Three Girls And A Wedding

by Rachel Schurig

  “What’d you say?” he asked. I looked at him blankly. “Did you just say I was totally hot?”

  Oh shit! Did I seriously say that out loud?

  “I was talking about the room,” I stammered, my face flushing. “It’s hot in here. Probably too much to drink, you know.”

  He looked at me for a minute, his eyes clearly amused.

  “Wanna switch to water?” he asked.

  “No,” I said, watching a waitress load a dangerous- looking blue martini on her tray. “I want one of those.”

  He laughed again. “If you say so.” He ordered my drink for me and got a Miller for himself.

  “Annie would be so horrified by me right now,” I said.

  “Who’s Annie?” Matt asked.

  I looked at him blankly. Everyone knew Annie. “Annie,” I told him clearly. “My best friend. Well, with Ginny. You know, come on.”

  Matt laughed. “You are so far gone. We’re definitely switching you to water next,” he said. “Okay, skip the introductions. Why would this Annie be so horrified?”

  “Because I’m drinking a froufrou drink. With a boy. Annie always says you should drink beers when you’re with boys so they don’t get the wrong idea about you. She thinks froufrou drinks make boys think you’re girly and easy to take advantage of.”

  Matt laughed again. “She sounds interesting.”

  “She’s wonderful,” I sighed. “My best friend. And Ginny. My girls.” A thought struck me, and I felt my face fall. “Except Ginny won’t be anymore. She’ll be Josh’s girl.”

  “Okay, go back,” he said, taking my hand. “Focus, Jen. Tell me about Ginny and Annie.”

  “They’re my roommates,” I told him. “We’ve been best friends forever. Well, since high school anyhow. But now Ginny is getting married.”

  “To Josh?”

  “Yup. And they’re gonna move out. And it won’t ever be the same. No more Danny waking me up every morning.”

  “Who the hell is Danny?” Matt said, laughing.

  I looked up at him. “Wow, talking is kind of hard. Maybe I should switch to water.”

  “I think that would be a good idea. Want to use the bathroom? Splash some water on your face?”

  “But that would mess up my makeup!” I said, horrified by the thought. “Kiki would be so mad at me!”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Matt said, helping me up. “You don’t need all that anyhow.”

  I smiled. “You’re so nice when you’re like this, you know,” I told him, leaning into him as he walked me to the ladies’ room. “You should always be this way.”

  When I returned to the bar I found my pretty blue drink gone. In its place was a tall glass of water and a huge basket of fries. “Ooh, fries,” I said. “Yum!”

  Matt helped me up again. “I gave your drink to Kiki,” he said. “Hope you don’t mind.”

  “Where is she?” I asked, peering around the crowded room.

  “In the back, beating all the boys at pool in her four-inch heels,” he said, smiling.

  I laughed. “That’s awesome.”

  “You like her, don’t you?” he asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

  I nodded. Already I could feel the effects of food and water, coupled with using the bathroom and taking Matt’s advice about splashing water on my face. “I didn’t expect to like her,” I told him honestly. “She’s not the kind of girl I usually hang out with. But she’s so…genuine, you know? She’s honestly that kind, that concerned about people. At first I thought it was an act.”

  “It’s not,” he said, nodding as he ate a fry. “I’ve known her for ages and she’s always been that way.”

  I squinted at him. “When did you meet her?” I asked. As far as I could remember, Kiki and Eric had only met a few years ago, in college.

  “We went to high school together,” he said, sounding sort of uncomfortable.

  “But Kiki went to Country Day,” I said, felling confused. Country Day was a super-exclusive private school in our area, and I knew for a fact Eric hadn’t gone there. Matt’s face was definitely getting red now.

  “Oh my God,” I said, pointing at him. “You went to Country Day?”

  He shrugged. “It was for hockey, okay?”

  I laughed gleefully. “Mr. Anti-Consumerism, I’m-too-good-for-fancy-parties went to the ritziest, most expensive private school in the state. Oh, I love it!”

  “I had a scholarship,” he said, defensively. “For hockey. It was my best chance to get into a good college.”

  “Mmmhmm,” I said. “Sure. Oh my God,” I said, realizing something and starting to laugh again. “You had to wear a uniform!”

