by Annie Jocoby
“Serena,” Nick said, giving me a big hug. “It’s good to see you.”
Scotty also gave me a hug. “You look beautiful,” she said to me.
“I’d say the same about you. My god, girl, you just don’t age.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. I wish. But thank you so much for saying that.”
“Where are the kids?”
“They’ll be along a bit later. You know how twenty-somethings are. They like to be fashionably late, and our kids are no different.”
I scanned the room and found Slade mesmerized in conversation with the Senator. After a few minutes, though, I saw him surveying the room, and I thought that maybe he was looking for me. “Would you excuse me,” I said to Nick and Scotty. “I think that my boyfriend needs me.”
After talking to everyone a few minutes more, I headed back to our table.
“Senator Hodges is very helpful for me,” Slade said in a low voice when I got back to the table. “He has some sway with the FDA, so hopefully the approval of one of my drugs will be on the fast track. It’s a drug that will hopefully be another huge hit, so the faster it gets to market, the better off we will be.”
“What drug are you talking about?”
“The marijuana pill. Also, Senator Hodges has been on the forefront in removing marijuana from the Schedule One list. It’s going to be difficult mass-marketing this pill when marijuana is still not only illegal on the federal level, but also considered to be one of the most dangerous drugs there is by the federal government. As it is, the marijuana pill is only going to be available in the states where the drug is legal, of course. But I think that it can do extremely well for people who can’t tolerate smoking it and don’t like edibles because they take too long and are too unpredictable. This pill might also open up the market, in general, once people start to realize how much good it’s going to do.”
“Well, good luck with that,” I said to him, squeezing his knee.
He smiled. “How are your brother and your new sisters-in-law?”
“They all seem to be doing fine. Mark would like to ride back with us to San Diego, if that’s okay. He drove here, but he wants to sell his car anyhow. Would that be okay?”
“The more the merrier.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “I knew that you would say that.”
“Of course. I’m all for you taking any chance you can to reconnect with your family. I know how much you miss them and regret the years that you were estranged.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Slade’s gorgeous face. I realized that I loved him more than I thought it was possible to love another human being. He was always so kind and loving and good to me. Then I closed my eyes, and didn’t try to tune into his vibrations or anyone else’s. I was searching within myself for answers to my future with Slade. There was still so much against it. I needed to continue to keep a wall up, because if I didn’t, I was surely going to be hurt. Or worse. Charlotte had plans for me, of that I was sure.
Just then, the wedding party was coming through the door. Actually, there wasn’t really a wedding party, since Dalilah and Luke apparently decided not to have attendants. So, it was really just the happy couple. Everyone stood and applauded as they took their seats at the head table. Also seated at this table were Ryan, Iris, my father, and his new wife, Carolyn. They sat down, and then the waiters started to bring around the food in covered dishes. Everyone dined on steak and lobster with risotto, while I was served a scrumptious vegetable lasagna with cashew cheese. It was evident that Ryan had pulled out all the stops for this affair, and why shouldn’t he? His only child was getting married.
Dalilah looked every inch the gorgeous, blushing bride. Another gorgeous woman had little Olivia in her arms, and she handed the child to Dalilah, who cradled her while she ate her dinner. Luke had his arm protectively around his wife-to-be, and I thought that I had never seen him so happy in my life.
The food was delicious, and, to my surprise, I found myself actually enjoying talking with Senator Hodges and Alex Moore about the issues. I was always interested in talking policy to powerful people, and Senator Hodges was knowledgeable about some of my key issues. Alex entertained us with unusual stories that concerned the area of bio-ethics, which was always a controversial one.
After everyone was done eating, we were entertained by a slide-show showing pictures of both Dalilah and Luke as they were growing up. Dalilah was shown playing soccer, reading a difficult book at a very young age, and going to various parties around the world. Her artwork was also displayed on the screen, and I was astounded by how mature it was, even though she did her best work when she was only 11 years old. Dalilah appeared, through the photo montage, to be a popular girl who even went through her own punk phase at one time. Some of the pictures showed her hair dyed various shades of the rainbow, as she looked at the camera with a sullen expression.
Luke’s montage was similar, yet strikingly dissimilar in many ways. There were no photos of Luke blowing out candles with the Alps in the background, as there were with Dalilah. Luke had never even been overseas before he met Dalilah. In these photos, he was fishing with our dad, rough-housing with various friends, and, in some of the most poignant photos, was hugging our mother. I couldn’t help but feel a lump in my throat as I looked at those particular photos, for Luke and my mom looked extremely happy. There was mom and a 2-year-old Luke at Macy’s for the Thanksgiving Parade. There they were at an amusement park, with Luke looking like he wanted to puke and mom smiling broadly. They were part of the family photos that were taken while we camped. And on and on.
The lights finally came on and Dalilah addressed the crowd. “I’d like to thank everyone for coming tonight. Tomorrow is going to be just an incredible experience, and it’s going to be even more special because you will all be there too. Luke and I are just incredibly happy to have so much love, light and warmth surrounding us.”
