Out of Practice

by Carsen Taite

  “Sure there is. I didn’t want to leave, but I’d never planned to stay the full week. I was there on a work trip and had two other resorts to review. I had hotel and restaurant reservations that could not be rescheduled. I should’ve told you from the start, but we’d agreed not to talk about work or anything to do with the real world.” She crossed her hands on the table and sighed. “When you didn’t call, I figured you were mad. I wanted to explain at the airport, but you rushed off.”

  “Wait a minute,” Abby said. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned me not calling. How was I supposed to call you? A, I didn’t know your number, and B, I didn’t know your last name, and C, I didn’t have a clue where you were.”

  Roxanne grinned. “Do you always argue in outline form?”

  Abby narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to figure out whether she was teasing, and then burst into a laugh. “Probably. Occupational hazard.”

  “Fair enough. I have only one answer. I left my number on the bookmark in the novel on your nightstand. I figured since you’d have a lot of free time on your hands you’d probably be reading and that might be the first thing you’d see.”

  Abby laughed again. “Except after a few nights of incredible sex only to be abruptly dumped, reading a romance novel was the last thing I wanted to do. I shoved that book in my suitcase and haven’t looked at it since. You mean we could’ve been having phone sex the rest of the week?”

  Roxanne returned the smile. The banter between them felt good, and natural, and familiar, and she didn’t want it to end. “Absolutely. And it would’ve been hot. Not as hot as in person, but definitely steamy.” She waved her hand in front of her face to ward off faux flames.

  “You know, you knew exactly where I was. You could’ve called me.”

  Roxanne stared into Abby’s eyes, surprised and happy to see the vulnerable, tender woman she recognized from the resort. She liked the in-charge version of Abby, but she suspected the softer version was one not many people got to see, and she treasured the trust. “You’re absolutely right, and if I had it to do over again, I definitely would’ve called. Hell, I might’ve quit my job just for a few more days on that beach with you.”

  The admission slipped out before she could stop it, but once she’d said the words, she had no regrets. She liked Abby. She liked her a lot. She might have bungled things back in PV, but now they were home and she had a second chance. And this was better because if they felt the same way about each other here, then it was more real and had more possibilities. Possibilities she was ready and willing to explore.

  “We did have fun, didn’t we?”

  Abby’s tone was wistful, and Roxanne took a ray of hope that maybe tonight could be the start of something more.

  Their food came and it was like they’d never been apart. Abby stole food from her plate, and she pretended to fight her for every forkful. They ordered another round of drinks and relaxed into the careless comfort of the evening. When the check came, Abby insisted on paying and handed her card to the waiter, and they bantered about life in Austin and how strange it was they’d had to travel to another country to run into each other for the first time. Then Abby circled back around to the reason for their meeting.

  “I was kind of a jerk to you about the whole bride thing. I get it’s just your job, and you don’t really have a choice.”

  Roxanne rolled the words over in her head for a few minutes. Something about the way Abby tossed off the “it’s just your job” phrase bothered her, but she should just let it go. Right? Why ruin a perfect evening over semantics? Before she could stop herself, she said, “Well, it’s not just my job and I did have a choice.”

  The waiter brought Abby’s credit card with the receipt and set it between them, but neither one acknowledged him, as their eyes were locked. Abby broke the connection first. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant, it’s not like you’re one of those whacko brides, excuse me, brides-to-be, unable to let go of the fact they might have to be flexible about what to wear on their special day.” She added air quotes to the last two words.

  “Who are you right now?” Roxanne asked, unable to contain her frustration. “Never mind. I know who you are. You’re Career Abby. I was just having dinner with Resort Abby and I’d like her back, thank you very much.”

  “You’re hilarious,” Abby said without a trace of mirth in her voice.

  “How about you? I swear for a little while here I thought you really were the sensitive woman I met in PV, but now I’m thinking Career Abby is the real you and the whole laid-back vibe you were giving off was only an act to get women. Could it be your problem with all this wedding nonsense, as you call it, is that you’re scared you’re never going to have one?”

