leaving Jack. When he turns towards us our eyes meet.
“I’m not miserable,” he says to me in a near whisper. “I’m also not dating Greta. Not really…”
I look at Greta whose mouth drops open as if this is the first time she’s hearing this from him. Considering she just shocked him by showing up to his sister’s wedding wearing my old engagement ring, I’m thinking she makes her own rules and has a lot of conversations that no one else knows about.
“Greta, there is something I’ve wondered about quite often these last few weeks.” Amelia’s arms are crossed in front of her and her pacing between us is more than nerve-wracking. “There was a story a friend of mine brought to my attention at a party you and Jack both attended. I’d like to get a straight answer from you about it.”
“Mom, don’t get involved,” Jack growls.
“This involves you too, Jack. I would think it would be of importance to you.”
Jack looks back to me, all the same emotions on his face that I can feel in mine. Shock, regret, humiliation, and pain.
“Elsie Graham, the mother of a girl called Madison Graham, told me a story I couldn’t quite believe at the time,” Amelia continues. Greta sucks in her breath and suddenly looks completely terrified, unsure where to run. “You are friends with Madison Graham, am I right?”
“Not really,” Greta shakes her head continuously.
Amelia frowns. “Maybe you’re not close any longer, but you were close a year ago, correct?”
Greta is still shaking her head. “I wouldn’t say close, I knew of her.”
“You knew of her enough to send her in Jack’s direction when he was looking for a new assistant?” This time, Greta doesn’t answer, only shrugs her shoulders.
“Wait a minute…” Jack finally speaks as he walks towards Greta in the center of the room. “Madison Graham, my former assistant? That Madison?”