“No, not exactly. I come from a family of lawyers actually. Somewhat different occupation, but similar reputations.” Ian replies with a chuckle but gets nothing back from Jan Wellington but a polite fake smile.
“Well, it was nice to meet you Ian. I am the hostess of this event however so I am obliged to my socializing. Enjoy yourselves and you must try the caviar. It was imported from Russia.” And with that, Jan Wellington was off to be artificial and smarmy with some other poor guest.
“I think she liked you Ian.” I say with satisfaction.
“Are you kidding? She was a complete, well, you know what I mean.” Ian replies with restraint.
“You don’t understand her. She knew you were a catch and better than her precious daughter’s fiancé. That’s why she was behaving that way. You did good kid. You did real good.” I compliment him with a wink and gentle punch to the arm. So far, so good. I have almost forgotten that at one point in time, I hated this man passionately. Maybe this night won’t be as bad as I thought it would be.
“Oh darling, there is Mitzi Gordon. I have to go say hello.” My mother wisps off to say hello while picking up another glass of champagne from the server.
“O’Reilly, is that you? What are you doing here?” A tall husky man in his fifties asks my date while looking rather perplexed. For the first time, I actually see Ian look distressed.
“Mr. Jones, what a surprise. I am here with my, um, girlfriend. She is friends with the family.”
“Well O’Reilly, aren’t you going to introduce me?” He asks with a burly chuckle as Ian gets paler by the second.
“Of course, sir, sorry. Mr. Jones, this is Natalie. Natalie, this is my boss, Mr. Jones.”
“It’s after hours O’Reilly. The name’s Don. Don Jones and it’s nice to see our man O’Reilly has finally gotten himself a hot little number. Some of the guys were beginning to wonder if he was a little light in the loafers if you know what I mean!” And again Mr. Jones lets out a big burly laugh while spilling some of his gin and tonic on my not on sale heels. I look over to see Ian trying his hardest to laugh with his intoxicated boss while I still sense some distress on his face.
“Well, I need to hit the little boys room so I’ll see you on Monday, O’Reilly. It was nice to meet you darlin’.” As he walks past he pats me on the shoulder and I can’t help but feel that I got away lucky with that.
I still wonder why after nearly an hour at this engagement party, I fail to see either one of the engaged couple. Are they here? I know that Rob can’t be with Jenna because she is with Ian’s little sister. So where are they?
“Aha. It seems our couple was trying to be fashionably late.” Ian states as we see Rob and Mallory walking down the stairway of the Wellington home. Rob is grinning from ear to ear with his perfectly white teeth and glowing tan while Mallory has her typical expressionless game face on. I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t something more to the situation however. My suspicions are enhanced when from across the room, Jan Wellington strolls over to her dear daughter and escorts her to what appears to be the den. Rob floats away to a group of men that one can only assume are golf buddies or topless bar cohorts.
“What do you think that’s all about?” I ask in my private detective tone.
“Okay Jessica Fletcher. Don’t go Murder She Wrote on us. It’s probably just mother daughter talk.” Ian replies. Ah it’s nice to see the smart ass back that made me hate him so.
“Don’t you think it’s a just a little bit strange that the stars of the night don’t appear until now and as soon as they do, the mother leads the bride-to-be away in a dash. No, Jan did not plan for this. There is something going on. Come on. Let’s get closer in to see if we can hear something.”
“I don’t think so. You can do this one alone. I think I’ll go do some mingling and support this charade that we worked so hard to master. There’s your mother over there. I’ll meet up with you later.” Rather than waste any time responding to his remark, I carefully make my way down the hall to appreciate the collection of art on the wall that happens to be outside the den.
“How could you do this Mallory? Do you know how hard I have worked on this party for you? Your father has invited very important people here tonight and you make him look like a fool! You and Rob are more than an hour late to your own engagement party!” I hear Jan scream at Mallory and for the first time ever, I can hear Mallory speak. I mean really speak.
“Mother, don’t you even care about my life? Don’t you even care that the man I’m about to marry is cheating on me? I know he is! I’m not stupid!” Holy crap, this is good.
“You listen to me and you listen well. Do you think I got where I am by believing in love? I am one of the wealthiest women in Portland because I have a husband who makes me that way. I didn’t marry for love. Do you honestly think I don’t know that your father screws around with the little bimbos he makes boobs for? Do you for one second believe that his business trips are all business? Mallory wake up. If you want to live the lifestyle that you are accustomed to, you have to marry into it. You won’t ever make the money that your husband can. So what if he’s cheating on you with some whore that he’ll forget about tomorrow. He comes home to you and deposits his check into your joint account. I suggest you wipe your tears, gain your composure and tell everyone that you had a work emergency and apologize for the delay.”
“Yes mother.” I hear someone walking and bolt into a nearby room that appears to be a closet. As the door shuts twice I finally deem it safe to escape the faux furs and trench coats and get back to the party.
It doesn’t take me long to find Ian who is surrounded by a bunch of women who are hanging on to his every word and laughing uncontrollably. It seems that my pretend boyfriend Ian is quite the charmer with middle aged housewives.