  Abby tossed her napkin on the table. “I have absolutely no desire to get married, and I don’t need to do anything to get women.” She leaned in closer. “Believe it or not, you’re not the first fling I’ve ever had.”

  Roxanne resisted the urge to recoil at the clear smackdown, but her insides went hollow and she wanted to slink away. She stood quickly, desperate to put as much distance as possible between them. “Well, the fling is over, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”

  * * *

  Abby gave the valet a generous tip and roared her engine out of the parking lot. Instead of smoothing things over as Grace had suggested, she feared she’d only stirred things up not just between her and Roxanne, but internally as well. Sitting across from Roxanne without completely lapsing back into vacation mode had been hard enough, but watching Roxanne stalk off was even harder.

  And Roxanne’s reaction to her declaration that she never planned to marry? She’d practically deflated. Seriously? What was it with everyone being so sappy about weddings? People like Roxanne pumped up everyone’s expectations, and no good could come of that. Did she really buy into the hype?

  If she did, then they were better off not getting involved. Too bad, since Abby had held out hope when things were going so well at dinner that maybe they could resume vacation mode back here in the states.

  When she got home, she parked in the garage and wandered into her condo. Even though it had been months since she’d moved from Dallas, she still hadn’t quite finished unpacking except for the important stuff like her books and her clothes. She poured a glass of pinot noir and wandered over to her bookshelf where she found the book she’d abandoned reading in PV in favor of real life romance. Sure enough, Roxanne had scrawled a number and her name on Azure stationery and left it with the bookmark in what should’ve been a prominent, easy to find location. Underneath, she’d written “just in case.” Now it seemed like an afterthought, a souvenir of a wonderful time that was over and done, leaving only a hazy memory in its wake.

  She shoved the book back onto the case and flicked on the TV. She needed something to distract her thoughts. Something to fill the void. What she found was way more than she bargained for.

  “The Bride’s Best Friend and local lawyer clash, but is their heat full of anger or sparks signaling something more? Turning now to our correspondent in the field for her take on the altercation at the offices of Campbell, Keane, and Maldonado early today.”

  Abby watched as the reporter gave a blow-by-blow of the scene outside her office this morning followed by an interview with the BBF herself where Roxanne talked about how important getting the perfect dress was to the brides-to-be assembled in protest. Pretty one-sided stuff.

  Damn. She’d really blown it by not taking better advantage of the opportunity to spin the situation for her client. The twins likely didn’t care, since they just wanted out from under the crushing debt of Barclay’s, but this was Tommy’s world. As much as she didn’t care about wedding stuff, he did, and it was her job to protect his interests.

  Abby considered calling the reporter to see if she could get her own exclusive, but she was kind of annoyed the reporter hadn’t reached out to her in the first place, which indicated she had her own angle to s
pin. She took a sip of wine and contemplated her options. Everyone at her old law firm would’ve cautioned her to stay quiet, not to rile the press and let the story blow over, but part of why she, Grace, and Campbell had started this firm was to take a different approach, custom designed for each of their clients. She knew Tommy well enough to know he would want to tackle this bad press head-on, but the reporter was only a conduit. She needed to go directly to the source. Before she let caution scare her off, she reached for the book on the shelf, fished out the bookmark with Roxanne’s number, and fired off a text. Nice interview. Score one for BTBs. How about equal time with the other side?

  Smiley face. Didn’t expect to hear from you…so soon. Equal time, huh? Want the phone number for KNOP?

  Actually, I was hoping to get some time with the famous BBF. Perhaps get her to see my point of view. Starting with an apology for going off at dinner.

  Hmmm. Maybe we can work something out. What do you have in mind?

  Abby paused with her thumbs over the keys as she pondered the open-ended question. She could almost see the lopsided grin on Roxanne’s face as she typed. So many possible responses. She started to suggest a one-on-one live interview with her and possibly Tommy but decided to take a smaller bite for now and go from there. Let’s start with a tour of Barclay’s flagship store and see where that leads.

