Sex Happens

by Carol Soloway

  “Your daughter died?” she asked, shocked. “You’ve got your two daughters and a grandson living with you now, and you take care of them all? And you didn’t tell me any of this, except for the one who moved in when we first started dating?”

  “I’m used to taking care of everyone. I can handle more than you can imagine.”

  “Like what?” she asked, hoping to unpeel some of his mystery. But then she recalled how it had been months until she’d been able to tell anyone Gabe had moved out. Maybe, she decided, it was too painful for him to talk about his loss.

  “Alex, I believe the man should protect his woman, his family. I’m the person my family depends on.” He stroked her leg.

  “Don’t,” she said. “And how could you have a thirteen-year-old grandson?”

  “My daughter had him when she was only fifteen.”

  “That’s really young,” Alex said, certain he was telling her the truth. No one would ever makeup a story like that.

  “My daughter was … I can’t discuss it.”

  She decided he probably wasn’t going to tell her any more, but the glimpses of violence—the gun, the shattered glass—this was a part of Luke she’d never seen before. And he’d always been so gentle with her when they made love. Which was real?

  He drew her close.

  She pulled away.

  “Alex, you know you get the best part of me.” He smiled at her. “I’ve got another idea that will make everything better for you.”

  “Right now I need you to leave.” She went to the door and opened it.

  “I’m leaving, but you’re going to be surprised at how I’m going to change.” He winked at her and left.

  ◆◆◆

  At five thirty the next morning, Luke rang her doorbell.

  She stared at Luke Jackson, the man who’d been her lover, now standing there—a stranger dressed in green work pants and a matching green jacket. He put his hands in his pockets, and his jacket opened to reveal a too-yellow shirt with “LUKE” sewn on it in cursive writing. Then she looked up at his yellow cap with the white toilet-bowl logo and “LUKE” embossed over the rim.

  Suddenly, she felt disconnected from this man standing on her doorstep in a uniform that announced his name not once but twice. “What are you doing here?” she asked and tied the sash on her red velour bathrobe.

  “You think I could have a cup of coffee?” he asked.

  Confused by his casual request, his uniform, and his unexpected appearance at her door at five thirty, she asked, “If you own the franchise, why do you wear a uniform?”

  “If one of the technicians calls in sick, I’m ready.”

  It doesn’t make sense, she thought as she went to the kitchen to make coffee.

  Luke followed her.

  She measured the coffee.

  After putting his cap down on the counter, Luke took a seat at the kitchen table. “Do you think you could make me a slice of toast?”

  “One slice or two?” Alex asked. Recently, she’d become accustomed to her solitary breakfasts. Now her own morning voice surprised her.

  They buttered their toast, drank their coffee, and talked about nothing.

  He winked at her and asked, “Like to go up to the bedroom for a while before I leave for work?”

  “No,” she said. Then, slipping back into her usual desire to please him, she said, “I’ve got to get ready for work.”

  “It won’t take that long.” He got up, leaned over her, slid his arms around her, and kissed her neck.

  “No,” she repeated, wondering how she was going to untangle herself from the gravitational pull he exerted upon her.

  “Give me just one more chance. You’ll never see anything from me but love.”

  “Love?” she repeated. Their relationship had been what she’d thought she needed right after Gabe, but she wasn’t certain she’d ever fall in love again. And, it certainly wasn’t now.

  “Let me at least prove it to you. I want to go to the wedding with you and show you how I can be there for you.”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “But if I see one more demonstration of temper, I will not tolerate it.”

  “You’ll see.” He kissed her forehead.

  “Right now I just don’t know.” She walked to the door and signaled for him to leave.