“Oh Natalie there you are! How could you let this man of yours free? He is an absolute doll!” My mother exclaims and the other women in her company all nod their heads in unison.
“Ian was just telling us about the day you first met!” Middle aged woman #1 says.
“Oh really. It seems to have slipped my recollection.” I reply. Okay so maybe it wasn’t such a good idea leaving him alone for so long.
“How can you forget? It was so comical!” Middle aged woman #2 asks. Again, feeling strong regret over the abandonment thing.
“It’s a story right out of a movie if you ask me. He steps on you, right in the middle of the video store! Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks couldn’t do better!” Middle aged woman #3 proclaims. I immediately take the arm of my beloved.
“Oh yes, it was very romantic. Ladies if you don’t mind, I think I need my darling to escort me for some fresh air.” The middle aged ladies, including my mother all aaahhh at the same time and let us make an exit.
“Are you kidding me? You actually told them the real story of how we met? You remember that?” I ask somewhat surprised.
“Of course I remember. It’s not every day that you step on a beautiful woman in the video aisle.” Ian replies while taking a sip of wine.
“Beautiful huh?” I blush.
“So, Jessica Fletcher, what did you find out while snooping down the hall?” He changes the subject a little too soon for my liking but since it’s on to even more exciting news, I’ll let it pass. He is after all my pretend boyfriend. I can’t expect him to dote on me all night.
“Look around the corner. Are we alone?” I don’t want anyone else to hear this.
“For real?” Ian looks at me like I am certifiably insane.
“Do you want to hear this or not?” I insist. Certifiable or not, what I’m about to tell him should not get around as gossip at the engagement party.
“Okay, the coast is clear. What in the world is going on?” I can tell at this point he is intrigued. So, I explain to him almost verbatim what I hear outside the den and to my amazement, he doesn’t seem surprised.
“Hello, this is juicy stuff! You aren’t going to drop your jaw a littl
e bit?”
“Well, first impressions don’t lie and I figured out quickly what type of woman that Jan Wellington was. Secondly, Natalie, I already knew that this guy is a piece of work. I know he’s dating Jenna.” Ian replies.
“Who’s dating Jenna?” We both panic for a split second only to realize it’s just my mother.
“Oh nobody mother. What’s going on?” I ask trying to change the subject, quick.
“I wanted to check on you to make sure everything was okay. Also, it seems that the party is winding down. Odd kind of engagement party wasn’t it? I don’t think that I was able to say more than two words to the lad before he left.” My mother said matter of fact.
“He left?” Ian and I ask in unison.
“Well, yes. He said he just got an important call from one of his clients and had to leave. I didn’t realize the real estate business was so demanding.”
“I think we will be heading out then ourselves. Do you need a ride home Caroline?” Ian asks.
“Oh no darling. I came with Linda and James Smith. But thank you anyway.” My mother hugs both of us and heads back into the party. The Wellington’s appeared to be pre-occupied so we made a quick departure.
“So what else do you know that you’re not telling me? And how do you even know about Jenna and Rob anyway?” I am certain that I did not tell him about it, which worries me somewhat.
“Okay, do you promise not get mad and defensive like you do?”
“Excuse me? Mad and defensive? What exactly is that supp…? Of course.” I respond with a smile.
“I heard you tell that Italian lady about it. I wasn’t meaning to eavesdrop it was just, well, I was right there.” Oh god, I forgot that night. The night I had an emotional breakdown in the middle of Mama’s.
“Oh, well I guess I can understand.” Embarrassed, I was at a loss for words, which doesn’t happen often.
“So, what are you going to do Natalie? Are you going to tell Jenna about Rob? You can’t honestly pretend like you don’t know anything now.”
“You know, it’s easy for you to say. You aren’t the one who has to tell her that the man she thinks she loves is a fraud! A cheat and a scumbag! What if I tell her and she runs away Ian? The short period of time that I spent without Jenna in my life was the saddest I have had in a very long time. I don’t want that to happen again. Why does it have to be me? You know too Ian. You are just as involved in this as I am.”
“You are her best friend Natalie! Who would she rather hear it from? Her best friend or her running buddy? Are you kidding me right now? I cannot believe how selfish you’re being.” Is he reprimanding me?
“You don’t know the first thing about me Ian O’Reilly. For you to sit there all high and mighty is pretty rich. Oh fine! Go and answer your cell phone!” How could I for one second think that Ian was different from my first impression of him? He was right about one thing- first impressions don’t lie.
“It’s Jenna.” He responds in an irritated tone and picks up the phone.
“No, I will be there in a just a few minutes. I’m just dropping off Natalie now. Yes, we had a nice time. See you in a bit. What? I’m a block away from her place. Okay, yeah that’s fine. I’ll stop by the house first.”
“Jenna wants us to stop by my house before I drop you off. She probably wants to see you.” Ian’s tone was no longer friendly and calm. He seemed tense and cold, much like my first encounters with him. How can one guy change in such a short period of time?
