by Wood, Lauren
To me, it felt like a lifetime ago and for the first time, I was looking at Jack and I could see that he had aged quite a bit since then. We were different people than the two young men we were so long ago. Not a lot had changed for me, but Jack's life was completely different. I wondered if I was ever going to go down the same path. Would I have kids? A wife? It all seemed sort of offensive to me.
“It doesn't matter, John. I am just glad you are here now. I would not have wanted to get married without you.”
“Again?”
Jack threw me a look. I knew he was a little sensitive about the subject. Their first wedding had been beautiful, but the marriage itself had been a nightmare. Jack was still living with the consequences of that mistake and he was now a single father, or rather he had been for quite some time.
“Yeah, I know I made a mistake the first time, but Bella is different. I wish I would have met her first, but that's not how it worked out. I guess I had to go through hell, to appreciate a woman like Bella.”
“I am just glad you're happy now, Jack. You deserve some happiness, after everything you’ve been through.”
“You do too, John. I want to see you just as happy as I am. You need to find your Bella.”
I chuckled a little bit and for some unknown reason, the first thing that popped in my head, was John’s sister Dina. The blonde hair being pushed back from her face and a smile that turned into laughter, curious bit of her that seemed to brighten when she was faced with a challenge. It was the last thing I should have been thinking of, but Dina was running through my mind, a mile a minute.
Jack had this weird look on his face, and he asked me what I was thinking about.
“Nothing, why?”
“I don't know. I guess it looked like you had this look for a moment. Are you telling me that Lisa is the one for you?”
I shook my head and told him that it wasn't the case. “We get along pretty well, but it's not like that. We have sex and we have fun, that’s about it. There's nothing else going on between us. No sort of love or anything.”
“I actually feel bad for you. I would rather you found someone, John. Take it from me, you're not getting any younger. If you don't start soon, you'll never be able to have a family.”
It wasn't something I usually thought about, but now for some reason, I was. It was most likely because of the wedding. One of my best friends was changing his whole life. It made me wonder if I should do the same. And then for some unknown reason, I kept thinking about his sister. That certainly couldn't be good.
“I wish I knew there was someone out there for me. Sometimes I don't think there is, and hell Jack, most of the time I don’t care.”
“John. You've never had trouble with the ladies.”
“And I still don't. But once in a great while, I want something more. The feeling is usually fleeting though. It doesn’t last long at all.”
Before this moment, I don't think I had wanted anything more. Before this moment, I hadn't even thought about it, so why was I thinking about it now?
He must have gotten in my head and now I was thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. The last thing I needed was a wife or even a real girlfriend. I actually already had one of those and the only reason it worked, was because Lisa knew her place. We were together for fun and that was it. If she started asking me questions about life and the future, I don't think I would be as enthused with her.
“You will find it, my friend. Don't worry.”
I wasn't worried. The other thing I was worried about was this need that I had for his sister, that I had to swallow down. That was the very last thing I needed to do, but nonetheless I kept thinking about her. All this talk about relationships and women was not what I had in mind. I did not come all the way from California to reevaluate my love life. That's not what I was here for at all. I was here to make sure my oldest and best friend had a great send-off. This was his last day of freedom and I wanted him to have a good time. Worrying about my nonexistent love life was not on the agenda.
I got him off the subject and told him that I'm sure I would find someone soon. I wasn’t very convincing, but it was enough to get him off my back. We went back to the hotel, the only one in Coloma, and got the guys that were coming with us for the night. It ended up being about ten people and even though Jack kept saying he didn't want a bachelor party, he was going to get one anyway.
At this point, I think we all needed one day out, so we could forget about everything. I was drinking for one reason and one reason only. I was drinking so I could stop thinking about my best friend’s sister. That was not going to turn out well, and I needed to stay as far away from that situation as possible.
I wasn’t much of a drinker though and before long, I was down as the designated driver for the night, so any relief I was planning on getting, I didn’t get. It was Jack’s night after all. I just had to keep that in mind and it off of Dina.
5
Dina
At some point, Bella and I reached our limit. I'm not really sure what time it was, or how many drinks we had had, but I knew it was too much. There was no way I was going to get her home, but I still felt like it was my duty to do so. I had dragged her out after all. She had been left in my care and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin her wedding day the next morning.
I don't really know what happened. At some point, I'd actually told Bella about my biggest secret. I had told her all about John and she hadn't been that surprised. She had told me that it sounded a lot like her and my brother. I don't know if I wanted to know all that about the two of them, but I had learned so much more than I needed to. They were meant to be together and by the end of it, even though I was drunk, I liked my new sister-in-law. I was actually glad to bring her into the fold.
The only problem was that both of us were zonked and I couldn't work my phone enough to get a driver. I needed somebody to come get us and to take us home. At the moment, I had forgotten all about the fact that John was staying in my room.