  CHAPTER 29

  As Alex dressed for Judi’s daughter’s wedding, she was nervous about whether it was appropriate to have invited Luke. Although she’d promised herself Gabe was no longer going to invade her life, she didn’t want to go to a formal event alone, especially if he was going to be there. She thought about David, the gynecologist from the Flying Samaritans, and decided he would have been the perfect escort for the wedding. She imagined him in a tuxedo—his tall, svelte physique, twinkly green eyes, and thick gray hair. Most of all, she recalled his smile—so warm and inviting. She closed her eyes, imagined dancing with David, and wondered whether she’d be able to join him next month in Mexico.

  Since the First Friday Book Club women had all decided on formal attire, Alex took out her long red evening gown. She pulled it over her head and looked in the mirror. The three bands of rhinestones across the top sparkled in the light. The dress fit perfectly, but she wasn’t certain she was confident enough to survive an evening where she’d be surrounded by physicians and their wives, all of whom had to know Gabriel Rose had left her.

  When the doorbell rang, she grabbed her heels and rushed to open the door.

  Luke smiled at her. “You look nice.”

  “Thanks.” Alex stared nervously at his light-gray suit, inappropriate for the black-tie-optional wedding.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Sure, why?” She knew it was too late for him to go home and change, and he probably had no suit that was better. At least he was wearing a tie.

  “You seem edgy,” he said.

  “I promised myself I wouldn’t let Gabe get to me, but I’m anxious about seeing him at the wedding with Linda, his fiancée,” Alex admitted. Also, Judi had told her Gabe and Linda’s relationship was now out in the open, which meant Gabe had probably been made a partner.

  Luke put his arm around her. “You’ll be fine.”

  Longing to believe him, she nodded.

  He kissed her cheek. “Can we take your car? Mine’s a mess, and with your fancy dress and all …”

  She handed him her car keys and pushed the button for the garage. He helped her into the car and walked around to the driver’s side. He got in, adjusted the seat, and inserted the key. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he winked at her. “Here.” He handed her a tiny box.

  Alex opened the box and was shocked. There was a ring with two gold hearts entwined. She wondered why he was giving her a gift, much less a ring.

  “Put it on your finger.” He smiled. “I was going to wait for your birthday, but I thought you might want to wear it tonight.”

  She slipped the ring with the two tiny hearts onto her right ring finger. “It fits perfectly.”

  “Alex, you could wear it on the other hand.”

  “I like it on the right, and I’ll wear it there,” she said. Then she saw his disappointment and moved it to her left ring finger. “The ring is beautiful.”

  “You’re beautiful.” He kissed her hand. “I told you I’d be making changes, and I have another surprise for you.”

  Wondering how he was going to change, or for that matter, if she really wanted more from a relationship with him, she asked, “What’s the surprised?”

  “You’ll see.” He turned up the CD player and hummed to “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” the same CD he’d brought to her the first time they’d made love.

  As Luke pulled into the parking lot of the Beverly Hills Jewish Center, he reassured her, “Don’t worry.”

  She looped he
r arm through his, and they walked into the synagogue. An imposing chandelier like the one in Phantom of the Opera dominated the entryway and spotlighted some familiar faces of couples with whom Alex and Gabe had socialized, couples they knew from the hospital. As she walked farther into the chapel, she took a deep breath and nodded at some of the physicians and their wives. They appeared to glare at her, or she was just imagining it? She wondered what Gabe had told them about their divorce.

  Luke took her hand, and they followed the crowd into the chapel. A tuxedoed young man shepherded them to seats on the bride’s side of the white-ribboned aisle. Alex sat beside Luke, fingering the diamond hearts on the ring he’d just given to her.

  Radiant in a midnight-blue backless gown with a slit up the right side, Meredith slipped in next to Alex. “Your Denzel’s gorgeous,” she whispered to Alex and then put out her hand to Luke. “And you are?”

  “Luke,” he said and reached across Alex to shake Meredith’s hand. “Glad to meet you.”

  Meredith took a loud, deep breath and whispered, “Even sexier than I imagined.” She winked at Alex and then introduced her boyfriend, Warren, to Luke.

  The music started. Everyone turned to face the back to watch the wedding procession—first the groom, followed by the attendants.