Luke stood up, and I knew that he wasn’t much of a public speaker. He looked kind of embarrassed to be speaking to such a large crowd of people, but he managed a few words. “You guys rock,” he said. “Dalilah and I are completely excited to start our lives together, and I know that a few of you traveled across the country to be here, so thanks.”
Everyone applauded again, and I looked over at Slade. I was thinking how nice it would be if the two of us were addressing a crowd in our near future. He was looking at me, and, when I closed my eyes, I felt the love coming from him. I felt hope. Hope was emanating from every one of his pores. Yet, underlying all the positive emotions I was feeling from him, I also distinctly felt a sense of worry. I knew why – he was worried that he and I weren’t going to get our happy ending. He was still trying to figure out the quagmire that was Charlotte, and, thus far, neither of us had a good plan to deal with her.
Slade put his arm around me and whispered “I thought that coming here would freak me out just a bit, although I didn’t tell you that. But I’m actually feeling inspired by these two. Maybe a happy ending isn’t so much out of the question for you and me.”
I felt the tingles when he said that to me, and, just for a moment, I started to feel my own brand of hope. There were obstacles in front of Slade and me and they were enormous. But were they insurmountable? Were the obstacles in the way of Dalilah and Luke insurmountable? They seemed to be for the longest time, but they overcame them. Slade and I would overcome ours as well. We had to.
Dessert came around and the wine was flowing freely. After dessert was served, everyone got up and mingled about, and a band appeared and set up. They soon were playing a mix of dance tunes and some alternative rock, and I wondered how the actual reception was going to go. This rehearsal dinner seemed more like a party than a dinner, but, then again, the reception was going to be on the beach, so it was probably going to be one helluva time.
By the time the evening came to a close, I was thoroughly convinced that Slade and I were going to beat the odds. We would. Just like couples did, a
ll over the world. It was harder for Slade and me, just because not everyone had a psycho involved who wanted them dead, but we were still going to make it.
We just had to.
Chapter 18
The next day was the actual wedding, and, I had to admit, Mother Nature was being completely cooperative. It was October, so the weather was always going to be questionable. Yet the day turned out to be unseasonably warm, for Indian Summer had apparently rolled in while nobody was looking. Even on the beach, people were able to wear their suits and dresses without jackets or hats, and Dalilah, in her sleeveless and backless white dress, looked gorgeous and not at all shivering. Still, the evening was bound to be a bit cool, even if the daytime was warm, so I hoped that they had plenty of heat lamps under the tents that were set up throughout the sandy beach.
Dalilah made her way to the altar, with Ryan next to her, his arm interlocking with hers. I couldn’t help but think that I hadn't seen two more beautiful people in my entire life than those two. Dalilah actually looked happier than I had ever seen her. And my brother looked like he just won the lottery. That actually was accurate, because marrying Dalilah was like winning the lottery.
She got to the altar, and she actually seemed just a bit nervous. The preacher was talking about love, commitment and sticking things out through thick and thin, and Luke and Dalilah were just standing there, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes. When Luke started to talk, his voice cracked a little, and I thought, for just a second, that he was holding back tears. He might have been, although I confess that I had never seen him cry. Not even after our mother was killed. He was a stoic sort, although very good-natured.
Dalilah’s turn came and she recited a beautiful poem that she said she created herself. As she spoke, I thought that Dalilah had a special talent for words, almost as great as her talent for the canvas.
While the ceremony was carrying on, Slade was gripping my hand tightly. He was rubbing his thumb on the crease between my own thumb and index finger. “What are you thinking?” he whispered to me.
I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to tell him what I was really thinking. I was thinking that I wanted Slade and me to be at the altar sometime in the near future. But I couldn’t tell him that. I was always getting an odd vibe from him that prevented me from really telling him that I saw forever with him. “Just that I think I’ve never seen two happier people in my life.”
Slade smiled. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”
At some point, the preacher told Luke to “kiss the bride,” and he did, giving her a long, long kiss. Then everybody started to clap and throw rose petals as the two practically sprinted down the aisle. They were laughing, and everybody else started to laugh as well. There was such a feeling of love and light in this space, and it wasn’t just that the day was warm and sunny, and the ocean was just feet away. It was that Luke and Dalilah just spread happiness throughout the crowd.
We all followed them to the reception, which was also on the beach, in tents that were set up throughout. In the tents, there was good alcohol flowing freely, and a smorgasbord of rich food. Lobsters, filet mignons, different salads, tropical fruits, and various side dishes were warming up in pans. There was a band in each of the tents, and each band was playing a different style of music. One was playing standards, another was playing dance music, another was playing show tunes, another was playing alternative rock, and yet another was playing classical. Slade and I wandered around the tents, socializing with people as we went, and drinking lots of champagne.
Slade and I waited until the crowd around the couple had thinned out, and we approached them. I gave them both a hug. “Kid, you did it,” I said to Luke. “After what you guys went through, I was skeptical, but you did it. Congratulations.”
Luke was smiling, big. “Of course we did it. There was never a doubt in my mind. Not when Dalilah was trapped in that hell of a marriage with that creep, and not when all those horrible things happened to us. I never lost faith.”
Dalilah chimed in. “I was never as sure as Luke was that we would be endgame, but I always hoped that we would be.” She whispered to me. “If I believed in the concept of soul mates, I would say that I found mine.”