When I finally got ahold of somebody, of course it was my mom. There were probably twenty-five other people in the house and of course, she was the one that answered. It was basically my luck and I tried my best to sound as sober as possible.
“Do you think that you can see if Amber is around?”
“Uhm, I don't think she is. You know that it's almost eleven o'clock at night, right?”
It was 11 on a Friday night, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But this was Coloma and my mother was my mother, so she was convinced that it was the middle of the night. I felt like it was just getting started.
“I am sure that she will be awake, if I just give her a call. She's right down at the hotel and she will be able to give me a ride back. I need to get Bella home, so that she can get some rest and she's not red and puffy in the morning. If she is, Darla, the make-up chick is going to kill me.”
“Darla Lansing is going to do no such thing.”
“I didn't mean it literally, mom. Never mind, I need to make a call.”
It came to reason though, that one of my problems was that I didn’t remember any numbers. Of course, I didn’t remember the number to the hotel and my phone couldn’t manage to help me. Or, I wasn’t able to use it at this time.
Somehow, my brother’s number was about the only one that I could remember at this moment, besides my house number. I called him all the time and I knew that one by heart.
He was the last person I wanted to dial because I didn't want to have to explain to him what was going on with Bella. He didn't need to know that his wife was drunk right now, and it was my fault. I had heard from several people that she didn't drink that much and considering how much of a lightweight she was, I would imagine that was true. But what I hadn't known about Bella was her stamina. She kept going long after I was ready to stop.
Finally, I had to call Jack because I had no other choice. I couldn't think of anybody else and for some reason or another, my brain wasn't working quite as well as
it should have been. It was muddled at best, and I was just stuck on the problem and I couldn't find a solution. I knew there was one there, right within the reaches in my mind, I just couldn't pull it out. Instead, I just dialed Jack’s number and hoped he wouldn’t be too mad at me.
Jack was not the one that answered though. It took me a minute to place the voice, and I was a bit surprised to hear from him.
“John?”
“Yeah?”
He didn't sound very happy either, and I asked him where my brother was.
“I don't know.”
‘“What do you mean, you don't know?”
“I mean he's around here somewhere, but I don't know where he is exactly right now. What can I do for you?”
After a moment, I realized it was a good thing that John answered and not Jack. Then I could get Bella home and I wouldn't have to admit to my brother that I got his soon-to-be bride drunk, the night before their wedding.
“Can you give us a ride home?”
“Huh?”
“Me and Bella. We are over here at Randy’s and there is no way that we can drive. There are no taxis in Coloma, so is there any way that you can take us home?”
I was holding my breath, waiting for an answer.
“Are you telling me that you got Bella drunk?”
“Well, Bella is a grown woman, so I didn't do anything. She just can't hold her liquor that well.”
“I can't believe that you got her drunk.”
I tried to get in the fact that it wasn't my fault, but he just told me that it didn't matter. I felt like it did though. I didn't want my brother to be mad at me about it tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure that I put it out there, that it wasn't my fault. I hate it when Jack was mad at me.
“Anyways, John. Can you just give us a ride home? I know you guys are busy or whatever, but I would really appreciate it. I don’t know who else to call.”
He was quiet for a moment, and I was afraid that he wasn't going to say yes. I hated to even ask him. Out of everybody, I think asking John was the worst, especially after the embarrassing moments shared together before in my bedroom. I didn't know how to act around him, but it didn't matter right now. All that mattered was getting Bella home so that she would be semi-presentable tomorrow for her wedding. If not, it was going to be awhile before anybody forgave me.
“Yeah. It will take a couple of minutes to get away, but I will be there in a few.”
I felt immediate relief by the time I got off the phone. Bella had this funny look on her face, and I know that she had overheard who I was talking to. She started to say something, and I shut her up.
“You can't say a word to him.”
“How are you ever going to have your happy ending if you don't fight for it, Dina?”
It may have made sense and it may have even been good advice, if the person that was telling it to me wasn't slurring her words so badly. It was hard to take her words seriously when she sounded that way.
It wasn't long before John was there to pick us up, and I was starting to sober up. The problem was that Bella wasn't. She had a big mouth and that made me nervous.
6
John
When I got to the bar, I didn't immediately see the girls standing outside. I was hoping that this would be a quick in and out, but I ended up having to park and go in. I was the designated driver for the night apparently and I didn't want to leave the other guys in the club by themselves for too long. They were wasted and just like Dina, I had decided that getting Jack drunk before his wedding day was apparently a good idea. She had thought the same about Bella and now I had to rescue everyone.
From the sound of Dina's voice when I was talking to her on the phone, I thought that she had a little bit too much to drink as well. She had slurred her words a little bit, even if she had been pretty understandable.
