by J. P. Comeau
I never saw myself in politics, but after my last serious relationship, I was starting to hate being alone all of the time. Sleeping alone wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be; that was for damn sure.
My cellphone started to ring right as I was putting it away.
Why do people call when they can just send a text message?
When I saw that it was my sister, Ginger, I understood why she called. “Hey, Ginger. I’m getting ready to land in Key Biscayne. What’s going on?”
Without so much as a hello, she launched into the reason for her call. “You didn’t forget about Paris’s wedding, right? Because it’s coming up, and she’s expecting both of us to be there. I know you’re this big tech titan with all of these companies, and you’re always on the go, but you need to be there with me.”
I often thought about sending my assistant in Ginger’s place and replacing her coffee with decaf. “Of course I didn’t forget! I’m looking forward to going, Ginger. Besides, I can’t wait to see this guy you’re bringing.”
“Oh my gosh, you are going to love Anthony! He is such a sweetheart.”
He could be the greatest guy in the world; it didn’t mean he was good enough for my sister. “How would I know? You two have been together for a while, and I have yet to meet him.”
I could feel her eyes rolling at me through the phone. “Anthony's just shy, Chase. Why are you always so judgmental about my boyfriends?”
I had been round and round with my sister about this, but apparently, it bore repeating. “I’m judgmental about them because I’m a guy, Ginger, and I know what guys are like. I just don’t want to see you be strung along by someone who’s not worth your time, that’s all.”
“And what makes you assume that he’s stringing me along? Just because he hasn’t found the time to meet anyone in the family?”
“Yup.” That pretty much summed it up. If my sister were important to this loser, then he’d get with the program and introduce himself—that’s what men did who intended to keep a woman. They embedded themselves into that girl’s life.
“For the record, big brother, I really think Anthony could be the one.” She may think it. That didn’t mean he did, and that right there was my whole issue.
“I’ll be the judge of that, Ginger. You’ve said this about other guys, too, you know? As a guy, I can tell from a mile away when another one is stringing a woman along. Maybe I’m wrong, but if I were really into someone, I would have met their family by now.” I didn’t beeline for a woman’s parents, but if I were serious about her, I wanted to know what came along with her. If I couldn’t tolerate her family or saw some red flag, I needed to find out sooner rather than later.
She huffed on the other end. “By the time this wedding is over, Chase, you’re going to be apologizing to both Anthony and me for not even giving him a chance. I look forward to that moment too.”
I laughed while shaking my head—not that she could see me—and at that same moment, my best friend beeped in.
“I gotta go. Jorge is calling on the other line, and we’re about to land. Later.”
I clicked over to him before Ginger could say another word. After a long flight back from San Francisco, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her drama.
“Chase! Welcome back from Cali, my man. How was your trip?”
“Eh, it was all right. Nothing but business meetings, though, so definitely not a vacation. Are you looking forward to Paris’s wedding?”
“I purchased a new Armani suit today, Chase. I can’t wait to meet some hot bridesmaids.”
“Well, Paris is pretty attractive, so I’m sure her friends are too. Aren’t you bringing a date, though?”
Jorge laughed into the phone so hard that I was sure people seated around me heard him. “Hell no! Are you?”
“Nope.” It might have been a tad messed up but knowing that I wouldn’t be the only dateless man made me feel a hell of a lot better.
“Good, that means we get a chance at hooking up with some of those bridesmaids. I’m hoping there’s a sexy blonde there, or maybe a redhead. I haven’t slept with a redhead yet.”
The way Jorge spoke about women made my stomach do flips. He was more of a “bro” type than me, although he did have some good qualities. I kept telling myself that he’d change once he found “the one,” but it didn’t really matter either way.
“I don’t know about that, Jorge.”
“Oh, come on, man. They expect guys like us to show up eligible. We’ll have all of the hot women at the reception lining up to talk with us, hoping we’ll choose them to bring them back to a hotel room. You know how weddings go.”
“No, no, I don’t.” I chuckled at his attitude, but only because we’d had this discussion more times than I could count, and neither of us ever changed. “And I don’t buy that comment about us needing to be eligible. It’s not a bachelor auction.”
“You’re too uptight, Chase.” Jorge was the exact opposite of that, which was what made us such great friends. “Do you know what you need?” He was going to tell me, so I just waited. “A vacation that doesn’t include any type of business. Just you, me, and some fine-ass women to fool around with. We should set something up after this wedding. What do you say?”
“I’m gonna have to pass, Jorge. That’s not really my scene. The wedding should be fun, though. Anyway, I gotta get going.”
If the two of us had been in a restaurant, I would have made him shut-up the second he began discussing women as though they were objects.
“Why are you in such a rush?”
The “fasten your seatbelts” light came on, and several other passengers were glaring at me.
“The plane is about to land, so I gotta put my phone away. I’ll call you later on tonight, though, all right?”
“Yeah, later, man.”
Jorge hung up before I could hit the end button. I didn’t mean to offend him, but this idea that men like us were expected to be bachelors was nothing short of nauseating. I didn’t want to lead a life alone, and I sure didn’t want to wake up next to Jorge—ever.