I looked over at Slade. “I think that I did too.”
She smiled and shook Slade’s hand daintily. Slade took her hand and then embraced her in a hug. She almost blushed when he did that. Most women did blush around Slade, I thought. He just had that effect on almost everyone.
The happy couple had the first dance, and then everyone joined in. As Louis Armstrong sang about a wonderful world, Slade held me tight against him. I put my head on this chest, and wrapped both my arms around him. He hummed the song in my ear, and I felt like I was going to melt in a pool right there on the floor.
The night went on like that. As evening fell, the heat lamps came on, and everyone started to get at least slightly tipsy. Slade and I danced all night, going from one tent to another, and generally feeling the love surround us. There wasn’t anything in that evening but happiness. Charlotte and her evil plan felt like it was a zillion miles away.
Of course, I knew that this was a feeling that I had that evening, and I was fairly certain that it was a moment that was fleeting, as all moments are. A course correction was coming soon, and it wasn’t going to be stopped.
Of that, I was sure.
Chapter 19
We spent the rest of the weekend exploring old haunts and, on Monday, we met Mark at the airport. He was dressed casually in jeans and a sweater, and he had his luggage ready to go. “I sold my car,” he said. “And I’m ready to get back.”
“As we all are,” I said, glancing at Slade. I felt a well of nervous energy coming to the surface, and I tried to tamp it down. The weekend had been so perfect, magical even, that the coming reality in San Diego was going to be even more difficult to face. That was always the problem with vacations in general – there was bound to be a post-vacation letdown, no matter what happened.
We all boarded Slade’s plane, and, for the first few minutes, I thought that the ride back was going to be awkward. I never had much to say to Mark. Out of all my brothers, he was the one that I felt bonded to the least. It was just that he always seemed to be just a bit uptight and judgmental. He was an identical twin to Chris, and they couldn’t be more different.
To my surprise, though, Mark opened up to me on the plane. I learned about his studies, and his girlfriend. I found out that he was an avid surfer, and that was one of the reasons why he was so excited to relocate to Southern California. The three of us talked all the way back to San Diego, and I found out more about my brother than I had ever known.
At some point, the conversation turned from what was going on in his life, presently, to what happened to everyone in the past. Specifically, Mark wanted me to know how everyone was feeling about me, in light of all that had gone down between me and the rest of the family over the years.
“Serena, I’m really glad that we have this time to talk,” he said. “I kind of promised Luke that I would give you a chance and he was the one who suggested that I ride back with you. I’m all for that, especially since I really needed to get rid of my hoopdie anyhow.” He smiled. “I’m going to miss that old girl, though. She and I have gone through a lot.”
“Luke wanted you to reconnect, huh?”
“Yeah. Listen, I don’t know if you know this. You probably do, but I’ll tell you anyhow. Ever since you and Luke have been on better terms, he’s been urging everyone else to do the same. That’s why we all went out of our way to talk to you on this trip. I confess, I didn’t want to come on this airplane trip with you. You’ve really been shitty to the family over the years. But I think that you’re really trying to be a better person, and I know that you’ve gotten counseling. I see that you have changed, and, while I’m hesitant to trust you, I think that I’m willing to try.”
“Thank you. That’s all that I can ask. I might never fully get
your love and respect, nor Amy’s for that matter, but if you guys can just see past all that water under the bridge, I think that we can all be a family again.”
Mark smiled and took another sip of his drink. He was drinking a Tanqueray and tonic, and Slade was sipping a neat scotch. I had elected to stay off the alcohol for this trip, just because I had drunk far too much over the course of the weekend, and I needed a break.
We made more small talk through the trip, and the plane finally touched down at Lindbergh Field around midnight. Slade had arranged for a limo to take Mark his house, and, before Mark got into the car, he embraced me. “It’s really good to get to know you,” he said. “I live in town, so don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t.” I put my hand in his hair. “It’s good to see you, too. Take care of yourself.”
“I will.”
And he was gone.
I watched him drive away and then I turned to Slade. “Well, we’re back. I guess tomorrow I need to go ahead and move back to my place. That might appease Charlotte just a little, won’t it?”
“I hate to say it, but I think that you’re right about that.” He took a deep breath. “I need to try to settle things again with Charlotte.”
When he said that last part, I felt a well of panic start to rise up in my throat. Slade had hinted that he might have to give Charlotte what she wanted, in order to save me, and I hated to think about what that would mean. I knew what Charlotte wanted – she wanted to be Mrs. Slade Bridgewell. She had wanted that, apparently, since she was young. Would Slade be forced to do that? Would I allow that to happen?
I shook my head. No, I would never allow that to happen. No matter what, I was going to fight for Slade until the bitter end. It might cost me my life, but, then again, I couldn’t imagine life without Slade. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see Slade and Charlotte in the society pages all the time. To see his pasted-on smile as he became a part of the Hollywood Elite, along with that awful witch. I knew that Charlotte wanted her and Slade to be some kind of power couple, the kind of couple who would be in the tabloids all the time and would generally rule the movie industry with an iron fist.