Remember This

by Shae Buggs

  Everyone starts to clap and I can see my mom sobbing into a handkerchief while my dad consoles her as we make our way back down the aisle. Honestly, who uses handkerchiefs anymore? Mason’s parents are on the other side of the aisle smiling and clapping as well.

  The two of us reach the end of the aisle and are waiting in the sand for the rest of the bridal party. “Well, I think we fooled our parents,” I say nervously not knowing what else to say after a kiss like that.

  “Yeah, I think we fooled everyone,” Mason replies not looking me in the eye. He looks as nervous as I feel.

  “I’m going to change and then I guess I will just see you at the reception,” I say as Drey and Kara approach us. Mason nods and heads toward Scott and his parents. Drey grabs my arm a little firmly and she pulls me away from the crowd.

  “What the hell was that?” she screams. If there is anyone who doesn’t want Mason and I getting along, it’s her.

  “What was what?” I feign innocence hoping to throw her off the topic but of course, my life is never that easy.

  “Oh, I don’t’ know, you and Mason totally having a hot make out session up at the altar. Either you guys are really good at acting or there is something going on between the two of you,” she seethes.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. It was just a kiss.”

  “Lucy, you two looked so happy again. I cried just seeing you together,” Kara interjects.

  “Was it that obvious?” I feel a little embarrassed.

  “Yes, but I guess you wanted it to look real so your parents don’t find out you hate each other, or did hate each other, or whatever…” Drey trails off.

  “I don’t know what happened,” I confess “but it felt like it used to when we actually liked each other. But I don’t want to talk about this anymore tonight. I don’t want him thinking he got to me.”

  “Let’s just change and get to the reception. I could really use a gin and tonic,” Drey says as we step into the grandeur lobby.

  The tent is lit with colorful lights and the party is in full swing by the time we make it back to the tent. It is still light out but dusk is on the horizon. Everyone is standing around the tent waiting for dinner to start. There are a lot of people here, a lot more than should be here. I don’t recognize half the people in the tent.

  “Hello my beautiful daughter!” my dad sings as he grabs my hands and twirls me around. His cheeks are rosy. He looks like he is having a ball. “I hope you don’t mind but I went to the little gents room after the ceremony and a convention was letting out. I guess some company paid to have their top performing employees flown to Mexico for the week. Lucky bastards! Anyways, I invited them to come down and join the party. I hope that’s ok with you.”

  I look around the tent and see that the convention crew is mingling quite nicely with the rest of our family. A few of the younger men have cornered my aunt on the dance floor, or maybe it’s the other way around. “Well, they seem like a nice, well behaved group, I don’t see why it would be a problem,” I say surprised by the way everyone is getting along.

  “That’s my girl,” he says and salsas away towards my mom.

  Kara, Drey, and I walk over to the little bar set up in the corner of the tent. We have all changed and switched to a more natural makeup look. We look much better. Kara is wearing a beautiful short royal purple dress with diagonal ruffles down the front. Drey has on a very snug, short black dress with killer heals. I know she is planning on hooking up with a guy tonight and I can see she already has her eye on Mr. Smooth on the dance floor.

  I have on a new dress. Its tight fitting and hits about mid thigh. The dress is all a cream colored lace with a cream lining. The arms are sheer long sleeves with only the delicate lace covering my arms, no lining. I saw this dress and thought it would be perfect for the reception. Its romantic but sexy at the same time. However, I don’t know who I am trying to be sexy for. Its not like I’m going to pick up a man at my own wedding.

  I decided to ditch the heels for the night and instead wear sandals covered in pearls that match the color of my dress perfectly. My long dark hair is no longer up in a curly bun, but lays in beachy waves down my back. It’s simple, but elegant.

  Drey gets her drink and heads straight for the dance floor. I see her wink at the guy she has been eyeing and he smiles back. Well, she’s gone for the night, I think to myself. Kara and I get a drink and head over to Scott and Mason who are standing near the edge of the tent. As soon as I see Mason standing in his white pants and white shirt, I get nervous. Something happened during that kiss and now I have butterflies when I think about or see him.

  “Hey girls! You look very nice,” Scott says as he wraps his arm around Kara and kisses her on the top of her head.

  “Hello, Mason,” I say trying not to look him in the eye. Why am I so nervous? I think I am starting to sweat again.

  “Hi,” he says as he smiles at me. I’m glad to see he is still a little nervous. “This place is beautiful. Is this what it looked like last time?”

  “More or less. Of course it was more extravagant last time since we did the whole cake thing and first dance and had bottles of champagne personalized for each of our guests. But the location is the same and of course, pink was the main color then, too,” I say smiling a little as I look around the room at all of the pink flowers and lights everywhere.

  The four of us stand chatting for a few minutes and then the DJ announces that dinner is ready. We eat lobster and alfredo followed by crème brulee. It’s a heavy meal and my stomach still doesn’t feel normal so I mainly just pick at my food. I decide that champagne will be my main entrée. After a while, the dancing starts and Dad hunts me down for the father-daughter dance. Halfway through “Stealing Cinderella”, to my great surprise, Mason cuts in.