  A moment passed. A really long moment during which Abby regretted not going bigger. She’d banked on the hope that Roxanne wanted to see her again badly enough to take a baby step, but that had been silly really since they’d passed the point of baby steps when they’d hopped into bed together back in Puerto Vallarta. She started to toss her phone to the side in the hope that ignoring it would elicit a response and, like magic, just as she let go, it buzzed in her hand.

  Does tomorrow work?

  Abby stared at the screen, tempted to wait a while to respond. Silly, really when she’d been the one to suggest the meeting. Besides, she wasn’t used to holding back when she saw something she wanted. Before she could overthink it, she typed her reply. Absolutely.

  That settled that. She set the phone down and took a deep drink from her wine, enjoying the warm glow of alcohol reaching through her veins, hoping it would relax her. Now she had a plan. So why did she feel so completely unsettled?

  Chapter Eleven

  Wednesday morning, Roxanne pulled up to Val’s house and parked in the drive. Dan, Val’s fiancée, walked out the front door as she walked up the steps. “Hey, Dan, how’s it going?”

  “Great, Roxanne. I’m off to try on tuxes.” He spread his hands across his abdomen. “I’m thinking powder blue cummerbund. Maybe a glitter bowtie. What do you think?”

  She blew him a kiss. “You’ll look great no matter what you wear.”

  “From your lips to Val’s ears.” He pointed back toward the house. “Heads up, your mom dropped by. This is your last chance to get away.”

  Roxanne knew he was joking, but everyone in the family, Dan included, was well aware that her mother didn’t understand why she spent so much time writing about weddings instead of planning her own. She was constantly explaining she hadn’t met the right person yet, to which her mother replied, “You never will if you’re always working.” She wondered what her mother would think of the way she’d met Abby. Of course, her mom would be so focused on the fact that Abby was a successful lawyer, she wouldn’t care about anything other than getting them down the aisle.

  “Thanks for the heads up,” she said. “I think she’s feeling a little left out of the whole process.”

  “I’m sure that’s it.” He forced a smile. “It’s just one day, right? We just have to find a way to make our own dreams come true and please both our families and loved ones and serve the best damn cake money can buy. We got this.”

  “I promise you do. Everything will go off without a hitch, and if it doesn’t, you’ll have great stories to tell your grandkids.”

  “Slow down there, missy. I don’t even have a tux yet.”

  “Better go take care of that then.” She shooed him toward his car and made her way to the door which opened as she approached. A moment later, she was swept up into Val’s arms and Val leaned close to her ear.

  “Save me. Do it now.”

  She leaned back and nodded. Mom time was taking its toll. “On it.” She strode past Val into the house and went directly to Val’s room where their mother was inspecting the clothes in the closet.

  “Val, you need new things for the honeymoon. None of these things is proper attire for a special resort.”

  “Mom, leave her alone. If the wedding goes well, she shouldn’t need any clothes for the honeymoon.”

  “Hush your mouth, young lady.” Her mother grinned as she spoke, and she and Val joined her in a good laugh. “She’ll at least need to show up wearing clothes. Whatever happens next is between her and Dan.”

  “Can you two stop talking about my sex life?” Val asked. “You’re creeping me out.”

  “Fine,” their mother said. “But good thing Roxanne is here. She should be able to tell you exactly what to wear since she just got back from one of those swanky resorts.”

  “Three actually,” Roxanne said. “It was a bit of a whirlwind, but my editor loved the article. It’ll run with a full spread in next month’s Best Day Ever.”

  “Meet any cute girls on your trip?”

  “Mom, leave her alone.”

  Roxanne held up a hand. “It’s okay, I got this. Mom, I was working. You know, activity that puts food on the table and a roof over my head. Everything’s not about finding my soul mate.”