  There was a hush.

  Upon hearing the first few bars of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D Major,” everyone stood up.

  Luke seemed surprised. “Why don’t they play, ‘Here Comes the Bride’ when she walks down the aisle?” he whispered.

  “Wagner was anti-Semitic, and they don’t play it at Jewish weddings,” she explained.

  Suddenly, the back wall of the synagogue parted, revealing a beaming bride flanked by her parents, Judi and Gary. The groom walked back down the aisle toward his bride.

  Luke chuckled and whispered to Alex, “He’s backing out, huh?”

  “No,” she said. “The groom’s supposed to take the bride from her parents and ask for their blessing. It’s customary for the groom to escort the bride to the chuppah.”

  “Coopa?” he repeated.

  “It’s that canopy covering the bride and groom. It’s where they take their vows, and it’s a symbol of the home they’ll build together,” she said.

  “That little piece of cloth?”

  “That’s the way it’s supposed to be: open on all sides, symbolizing how family and friends will always be welcomed at the new couple’s home.”

  “Well, maybe my family should be Jewish with all the people I got camped out at my house,” Luke said and laughed.

  Alex watched as the bride and groom clasped hands and walked toward the rabbi. During the ceremony, she pretended to listen but replayed her own wedding instead. How did we travel so far away from those promises? And how did those promises morph into lies?

  When the groom stomped on the glass, the pop reverberated throughout the chapel, bringing Alex back to the moment.

  Everyone yelled, “Mazel tov!” and applauded.

  “Why’d the groom stamp his foot?” Luke asked. “Last time he’ll do that, I’m sure.”

  “They wrap a light bulb in cloth, and the groom stomps on it, symbolizing the destruction of the first temple and the fragility of Jewish life all over the world.”

  “That’s kind of depressing.”

  “No, it also reminds us that relationships are as fragile as glass,” she said and for the first time in her life, she understood how true that was.

  “Whatever.” Luke shrugged.

  Alex looked down at the ring he’d given her. The two entwined hearts on the ring definitely did not represent their shared future. She wanted more from a relationship than momentary pleasure, but she had to heal first. She had to wait until the sight of Gabe didn’t make her heart pound the way it had when they were young and in love. She turned to watch the bridal procession leave the chapel.

  As the other guests followed the wedding party to the foyer, Alex and Luke waited for their row to exit. They moved into the foyer where people crowded around white-gloved waiters carrying trays of artfully arranged kebabs, stuffed mushroom caps, and miniature knishes. Then they negotiated a path to the table with place cards denoting their seat assignments. As she reached for the card with her name, her hand collided with Gabe’s. Their glances locked.

  Gabe stared at her right wrist as though seeing the scar for the first time. His expression exuding disdain, he asked, “Alexandra, what’re you doing here?”

  “I was invited,” she said calmly, confidently.

  Luke moved closer to her, his left hand on the small of her back as he extended his right hand to Gabe. “Luke Jackson. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  Alex watched Gabe stare at his own hand, now swallowed up within Luke’s huge, powerful grasp. Then she looked down. Gabe was standing on his tiptoes, as if trying to equal Luke’s imposing frame. There seemed an odd sense of familiarity between the two men. Could it be because I’ve slept with them both? No, there was something else; they had an eerie connection.

  Luke released Gabe’s hand and settled his own on Alex’s bare shoulder. Reflexively, she placed her left hand atop Luke’s. Appearing shocked at the appearance of a ring on the finger that had once held the diamond wedding band he had given her, Gabe gaped at her, turned, and walked away.

  As Gabe proceeded to his table, Alex studied Linda. Statuesque with long frosted hair, Linda wore a light-pink dress with a plunging neckline that provided the perfect backdrop for her dazzling garnet necklace.

  “You’re better looking,” Luke said, as though reading her mind. “Hot.”