  “May I?” he asks holding his hand out to me.

  “Of course,” my dad responds and kisses my cheek. I see him grab my mother and start dancing with her.

  I take Mason’s hand and set my other hand on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around my waist. I make sure I’m not too close to him as we sway back and forth.

  I’m feeling a little tipsy and brave so after a few twirls, I ask the burning question. “So what was with that kiss? I mean, one minute it was completely innocent and then the next it felt so…” I don’t even know how to form the words to finish my sentence.

  “Normal?” Mason chimes in.

  “Yes. No! Not normal, at least for us anyways. It felt like it used to which is anything but normal.” I feel like I am rambling to a wall since he has no idea what I am talking about.

  “I know I don’t remember anything but I did feel something when we kissed. It felt…real I guess.”

  “I don’t know what this all means but that can’t happen again,” I sigh shaking my head.

  “What can’t happen? Us kissing?”

  “Yes, us kissing, us looking at each other too long and whatever else was happening up at the altar. We are not in love, we’re just pretending.” I start to get a little flustered. Mason is looking at me like I just took his puppy away. “You know what, maybe this whole reenactment thing was a bad idea. It didn’t seem to help anyway.” I drop my arms to the side and pull away from him.

  “You’re right, it didn’t help and because of you I don’t even know who I am. We have one romantic kiss and we have to end all of our efforts to get my memory back because you don’t want to kiss me anymore. Are you afraid you might feel something for me?”

  We stand staring at each other angry and confused. His last words linger in my head. Do I have feelings for him? Surely not. That kiss was just a moment of weakness on my part. I contemplate leaving and going back to my room but that won’t help anything. We need to talk this through. I dig my toes into the sand and start again.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right this our problem to fix and neither one of us can back out. Do you want to take a walk and discuss this…situation?” I say trying to bring myself
back to the reality that we have a big problem to fix.

  “I think we should.” We leave the tent and head down the beach. The sun is setting and if I wasn’t standing next to one of my least favorite people, I would say it feels a little romantic out here. There’s a slight breeze but it feels good because the temperature is still too warm. The sky is pink and turquoise and is turning to deeper tones by the minute.

  “I’m sorry about the margarita,” Mason says in the most sincere voice I have heard out of him in awhile. I decide not to respond because I don’t want to start another fight. “And I never should have upgraded my room to be next to yours. I did that just to make you mad and I could tell it got to you. I also feel bad about your tooth brush.”

  I stop abruptly and my eyes shoot to his. “What about my tooth brush?”

  “Just don’t use it anymore, ok?” he says looking almost embarrassed.

  “What is wrong with you?” I demand, furious about his current confessions.

  “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?” he says his tone heating up. “You have been just as conniving as I have Mrs. I’m going to hit you with a wine bottle so you lose your memory and then take advantage of your disability!”

  He has a point here so again, I choose to say nothing.

  “Look Lucy, I think we just need to put everything from these past couple of weeks behind us and move forward. As soon as I get my memory back we can go our separate ways but it’s going to be a joint effort. Our last struggle as a couple.”

  The thought of what he’s saying about the end of our relationship is making me sick and slightly disappointed. But I guess he’s right. This is the end and that’s the way we both want it. “I agree. Let’s just try to be friends and get along with each other. It will make this whole process a little easier. But no more kissing though.” I decide I need to clarify this point. His kiss changed something in me and I can’t have those feelings for him anymore. We are just two different people now. I have to remember the feelings I may be having are due to the fact that I am not dealing with the Mason I was married to a couple of weeks ago. I am dealing with a totally different, charming, Mason that will disappear once his memory is back.

  “If that’s the way you want it.”

  “That’s the way it has to be. Can I ask you something though?”

  “Sure,” he replies looking a little caught off guard by my question.

  “Why did you do it? Kiss me like that, I mean.” He doesn’t say anything for a couple of seconds and then I hear him sigh.

  “I honestly have no idea. I was asking myself the same question. I guess I just got really into what we were doing. I’m still a man after all and I find you very attractive. I can’t explain it but I couldn’t wait to kiss you.”

  I don’t even know how to respond to his confession. I just smile and look at the ground. He finds me attractive. That makes me feel ooey gooey inside.

  We finish our walk on the beach and make our way back to the tent. I didn’t realize we were gone so long but it’s dark now. We actually had a good time and spent most of the night laughing. He has always been funny which is one of the reasons I was attracted to him in the first place. I think I can handle being friends with him. This might be easier than I thought.

  When we get back to the tent, there are only a few people on the dance floor including my parents and there are some people sitting at the tables. My dad is swinging my mom around the floor singing “Livin la Vida Loca.” My aunt Kathy is still drinking and now has an audience of three men watching her tell about her remarkable journey to the Holy Land. I make a mental note that Drey and the guy she was with all night have vanished. Mason’s dad is sitting at a table talking to one of the people from the convention probably about business as his mom sits beside him sipping on champagne.