I got inside and I looked around for Bella. She had this vibrant hair that was hard to miss. I found them pretty quickly because of it. Even though Dina wasn't drinking, I could not say the same for Bella. She was apparently going for some record. When I saw Dina, she waved me over and I moved towards them.
“Your chariot awaits.”
“Well that's good and everything, but you're going to have to help me get her out of here. I can't get her to slow down, and I have a feeling she's not going to be very helpful.”
I looked over at Bella and she smiled at me. “I know a secret about you.”
Dina gave her a dirty look and told her she had obviously had too much to drink.
“Why don't you keep your mouth shut, Bella?”
Something was going on between the two drunk women, but I really didn't have time to figure out what it was. I had to get back to the other side of town to make sure that Jack didn't do anything that he would regret later. Hell, any one of them could be getting into trouble right now. I felt responsible, so I told her that I would help. If that was the only way, then I was going to get back to Jack. That's just what I was going to have to do.
Bella tried to explain to me that she wasn't ready to leave yet. She said she was having fun and she tried to order another bottle of booze. The bartender looked at me, and I shook my head. There was no way Bella needed any more to drink. That looked to be the last thing that she needed.
“Bella, let's get you home so you can marry Jack in the morning.”
“I do like Jack.”
I smiled at her and she smiled back.
“That's good to hear, considering that you're marrying him tomorrow. So, let's get you back, so you can get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you.”
“But I'm having so much fun.”
She did look like she was having a good ol’ time, but I didn't have time for this. I needed to get her in bed, so that I could leave with my conscience intact. I couldn't let anything happen to the two women. Jack would never forgive me.
I had to get to her feet, and after a moment, she seemed to go along with it. I was grateful, because I didn't know if I had it in me to wrestle her tonight.
Dina followed behind us and she was carrying what I figured was both of their purses. She didn't say much as I got them both into my rental truck.
“Thank you for this, John. You don't know how grateful I am.”
“Just don't tell your brother about it. If he finds out that his innocent little sister was out getting drunk with his bride, I’m not sure that he would be all that happy about it. I don't want to get in the middle of it.”
She waved me off and asked me if I was afraid of her brother.
“Not at all, but I don't want to fight with my oldest friend because of it.”
“What are you willing to fight for?”
I didn't understand what she meant, and I asked her.
“I mean, are you willing to get my brother a little upset?”
“I guess it just depends on the reason. If it was a good enough reason, of course I don’t mind pissing him off, but it would have to be worth it.”
That made her giggle and for the life of me, I have no idea why. There was obviously something going on in her mind that I was not privy to. It was probably better that I didn't know. All this talk about Jack mad at me made me think of the one thing that would piss him off. It was of course, looking at his sister the way I was right now. He would not have liked it at all.
“We can talk about this later, Dina. Jack is still at the bar and I don't want him to miss his wedding tomorrow.”
“Of all the grief you gave me.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. So, let's get you guys home, or there isn't going to be a wedding tomorrow to go to.”
She agreed, but at the same time, not all the way. There was something holding her back and I wondered again, where her conversation had been going. If it was anyone else, or related to anyone else, I would have taken it at face value, but this was Jack’s sister, so I had to look at it the other way. I had to see her and her suggestions as off limits. There was no way in hell that it would eve
r work, and one night of pleasure wasn't worth a decade of friendship, as far as I was concerned. Even if the thought of it was very, very tempting.
Dina sat a little too close on the way back to drop her off. I did my best to ignore it. It was easier said than done though. I tried to bring up something, anything to get my mind off of the present, but it all just seemed to come out wrong.
I got them home in one piece, and I didn't break any unwritten rules about friend’s sisters. I never thought that would be a problem before, but now it seemed to be the biggest conflict that I had at the moment. It felt like it was pretty damn important now.
She had been far more relaxed than I probably would've liked. It was strange enough to even see her in a sexual way, but somehow it was even worse now, once she got my mind going in a certain direction. The close proximity was doing something to my head. I couldn't stop thinking about it the whole way to drop them off.
When I stopped at her house, Dina asked me what we were doing there.
“Isn't this where you guys are staying?”
“You're staying in my bedroom, remember? She is staying at her parents’ house.”
It hit me all of a sudden that she was right and it took me a minute to recuperate. I hadn't even thought about it like that. I was going to have to sleep in her bed tonight.
“Well, you can’t take her to her parents’ house like that. Your brother said that they are very religious.”
“I don’t know her all that well. She wasn’t acting very Godly. Right, so I guess we will go ahead and hide her in here somewhere. She is going to be pissed when she wakes up over here.”
“That’s your problem. Why don't we get her inside and then I will take you where you were going? Are you going to a boyfriend's house or something?”
She insisted that she wasn’t and for unknown reasons to me, I felt suddenly relieved. It shouldn't matter where or who she was with, but the idea that she was going to be alone tonight made me feel better. I didn’t like the thought of her being with someone else.