  Why can’t I take my eyes off Linda? Why am I measuring myself against my ex-husband’s paramour, and why do I feel inadequate? Does every woman who has been left by a man give her ego over to the woman who replaced her? Alex slipped her hand through Luke’s arm and walked to the First Friday Book Club women’s table. She decided neither Linda nor any woman was ever going to make her feel inadequate. The past was over and, with this incredible group of women to support her, she’d be fine—she hoped.

  Sophisticated in a black handkerchief skirt and pale-blue satin blouse, Liz motioned to two empty chairs. “Alex, Luke, sit here,” Liz said.

  “Helloooo!” Terrie approached with her husband, Lawrence. Her maroon velvet dress and matching hat were classic Terrie—romantic, soft, pale, with a touch of Bohemia. Taking their seats, Terrie introduced herself and her husband to Luke.

  The bandleader announced, “The couple’s first dance as husband and wife will be to ‘I Will Always Love You.’”

  Alex was overcome by emotion. She didn’t want to hear her own wedding song—not now, not with Gabe within her peripheral vision.

  Then the bandleader invited everyone to join the bride and groom on the dance floor.

  As though on cue, with a familiarity that comes from years of knowing on which side of the bed to sleep, couples throughout the room flowed onto the dance floor.

  “Shall we dance?” Alex asked.

  Luke shook his head. “Not my kind of music.”

  “I danced at your club,” she said softly.

  Reluctantly, Luke stood up and escorted Alex to the dance floor. He took her in his arms with an unexpected reserve—until Gabe and Linda joined them on the dance floor. Suddenly, Luke transformed into the provocative dancer who’d first taken her to the club.

  Luke twirled her around as though to showcase her. Exuding blatant sensuality, he held her close. Couples next to them stopped and stared. He became the music—sexy, seductive. Alex glanced over at Gabe dancing stiffly. She felt confident within Luke’s graceful embrace.

  When the song ended, Luke slid his arm around her waist, assuring her, “I can hold my own with any man. When you’re with me, I’ll make sure you do too.”

  “Yummy,” Terrie said as she walked past Alex.


  They took their seats.

  Meredith winked at Alex from across the table.

  Luke picked up his fork and pushed the endive salad around his plate.

  “Now, this is a good salad,” Terrie said as she ate the candied walnuts with the gusto usually reserved for the hamburgers she regularly consumed at the First Friday Book Club meetings.

  “I’m not much for rabbit food.” Luke put down his fork.

  The waiter cleared the salad plates and proceeded to put the next course down in front of each of them.

  Terrie gestured at Luke’s plate of smoked salmon and whitefish dressed with a dollop of sour cream, capers, and a lemon wedge. “Luke, what fish do you catch?”

  “Well, actually, Alex is getting good at fishing. If you ladies like bass, she’ll fill your freezers.” Luke nodded approvingly at Alex.

  “Speaking of fish and, of course, water, Luke, I hear you own a plumbing company,” Meredith said.

  Alex knew Meredith was checking to see if he’d been truthful about owning the company.

  “And I have another company on the side,” Luke said. “SNAP, Service Not Attitude Plumbing.”

  “Very clever,” Meredith said with apparent disdain.

  Warren, her boyfriend, reached across the table and handed Luke a card. “Well, Meredith, my girlfriend, is an attorney. If you’re ever looking for a real shark.”

  “Meredith’s in corporate real estate,” Alex said, thinking Luke’s need for a real estate attorney was improbable.

  “Excuse me.” The waiter presented their dinner choices: chicken wrapped in a pastry shell layered with asparagus or a thick cut of roast beef with scalloped potatoes. Luke selected the beef and Alex opted for chicken.

  The evening was going even better than Alex had expected.

  CHAPTER 30

  While they ate dinner, children and pets dominated the conversation as the First Friday Book Club women and their men exchanged stories. The soft violin music provided the perfect background for their conversation, filling in some of the awkward pauses that occurred whenever Luke was asked a question about his family.