  “It looks like the party has died down. I think I am going to go to bed,” I say rummaging under the table for my purse. I wave a small good-bye to my dad who is watching me from the dance floor and step out from under the tent.

  “I’ll walk you back,” Mason says as he follows me out not bothering to talk to his parents. I don’t think he wants to go anywhere near his dad while he’s talking business. I’m sure his dad has already told the poor stranger about how Mason isn’t living up to his expectations.

  “You don’t want to say bye to your parents?”

  “All my dad has been saying to me is how I am so behind at work. I don’t even know what that means because I don’t really remember what my job is. I don’t like talking about work with him. For some reason it makes me feel uneasy. I’ll see them tomorrow.” I knew it.

  “Ok.” I smile sympathetically at him because I know his dad pushes him too hard. However, I didn’t expect his dad to pressure him right now but I guess I’m not too surprised. He is all business.

  We walk back to the room and I realize how tired I am. We didn’t say a word to each other on the way back. It has been a long day in the sun which always makes me sleepy. We finally make it to the hallway outside our hotel room doors. As I am opening the door he starts to say something.

  “Hey,” he says and I turn to look at him. He is staring at me with an almost shy look on his face. He really is handsome and I have to keep myself from ogling him. “I just wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful today.”

  I am so completely shocked by his words that all I can manage to say is “thanks.” I give him a little smile and then retreat into my room. My heart rate has started to increase in tempo and I feel a little flustered but flattered at the same time. What is happening to me? I feel like a teenage girl again, not a powerful business woman trying to get a divorce. I think I’m tired and just need some sleep.

  I get into my pajamas, lie down in bed and close my eyes. Crap. I’m wide awake now thinking about him. I have to think of something else to distract me. What am I going to wear tomorrow at the farewell brunch? I need to look damn good. My mind flickers to what Mason’s reaction might be if I wear something sexy. I need to stop this! I can’t have feelings for Mason. He is the enemy, but we have agreed to be friends. Friends, not lovers. I repeat this to myself several times but as I drift off to sleep all I can think of is our kiss from the wedding and his last words to me.

  7. Gold Medalist

  “Mason,” I whisper as I wake up, light flooding into my room.

  “Mason?” Drey says with a suspicious smile on her face. She is sitting on the end of my bed.

  “Oh hi, Drey,” I say sleepily and a little embarrassed. “How was your night?” I can’t hide the suggestiveness in my voice.

  “Sex on vacation is always so much better than normal. I don’t know what it is. So, needless to say, last night was phenomenal.”

  “You do realize that you don’t have to sleep with men all the time, right? You can just date them.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” she winks. “We need to get ready for the brunch.” She stands and heads back to her room, leaving me to think for a minute. I sit up in bed and run through the events of yesterday. I feel like I have a giant monarch butterfly flapping around in my stomach thinking about everything. In fact, this visitor has been appearing more often lately than I would like. He has almost become a pet. Maybe I will call him Henry.

  I get out of bed and head over to the closet trying to find an appropriate outfit for today. I need something comfortable since we will be flying home after the brunch but I also want to look cute. I rummage through my remaining clean clothes and find my black and white striped high-waisted skirt. This will be cute with my sheer orange button down tank tucked into it. I get dressed and head into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

  When I am finished, my hair is in an elegant, but sexy side bun and my makeup is light and natural looking. I had to get another toothbrush sent up since my other one is unusable. I don’t even want to know what Mason did to it. Sometimes I swear he is five years old.

  Just a little gloss and I’m ready to go. Drey is wai
ting for me in the living room and we make our way to the elevators. I keeping watching Mason’s door to see if he might be heading down at the same time but his door remains closed. I feel a small twinge of disappointment.

  We have the small banquet room off the hotel lobby downstairs reserved for our brunch. The room is all windows and the tables are covered in white linens with pale pink accents. All of our relatives are already sitting at the table as well as Kara and Scott. My aunt Kathy is just ordering her second mimosa when we sit down.

  “Where is Mason?” my mom beams at me. Everyone assumes that we have been staying in the same room so therefore, I would know where he is. But I don’t so I lie.

  “He should be here any minute. He was brushing his teeth when I left.” I must have been convincing enough because she doesn’t ask any more questions. Kara and Scott smile to themselves knowing that I am bull shitting. I glare in their direction as Kara looks up which sends her into a fit of silent giggles.

  Mason should be here by now but he is nowhere in sight. I order a mimosa and try to distract myself from all thoughts Mason by talking to everyone about last night. I can’t help but look at the door every few seconds to see if he is here yet.

  After about ten minutes, I see him stride in wearing white shorts and a blue v-neck tee. He is carrying a giant pink Gerber daisy. Henry is back in my stomach with a vengeance. Mason makes his way over to the table and stands behind me. As he bends over to place the flower on the table in front of me, he kisses me lightly on the cheek.

  “Good morning wife,” he coos and all the women at the table sigh. I can’t help but smile even though I know he is just doing this for show. He knows that he has to trick everyone into thinking he loves me and boy is he a good actor. A small, stupid part of me wishes that it wasn’t a show. That maybe he really does have feelings for me again.