by Melissa Jane
“Okay, brunch will be served soon, so don’t be too long.”
I nod before running up the stairs and disappearing inside. Keen to get away from the hustle, I find a bathroom on the second floor. Standing in front of the mirror, I remove my dark glasses and stare at my pitiful face. A face that’s letting the universe get the better of me. A face that’s allowing fate to mock and ridicule my existence.
Jase is right, even in my cute-as-hell sundress and wedges, I do look like shit. Well, a lesser, still half-drunk version of myself at least. Splashing some cold water over my face, I reapply gloss and head downstairs to the green. Because I’d been so caught up in greetings and refusing greetings, I’d totally missed how beautiful they have everything set up.
On top of the lush manicured lawn sits a long table with crisp white linen, fabric high-backed chairs I wouldn’t dare trust with this crowd surround the table, and there’s a stunning centerpiece of white and pink tulips.
By the time I walk across the lawn, Jase, Vicki, and their bridal party are taking their seats. And by the time I arrive, the only seat available is directly across from Jacob.
I freeze, assessing the situation, panicking, my fists curling into tight balls.
Why, world? What did I ever do to you? Huh?
Jacob catches my frantic gaze, his eyes soft and warm. He gestures for me to sit but watches curiously for my reaction. Swallowing bile, I pull out the chair and take my seat. My eyes brim with tears, and I have to coach my breathing the same way my counselor taught me years ago. Focusing on my hands in my lap, I allow a few calming moments to pass before looking up.
He’s still watching, his gaze never leaving me for a second. The rest of the world drowns out, and I find myself staring back. I blink and a single tear slips down my cheek. I become lost in his world, his eyes a montage of his own story, some of the narrative about us, the rest about something dark—something sad and so incredibly dark. I feel it layering upon my own shadows that lurk, and I wonder what he’s seen and experienced to have that inside him like I do.
‘Hi,’ he mouths.
I purse my lips together in an attempt to quell the sob that’s threatening to break. ‘Hi,’ I mouth back.
Our moment is broken, a spoon dinging on a wine glass, someone wanting to give a speech. Although Jacob makes no effort to acknowledge the call to attention, I turn in my seat, facing the happy couple while I wipe at my damp cheeks. A single tear had somehow turned into a waterfall.
“Welcome to our home, everyone,” Jase announces, snaking a hand around his fiancée’s waist. “Last night was the beginning of our celebrations, and we want to take a moment to thank all of you who’ve taken time off work and your normal schedules to be here because we have a crazy few weeks planned which will hopefully be filled with love and celebrations.”
“And…” Vicki says taking over, “… we couldn’t have asked for a better wedding party. Even if you are all a bunch of horny animals.”
From the table comes a mix of giggles from the ladies and hollers and high-fives from the boys. It even earns a laugh from me because despite my own personal issues unfolding, I can appreciate the ridiculousness of this group. Seeing me smile, Vicki winks, and I roll my eyes playfully at her pandering.
“So, let’s eat. And don’t forget there’s croquet on the lawn afterward.”
My stomach isn’t too pleased with the idea of eating. Reluctantly, I turn around, willing myself to smile for what is a happy occasion. Jacob appears just as enthusiastic. While a small polite smile plays on his perfect lips, he’s feigning interest in what Amber continues to dribble on about. Both the twitch in his jaw and the surreptitious glances in my direct line are a dead giveaway his mind is elsewhere. The others dig in like famished vultures after a night of heavy drinking while Jacob and I take turns moving food around our plates.
With drinks in hand, half the group heads across to croquet, while some remain at the table still engrossed in conversation.
“Come on, buddy,” Jase calls to his best man. “The girls have set a challenge, and I know you know how to play.”
Jacob’s gaze flicks between Jase and me as he shifts in his seat. “Nah, man, I’ll sit this one out.”
“To hell you will. There’s money riding on this. Rosie, you don’t mind, do you?”
I’m stunned for a second like I’ve just touched an electric cattle fence. Why the hell does he feel the need to ask me?
“Of course not,” I say, frowning at his indiscrete jibe. Leave it up to Vicki and Jase to make an uncomfortable situation even more so.
Unhappy with the corner he’s been backed into, Jacob concedes Jase won’t relent. Clearing his throat, he stands and leaves the table. With his back to me, I take a moment to observe the man he’s become. Tall, at least six foot two. Broad shoulders that look capable of carrying the world’s problems. A stride which oozes both confidence and business. And still with the same beautifully tanned skin I remember kissing under my bedsheets every night. Jacob Lynch was always a handsome boy, that’s why he was the most popular, but as a grown man, he’s like a god banished to earth.
Needing to escape the raucous at the table, I take my champagne and head toward the gardens. The previous owner of the property was a garden showman exhibiting his beautiful splendor every year in spring, opening his yard to those who shared his passion. When Jase and Vicki moved in, they agreed to let the old man come in and tend to the yard to maintain its world-class standard. That was clearly not an offer my two friends would turn down. So, I start at the beginning and follow the windy path through the wonderland of greenery and vibrant colors.