  “Your soul mate is not going to appear to you in a beam of light projected from the heavens. She’s going to appear when you least expect it to steal your heart, but you have to be open to the possibilities if you don’t want to miss out.” She gestured widely. “She could be anywhere.”

  “When you put it that way, it sounds kind of spooky.”

  “Don’t make fun.”

  “Sorry, Mom.” Roxanne felt a twinge of guilt for lying to her mother, but since the alternative would result in an interrogation and insistence on meeting Abby as soon as possible, she got over her guilt pretty quickly. “I’ll keep an eye out for Miss Soul Mate. I promise.”

  Her mother stared hard like she was trying to figure out if she was lying and then nodded once in an exaggerated motion. “Now help your sister pick out her clothes while I go fix you both something to eat.”

  Roxanne started to say she wasn’t hungry, but her mother was out of the room before she could reply. As soon as she was out of sight, Val grabbed her arm.

  “Didn’t you want to tell Mom about your fling at Azure? Maybe I can fill her in on your behalf.”

  “Don’t even think about it. I think the rulebook clearly states that if you talk about a fling, it’s no longer a fling.”

  “Okay, so it’s no longer a fling. What do you want to call it?”

  “No, wait. I was just saying…You know.”

  “That it wasn’t a fling. I heard you. What’s her name?”

  “Ugh. Abby. Not that it matters.”

  “Abby.” Val nodded slowly. “Name’s good. Now tell me why it’s no longer a fling.”

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t.” She paused, not entirely sure she wanted to share more, but it felt weird not to divulge to Val. “It’s just we met up again, but it’s an impossible situation.”

  “How so?”

  “Let me see, where I should start. First of all, she’s made it perfectly clear she is not interested in a relationship.”

  “We knew that going in.”

  “We?” Roxanne play-punched Val’s shoulder. “And second, did you see the segment on KNOP yesterday?”

  “Sure.”

  “Did you happen to notice the footage of the hot but temperamental attorney?”

  Val whistled low. “That was her?”

  “Indeed.”

  “The anchor was playing it like you two were a
thing. And there were definitely sparks.”

  “Yes, the kind when you hit metal with a sledgehammer. Trust me, there’s nothing happening. Not anymore at least.”

  “What’s the matter? Your vacation rendezvous is too much for the real world? Seriously, Rox, she’s super hot.”

  “You mentioned that.” Roxanne sank onto the bed. “She’s exactly the person I thought she was before our first ‘date.’ Not remotely interested in anything other than a few causal nights in paradise.”

  “Then do her again and get it out of your system.”

  Roxanne shook her head both to signal a no and to try to banish the image of Abby naked in her bed. “I never should’ve ‘done her’ in the first place. I knew she wasn’t for me.”

  “You’re allowed to have fun on your quest for your soul mate.” Val used air quotes around the words “soul mate.”

  “Does Dan know you’re making fun of his undying love for you?”

  “It’s not that I’m making fun. It’s more of a reality thing.” She handed a ruffled blouse to Roxanne. “Grandma gave this to me last year. Hide it before mom decides I should be wearing more ruffles.” She sat on the bed next to Roxanne. “Is Dan the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with? Absolutely, but the whole idea of a soul mate, someone destined to complete you and fit together in every way is a bit more than I can wrap my head around. That’s not only daunting, it’s pretty impractical. I mean, what if you never meet this person? Say, you’re supposed to meet them on a plane, but your connecting flight gets delayed? What’s fate telling you then?”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” Roxanne said. “I’m pretty sure if you’re destined to be with someone, the universe isn’t going to give you just one slim chance to meet them.”

  “Then maybe you should start paying attention to the fact the universe has just thrown you back in contact with hot lawyer lady.”

  “Don’t call her that, and this has nothing to do with fate. Trust me. If it did, then she wouldn’t be such a hater when it came to the idea of relationships. She clearly only wanted a few nights on an island. Running into me again, under these or any circumstances, wasn’t part of her plan at all.”