  “Shut up,” he said, but he was smiling now. “It was actually really rough for me at first.”

  “Food in the gourmet cafeteria was just too delicious?”

  He shoved me playfully and I felt my skin tingle at the contact. The combination of alcohol in my system and Matt sitting this close to me was delicious.

  “I was very lonely,” he said. “I was a senior when I started; I had to leave all my old friends. And most of the kids there didn’t think too much of me, being from lowly Ferndale and all.”

  “I live in Ferndale!” I told him.

  “Really? My parents are still there,” he said. “Anyhow, eventually I met Kiki—she was dating one of the other guys on the team. She was nice to me right from the start, invited me to eat lunch with her and her group. She was only a freshman then, but she was already a little social organizer. She was a great friend to have.”

  I smiled. “That sounds like Kiki.”

  “So,” he said. “You live in Ferndale. With Annie and Ginny and someone named Danny?”

  I laughed. “Sorry, I guess that wasn’t really clear. Danny is Ginny’s son.”

  Matt raised his eyebrows.

  “She had him last year. He’s amazing, seriously, the best baby in the world.”

  “His dad is out of the picture?”

  “No, Josh is his dad.”

  “Ahh,” Matt said. “And they’re getting married?”

  “Yeah. But Josh wasn’t around at first.” I told him the whole saga of Ginny and Josh and their breakup, about how Annie and I had to help Ginny with the pregnancy, how we had promised to always be there to raise the baby with her.

  “But now they’re moving out,” he said, softly. “I’m sorry, Jen.”

  I shrugged, feeling tears in my eyes and desperate not to let him see me cry. “They’re my family,” I said softly. “The girls, Danny. They mean everything to me. When I’m with them, it’s the only time I really feel like me. I know it makes sense for her to move now, and I know Danny should be with his dad. It’s just…”

  “Hard,” he finished for me, placing a hand gently on my shoulder. His kindness sent me over the edge, and I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

  “Hey,” Matt said quietly, placing a finger under my chin and gently forcing my face up to look at him. “Don’t cry, Jen.” His eyes were concerned, warm and liquid, like melting chocolate. I must be really drunk, to be thinking of cheesy lines like that, but God, he was beautiful. He held my gaze for a long moment, staring into my eyes.

  “I want to kiss you,” he whispered, and I felt my stomach drop.

  “That would be…nice,” I stammered, my heart racing. Matt smiled, once, and then his lips were on mine, soft and warm at first, but then with increasing intensity. His hand, still under my chin, swept up gently to cup my face as his other arm came around behind me and rested at the small of my back. My arms, seemingly of their own accord, were wrapped tightly around his neck.

  It was the best kiss of my life. Maybe it was just the alcohol, but I literally felt like little zaps of electricity were shooting from his lips straight down into my toes. It was like an explosion was taking place in the pit of my stomach. I had never felt anything like it before.

  Maybe it was just the alcohol, but I doubt it.

  “Jen,” squealed a familiar voice, a
nd Matt tore his lips away from mine, jumping back on his stool and letting me go. It felt like being doused with cold water, the loss of contact with Matt. I shook my head, trying to regain my equilibrium, as I heard the voice again.

  “Jen, Jen, there you are!” It was Kiki, making her way across the bar to us, pulling Eric along in her wake. I couldn’t detect any hint that she had seen us, and I felt relieved. “Eric says we need to go home. He says I’m way too drunk and won’t be able to get up in the morning for our flight.” She rolled her eyes. “I think he’s just embarrassed because I beat him at pool. Look!” She pulled a wad of cash out from between her breasts. “Two hundred bucks! I beat everyone!”

  I felt knocked completely off balance. Between the alcohol, the mind-blowing kiss with Matt, and the hurricane force that was Kiki, it was hard to wrap my mind around what was happening.

  But then I felt a steady hand at the small of my back, a warm arm behind me, balancing me. I looked up to see Matt looking down at me, a slight smile playing at his mouth. “Ready to go?” he asked.

  I nodded up at him and he helped me down from the stool. As we followed Kiki and Eric out to the waiting limo, his hand never left my back.

  ***

  I woke up the next morning feeling unaccountably happy. My head was pounding, my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls, and I was pretty sure I was going to throw up at any minute. So why on earth should I feel so happy?