I meet an intersection in the path that can see me either continuing straight ahead or turning left or right. In the middle sits a white stone bench seat bathing in the warm sun. Needing no further convincing, I lay on my back, allowing the hot stone to relax me the way a massage would. Closing my eyes, I drift in and out of a doze, still exhausted after so easily tormenting myself last night. I’m just about to drift off completely when I hear his voice.
“That beautiful pale skin of yours isn’t made for the sun, Snow White.”
I hate that he’s right. Unlike Jacob, after five minutes, I’ll already be an unhealthy shade of red.
Swinging my legs to the side, I sit up, facing away from him. It’s only when my fingers scream in pain do I realize I’m digging my nails into the underside of the stone seat.
“Rosie, I think we need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say.”
Actually, I have plenty to say.
“That’s equivalent to a woman saying she’s fine when she’s not.”
When I don’t answer, he continues, “Rosie, there’s so much that needs to be said.” I hear the pain in his voice which he attempts to conceal. He’s just like me. “I know you’re busy with maid of honor business, but we need to find some time.”
I stand, turning angrily to face him. “I’ve been waiting ten years, Jacob. Ten years for you to decide when you want to talk to me. Perhaps I’m sick of waiting, and perhaps I no longer care.”
I decide on the path ahead, storming off, feeling like I’m literally going to combust. But then his four words stop me dead in my tracks.
“I received your text.”
My text! My confession.
Embarrassment turns to fury, but it morphs in a way I’ve never experienced. It lingers inside as opposed to moment ago. It’s like a harbinger collecting thoughts, sorrows, and spite, layering them on my heart until it’s heavy. Here I thought Jacob no longer hung onto that cell number, and all this time—all this time—he knew my pain and chose to ignore me.
“All of them?” I ask in my eerily quiet rage.
“All of them,” he confirms. “Including the last.”
It’s like a final blow to the guts.
My broken heart meant absolutely nothing to him.
“I was drunk. I can promise you that message meant absolutely nothing and never wi
ll.”
“You’re lying.”
I turn slowly, my glare meeting his. “The only one here with a history of lying, is you, Jacob. And, I’m not interested in whatever is it you feel like you need to say to make yourself feel better. Come two and a half weeks, this will all be over, and we’ll never have to see each other again. And I, for one, am looking forward very much to that day.”
19
NOW
The party limo pulls away from the curb leaving the eight of us outside an unmarked building in the middle of an industrial zone.
“Vicki, babe… where are we?” Katy asks.
With a grand sweep of her arms, Vicki introduces us to the first event of the night. “We’re going to start the night with a little friendly competition.” Her smile is so wide, it’s hard not to feel her excitement but that quickly wears off when she creates the groups. “There will be four teams. Teams of two. Each team will consist of the wedding couples. So, me and Jase will be together, Rosie and Jacob form team two, Amber and Max are team three, and Katy and Peter are team four.
Tonight is the combined hens and stag party which traditionally is planned by the best man and maid of honor, but Vicki and Jase already had every detail mapped out. And now I’m stuck having to work alongside Jacob doing God knows what.
“So, what’s the competition?” Peter asks. “Who can escape this abandoned building alive?”
“Probably the most accurate guess,” Vicki confirms. “It’s to see who the fastest team is at completing an escape room.”
While others seem genuinely excited about the event, I hide my groan and thank the dim street lights for concealing my grimace. This could, quite possibly, be the worst situation to be in. I turn to see the limo at the intersection and consider running after it. Instead, I’m shuffled forward by those behind me until the unmarked door opens by someone peering through the spy hole on the other side. Once we’re inside the darkened foyer that has doors around its perimeter, we’re briefed by Krissy, the manager, and are then broken into our pairs. I stand next to Jacob in silence, turning to see Vicki at her own door, glancing over her shoulder at me. She has a lot of explaining to do.
“Now,” Krissy begins. “All your rooms are different but of the same skill level. Because this is a competition, you’ll only be in your rooms for as long as it takes the first group to win.” She turns to us and unlocks the entry door. “Come on inside.” Allowing Jacob to go first, it takes a while for my eyes to adjust, the only light source being a dull green glow. Cold metal circles my wrist and before I can comprehend what’s happened, it’s too late. I watch in horror as Krissy repeats the process, taking Jacob’s arm and snapping closed a handcuff around his wrist.
“Why is this necessary?” I ask, feeling a rush of panic.
“You’re in the Mad Scientist room. Your first job is to escape your chains.”
She disappears out the door we came through, and I tug on my chain which is attached to the very first wall. Jacob is a good few feet away, his chain attached to the prison bars framing the next stage.
“Fucking great,” I mutter, just about done with the universe having a bullshit sense of humor. I pull again in frustration until the metal handcuff digs into my skin.
“That’s not going to help,” Jacob mutters his own helpful response.
“Well, what’s your brilliant idea to get us out of these?”
He shrugs. “Find the key.”
Oh.
I scan the darkened walls. On one side, next to the door we came through, is a whole lot of scientific and mathematical formulas written and drawn in glow-in-the-dark chalk on the black wall.
“Could I have been given a worse room?” I ask myself, annoyed that math and science has somehow found its way back to haunt me.