“Okay here we are. It looks like someone else is here. I don’t recognize the car though.” Ian says confused.
We step out of his Land Rover and walk up the steps and I begin to feel nervous for some reason. Maybe it’s because I know where I just was and now I have to face Jenna in person and act as though everything is perfect. When Ian opens the door to Jenna’s greeting, I realize it is for much more than that.
“Hi guys! Meet my boyfriend Rob! Rob, this is my best friend Natalie and our friend Ian.” Jenna exclaims as Rob’s George Hamilton tanned face turns a tender shade of pale. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Mr. Alexander at the party due to my, well, snooping. Ian however did and it was apparent on the two men’s faces that they recalled the meeting from only a short time ago quite vividly.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Walking into my apartment, I felt as though I was in a dream, nightmare actually. I couldn’t believe that my life had become so dramatic. Standing in the same room as that wretched man and lying to one of the dearest people in my life made me sick to my stomach.
I couldn’t sleep all night. I tried sleeping with the TV on; I tried turning the TV off. Nothing seemed to work. Even Van Morrison couldn’t make me feel better. My cat, who realized early on that I would be disturbing his slumber, actually retired to the overpriced cat bed that he never, ever uses. It was a loss cause until my body finally caved in out of desperation around 4:30. Luckily for me, it was a normal autumn morning in Portland, which meant no bright sun to creep through the blinds; only raindrops to tap on the windows. Rain equals no screaming children to wake me at 8 o’clock on Sunday morn. Therefore, rain is my friend-on Sunday’s anyway.
My normal routine would entail a nice eye opener and good hearty yawn around 9:30. After I realize how late it actually is, I waltz into the kitchen where my coffee brewing begins. Extreme multi-tasking is too strenuous so a shower is not in order yet. No, at this point, I would perhaps scramble some eggs, make some toast or even, if I’m feeling very Martha Stewart, slice up some fresh fruit. Once I have made my coffee and prepared my breakfast, I can then sit down on the sofa, still in my PJ’s and watch This Week with George Stephanopoulos. He makes current events and politics so easy to watch.
Now, you may be asking yourself why this Sunday would be any different from any other Sunday, right. Natalie, why don’t you just get up and do your normal Sunday routine, right? Um, hello, do I need to re-cap? MY LIFE IS HELL.
“Natalie, your life is not hell. It could be worse; you could be in Jenna’s predicament.” Mya replies as though I am overreacting. At this point, I am blubbery and not handling my emotions very well.
“Do you want to come over? We could go get some coffee or breakfast or something, if you want.” I say in what has to be the most pitiful tone yet.
“Sure, but aren’t you going to watch your show? It’s almost on isn’t it?” My friends know me so well.
“I can’t. It was on this morning at 6 instead!” Okay, seriously, please tell me I have PMS or something. Is George Stephanopoulos that important to me?
“Okay, Natalie, I’ll be there in an hour or so. You figure out where you want to go, okay?” I think I have officially scared Mya.
I pull myself together and thrown on some clothes and a baseball cap and like clockwork, Mya arrives an hour later.
“I’ll drive. I don’t know that I trust you right now behind the wheel. Besides you don’t have your glasses on.” Mya replies. I thought she was here to cheer me up!
“Mya, the eye doctor told me that I don’t have to wear them when I drive.” I reply defensively.
“Well he obviously has never driven with you! Get in the car Daisy Doldrums, we got pancakes to eat!”
There is a little breakfast hole in the wall in Sellwood that makes the best breakfast ever. There can be a long wait but it is so worth it. Mya and I always sit at the counter where the waitresses can fill up our coffees as they pass by each time. Every time I go, I always expect to hear Flo shout from kitchen, “Kiss my grits, Mel.” But she doesn’t because it isn’t a 70’s sitcom and I don’t think any of the waitresses’ names are Flo.
“Okay, so you overheard the girl’s mom yelling at her and she knows that Rob has a chippie on the side?” Mya ask as she pours more cream in her coffee.
“Let’s not forget that the chippie is our best friend. But yes, pretty much.”
“Well Natalie, it sounds to me like the night actually went pretty well. You didn’t have any ma
jor encounters with the couple, that Ian guy held more than his end of the bargain and although your mom was trashed on rich people champagne, she didn’t blow your cover either.” I hate glass half full people.
“I’m not done with the story. When we were driving back home, Ian completely went off on me, basically saying what a selfish cow I am for not telling Jenna about Rob. He is such a jerk. I can’t believe I ever thought he could be a decent guy.” I’m getting mad just thinking about his self-righteous, holier than thou attitude.
“Permission to speak freely without pissing you off, dear friend of mine?” Oh great, here it comes. She’s taking his side!
“Ok, don’t look at me like that Natalie. You know he’s right. Well, not that you’re a selfish cow but that you should tell Jenna. This has gone on far enough, don’t you think? You’re just mad because he put you in your place. Admit it.”
Disillusion Meets Delight Page 13