I leaned back and closed my eyes the rest of the trip, right up until the plane landed. Flying had never bothered me that much. I was much more afraid of getting into a car accident than a plane crash, but knowing that my home would be empty had left me melancholy. I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but I hated being this lonely.
As the plane lowered and hit the tarmac, I pictured opening up the front doors to my Spanish-style mansion and it being so quiet that I could hear a pin drop. It happened every time I returned from one of my business trips, or hell, from anywhere. My maid had probably left me a vase full of flowers on the mantle, just as she always did, but it wasn’t the same as having someone with their arms open, waiting for you.
The pilot announced that we could get off the plane, yet I remained seated for several minutes. It wasn’t until the flight attendant smiled at me that I finally stood.
“Sorry, guess I’m just a little tired. Thank you for a pleasant flight.”
Everyone around me was rushing to grab their luggage, whereas I was moving at a snail’s pace. It wasn’t until my driver waved at me that my feet moved faster.
Our eyes met in the rearview mirror once he adjusted it. “Where to, sir?”
“Um, would you mind driving me around for a little bit? I have some work stuff to do on my phone.” The truth was, I just wasn’t ready to step into isolation.
“Of course.”
Instead of work emails, however, I went to my ex-girlfriend’s Instagram page. There was Amber, on her honeymoon with her high school sweetheart, Bradley. The two of them looked so happy on the beach in Hawaii. She was wearing a short, white sundress with bright-red flowers in her hair. Bradley had his arms wrapped around her, and I zoomed in on the size of her engagement ring.
Bradley was also quite wealthy.
I powered off my phone and chucked it into my briefcase, remembering all of the fun we’d had
together. Amber had been my first true love, and all I did was screw it up. My mind was obsessed with nothing but money, power, and prestige—success at any cost. Even when I became a millionaire, it still wasn’t enough.
I always wanted more.
The pit in my stomach seemed to get bigger as I realized that I was about to walk into an empty house, while Amber was celebrating the most significant moment of her life—without me.
That should be us on that beach, with my ring on her finger and my arms around her waist.
I kept running my hands through my hair, hoping it’d snap me back to reality, but it didn’t work.
“Can you take me to Cabana Lust? I need a drink.”
“Of course, sir.”
My driver patiently waited in the limo as I sat down at the outside bar.
The bartender was pretty sexy and tried flirting with me, but all I could think about was Amber. She smiled at me and asked, “What’ll it be, sweetheart?”
“Between the Sheets.” I hated the name—it sounded like it would come with a pink umbrella—but I loved the taste of citrus, triple sec, and rum.
As I sipped the mixed drink, music started playing, and I was instantly transported back to my memories with my now-married ex. I had completely ruined our relationship, and even when Amber had ended things, I couldn’t blame her. I was never there for her when she needed me. During those nights, when she was dealing with the death of her mother, I was up late, trying to become a billionaire.
And it had worked—I had added another zero to my bank account and successfully lost the girl.
Yet as I went through two more mixed drinks, I realized that all of the alcohol in the world couldn’t distract me from loneliness.
3
Margo
The Miami Beach sun wasn’t the only thing waking me up that morning.
As my eyes squinted through the window, my phone started to go off with an incoming call. There were only a few people who called instead of texting me, and I didn’t even have to look at the caller ID to know who it was so early in the morning.
“Good morning, Ginger.”
“Oh my gosh, my life is completely over!”
“What happened now?” I forced myself out of bed and into the kitchen, where I kept Ginger on speakerphone while preparing some coffee.
“Anthony dumped me! And of all the times to break-up with me, he did it the morning of the wedding! I cannot go to this thing without a date, Margo. Do you understand? I cannot!”
The coffee dripped a little too slowly into my mug, which said the American Academy of Cosmetology. One of my favorite teachers had given it to me as a graduation gift, and I drank coffee from it every morning.
“If he broke up with you when you needed him the most, then you’re better off without him, Ginger. I know it’s hard, believe me, but it’s probably for the best.”
Her sobbing intensified as I spoke, and even though she had a tendency to be a drama queen, she was still my best friend. I did feel bad for her.
“I’ve been dumped before so that part is water under the bridge, but going to this wedding without a date is simply not an option, Margo. I refuse to go without a date!”
“Look, I know it’s tough right now, but I promise you that being single isn’t the end of the world.” I wasn’t sure where any of this was coming from since just yesterday I was complaining about the same things, but sometimes as a friend, you have to fake it until you make it. “I’m single, too, you know. Why don’t we go together?”
“Are you kidding me, Margo? I’d rather die than show up without a guy!”
“Hey! I resent that comment. I’m showing up alone, and there’s no shame in that.”
“Well, that’s you, Margo. You and I are just different. You don’t care that hundreds of people will be looking at you in a bridesmaid dress, watching everyone dance with their date as you casually sip champagne. But I do care what people think about me.” She had taken melodramatic to a whole new level—this wedding wasn’t about her. And it was unlikely that anyone cared if either of us showed up with a date or each other.