“Don’t sell yourself short. You know this stuff.”
“I knew it long enough to complete the SATs, and then I promptly and deliberately forgot it.”
“That was a waste of library tutorials.”
I raise a brow, thanking God the room is mostly dark. I wouldn’t say they were wasted. Academically yes, but otherwise no.
“I don’t think there are any clues on there to help us find the key. There’s nothing on my side, how about yours?”
I run my hand along the wall and feel nothing. “Nope.”
“We’ve got to be missing something really obvious. Look again.”
Gritting my teeth, I search the walls in reach and still come up with nothing. “It has to be on your side.”
“I just told you it isn’t.”
“Well, it’s definitely not on mine.”
“You can’t feel any raised areas of the wall? See any codes?”
“If I did, I’d tell you,” I snap back, irritated. “Because I’m honest like that.”
And there it is, a big, steaming pile of innuendo slung his way.
“Really? That’s what you’re going to do? Wait until we’re handcuffed and chained to start launching your missiles?”
“If I had a bomb, I’d set the fucker off right now.” I could slap myself for saying something so callous being that I’d heard from Vicki, the best man was retiring after eight years in the military. “I’m sorry, that isn’t appropriate.”
“Rosie, you don’t ever need to apologize to me. There’s a time and place we should talk about everything, but right now, in here, it’s not the time.”
“Funny how you get to dictate when is a good time. Just like you dictated ten years that you wanted to cut off all communication. And you still expect me to follow your orders? I’m not one of your soldiers, Jacob. I was the girl you swore you’d never leave behind. When you said ‘nothing can ever tear us apart,’ or was that just to get up under my dress? I was the girl you left after fucking. Was I really that terrible? Was I such a lousy fuck it was just better for you to leave town?”
Jacob yanks on his chain in frustration, his hand balled into a tight fist. “Is that what you’ve been thinking the last ten years? That all I wanted was a fuck and then to leave you?”
“You didn’t leave me a lot of variables to run with, Jacob.”
“Rosie, I’ve thought about that night on the rooftop every day since. It’s what gets me off, remembering you on top, your long hair falling over your breasts as you ground your pussy against my cock.”
In the dark, I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment, his crass talk doing things to my body.
“So no, you weren’t a lousy fuck. And no, that’s not why I left town.”
“Then why? Why did you leave?”
He turns away from me shaking his head and gripping the cell bars tightly. “I told you, we need to discuss all that when the time is right, not while I’m in the Mad Scientist escape room.”
“Why wait? I don’t understand your hesitance. We can get this all over and done with now and perhaps we can enjoy the next two weeks.”
“Because that’s not how it’s going to play out,” Jacob says in an unusually quiet tone, riddled with pain and regret. “What I have to say, it’s—”
“What?”
“It’s beyond awful.”
“I’ve seen and experienced beyond awful, so I highly doubt what you have to say will shake me.”
“You think you saw the worst of it, but you didn’t.”
“See the worst of what?”
He shakes his head. “Just search for the key, Rosie.”
“I don’t have the fucking key, Jacob! How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t have the goddamn key?”
“Well, it has to be here somewhere.”
“Well, perhaps you might find it hiding out with your balls.”
“You think me not talking to you is gutless?”
“You said it. Running away from the problem just like you did ten years ago.”
“You may think I’m gutless, Rosie, but I only ever did what I did because of you.” His tone is gentle but layered with a suffocating remorse.
Why is
he being like this?
Why isn’t he yelling back?
Why won’t he fight me?
“I suppose that’s what all men say in order to soften the blow. I did it for you, sweetie.”
“Except, it was all for you. Everything was always ever only for you.”
“Then it should be easy for you tell me.”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why? Isn’t the truth supposed to set you free or some shit.”
“Perhaps. But in this case, it was the lies that saved us because the truth would have easily destroyed us all.”
“That’s a big statement.”
“It’s a heavy truth.”
Silence falls between us. Me leaning my back against the wall, Jacob with his head against the jail bars. “Do you know you broke my heart the very same day my father died?”
“I know.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I needed you more than ever?”
“Of course.”
“In the same day, literally almost at the same time, the two most important men in my life decided to leave me.”
“I know.”
“And now you’re saying you have a completely reasonable explanation for it.”
“Reasonable isn’t how I would describe it. Fucked up is more like it.”
“I think we can agree on that.”
“We need to find the key, Rosie.”
“I. Don’t. Have. The. Key,” I seethe.
“Just please, please, search the wall again. Anything that feels slightly—”
“I promise you, Jacob. If ever I find this key, I’m going to shove it so far up—”
“Time’s up,” calls a cautious voice barreling through the main entry. “Sorry to interrupt your, um… lively discussion, but the others have finished their rooms, and you’re still stuck on the first obstacle.”
“Can you just get me out of this thing, please?”
“Sure can. I just need you to step aside.”
I frown. “Why?”
“Because…” Krissy bends down, shin-high to the ground behind me and pulls on the chain attached to my cuff. It pulls open a secret drawer, and inside lays—yep, you guessed it—the fucking key.