I swallowed a big sip of coffee before defending myself. “Are you saying that I’m going to look like a fool at this wedding, Ginger? Are you suggesting that I’m going to be one big joke because I won’t be on a man’s arm? Because if you are, that’s pretty messed up.” I realized the truth in my words as they came out.
Ginger let out a sigh. “Look, as I said, you and I are different. Besides, you’re gorgeous, and I’m sure some guy will want to get to know you, so it’s not as though you’ll be single for long.”
“You’re just as pretty, Ginger!”
“You still don’t get it, do you? People will be looking at me as I walk around without a date. That’s humiliating! And the worst part is that Chase kept hinting that Anthony was stringing me along. I hate when he’s right!”
She and her brother had a love-hate relationship. They were super close, but she despised that Chase could always see her life from a different perspective than she could—and that he was always right. I’d never met the guy—he was always jetting somewhere to show off a TV or phone or something—but I’d heard Ginger talk about him enough to know that she should listen to him.
“Look, both of us have to go to this wedding. Paris is one of our closest friends. So date or no date, you and I are in this together—without men. Don’t you even think about canceling on me, either. I’m counting on you to be my plus-one.”
Ginger was slamming something around on the other end of the phone, but I had no idea what it was. “Maybe I can hit up some old boyfriend from high school on social media and see if they’re available today. Who wouldn’t turn down a free meal and an open bar?”
“Ginger, don’t you dare do that! There’s a reason they’re not in your life anymore. You’re too dramatic. Why don’t you just come over here so we can work out this whole situation?”
She was silent for a few minutes as I waited for an answer. “Fine, I’ll be over there in an hour or so. But don’t be surprised if I find a date before the wedding this afternoon!”
Out of all of my friends, Ginger could have won an Oscar for her dramatic performances.
I spent the next hour tidying up my apartment and consuming more coffee, although it didn’t taste nearly as good as Guadalupe’s Cuban blend. I kept replaying scenarios in my mind about what would happen when people saw me without a date. After hearing Ginger’s reaction to being dateless, I accepted that I needed to get a grip. Nobody cared who I was there—or not there—with. They were coming to see Paris and John, not Ginger or me.
I also kept thinking about what Guadalupe had said to me at the salon, and she was right about Nick. If anything, I had dodged a bullet by not having him come with me to the wedding. Since I was someone who cared what people thought of me, then shouldn’t I be thankful that the loser dumped me and save me the embarrassment of being stuck babysitting a grown-ass man?
It still would have been nice to bring someone to the wedding, though. I always enjoyed dancing, and Paris and John had hired a live band.
Maybe someone will feel bad and let me take a spin with their date.
If no guy wanted to dance, then I wasn’t above pulling a group of bridesmaids out onto the floor. One way or another, I would have a good time.
I poured myself another cup of coffee, mainly because I knew Ginger would be arriving any second, and she tended to talk a mile a minute. I was a bit rougher with her on the phone than I should have been, but the woman seriously needed to get a grip. When I was devastated about not having a date, I didn’t sound the alarm for World War III—at least not to Ginger. I silently panicked in my head, and then Guadalupe quickly shut down any thought of bailing on Paris, which ended my freakout…for the most part.
As I was about to make my bed, Ginger texted me that she had arrived and would be up shortly. I unlocked the front door and went back to my bed, only to jump in the air a minute later.
“I found a date, Margo! I actually have a date!” Ginger came running into my bedroom, where she wrapped her arms around me a little too enthusiastically.
“First of all, I haven’t had enough coffee to deal with that level of excitement, so let’s tone it down a notch. And second of all, how did you find someone so quickly?”
Ginger sat on the edge of my bed, looking as excited as a little girl who just got a pony for her birthday. “Chase is going to be my date!”
If there were ever a time to bite my tongue, it was right at that moment. “You’re…going to the wedding…with your brother? As your plus-one?”
Ginger’s head leaned back a bit. “Yes, but why do you sound so taken aback?”
“Oh no, I’m not taken aback! I’m just surprised that you found a date for the wedding so quickly, that’s all.” Although I wasn’t sure taking her brother would look any better than going solo.
She waved her hand in front of her face, insinuating that it was no big deal. “Oh, please. Chase and I have always been close, and he’s going to the wedding anyway. It just makes sense that we go together!”
I merely nodded while making the rest of my bed, thereby forcing Ginger to stand up and walk over to the window.
“I’m an only child, so forgive me for being a little surprised by this new…arrangement. I never had a sister, let alone a brother.”
I would rather die than have my brother be my date. That was as bad as having your mom arrange for your cousin to take you to the prom—nope!
“You have no idea what you missed out on, Margo! Chase has always been there for me, and today is no exception. When I told him that Anthony dumped me, he was pissed, saying he was right. Anyway, I held that over his head as a reason to accompany me.”
As I fluffed my pillows, I realized that being a dateless bridesmaid wasn’t so bad. I’d rather go alone than with a sibling…or a cousin. “Well, as you said, the two of us are quite different, and I don’t mind going solo.”