  It hit me like a punch to the gut—if a punch to the gut could feel so exhilarating. Matt kissed me last night! He kissed me, and it was amazing. I closed my eyes, letting memories of the evening filter back into my muddled brain. The last thing I could remember was sitting in the limo, in the dark, with my hand held tightly between both of Matt’s.

  I smiled, burying my head into the pillow. I couldn’t wait to see him.

  I jumped out of bed, eager to get in the shower, but regretted it instantly. Crap, I really was hungover. I sat on the edge of the bed again, taking deep breaths and trying to quell the pounding in my head. A glass of water on the bedside table caught my eye. Next to it was a piece of hotel paper. I squinted at it, and smiled. Call me if you need anything, it said, and next to the words was a phone number. Keeping the paper in place was a bottle of aspirin.

  My heart swelled. I remembered now. Matt had walked me all the way into my room, helped me find my night shirt (damn, he had seen me in this ratty old thing), then respectfully turned his back while I changed. He had even tucked me in, kissing my forehead and wishing me sweet dreams.

  I was pretty sure I was in love.

  Feeling reinvigorated, I gulped two aspirins and most of the glass of water. When I was fairly confident I would be able to keep it down, I got up to shower and get dressed. I had about an hour to get downstairs for our limo to the airport, but maybe if I got to the lobby early I would get to see Matt again. I briefly considered calling the number he had left, but thought better of it. I didn’t want him to have to explain to Eric why I was calling.

  Forty-five minutes later I was sitting in a gorgeous armchair in the lobby, my packed bags at my feet, while I eagerly scanned the elevator for signs of Matt’s arrival. My breath caught as I saw a tall man with dark looking hair step out into the lobby—then he turned his face and my heart sank. It wasn’t Matt; it was Jason. And he looked pissed.

  I hadn’t thought much about work since Kiki and I had left her room last night. Sure, in theory, I had gone out with her because she was the client and I wanted to make her happy. But once we had actually gotten to the clubs, I forgot all about that. I wanted only to have a good time—and I had.

  “There you are,” Jason said curtly. “Come with me.”

  “Why? The others will be down soon,” I stammered. I felt guilty, though I wasn’t quite sure why. I hadn’t really done anything wrong, had I? Kiki sure seemed pretty happy tripping down the hall to her room after we had said goodnight at my door.

  “All the more reason for us to find a more private place to talk.” Jason’s voice was cold. Shit.

  I stood and followed him to an empty corner of the lobby. “What the hell did you think you were doing last night?” he demanded, turning on me.

  “Kiki wanted to go out. She wanted me to come. What could I do?”

  “I’m not talking about that,” he said impatiently. “Though I would have thought you might have managed to stay more professional and not get drunk off your ass, no matter what Kiki was doing.”

  I felt my face flush. “How did you know…”

  “I saw you coming back in, Jen,” he said. “I was down here in the bar. I watched the four of you stumble upstairs, making fools of yourself.”

  I felt my face flush. “Mr. Barker wasn’t with you, was he?” I asked, feeling dread build in my stomach.

  “Thank God he wasn’t,” Jason said. “But I thought I should make sure you got to your room without incident and what do you think I saw when I got there?”

  I looked at him blankly. I had no memory, absolutely none, of seeing Jason last night.

  “I saw that guy coming out of your room,” he hissed. “What the hell were you thinking, Campbell? That completely crosses the line!”

  “We didn’t do anything!” I said, stung.

  “Do you think that matters? Don’t be such an idiot, Jen! This business is about perception. What do you think that looked like, him leaving your room in the middle of the night?”

  My face flushed. I knew exactly what it would look like.

  “I’m sorry, Jason,” I said quietly. “He was just making sure I got in okay. He was being a gentleman.”

  “You have a job to do here, Jen,” he said, leaning down so his face was next to mine. “You could have embarrassed yourself and the firm. If Mr. Barker had seen you, you’d be fired right now. As it is, if you let anything like this ever happen again, I’ll be forced to talk to Jacqueline.”

  I looked away, trying to avoid his face, and found myself staring straight at Matt, who had just disembarked from the elevator with Eric. He was watching us with a blank look on his face. Something about his expression made me feel nervous.

  “Fine,” I hissed, turning my attention back to Jason. “You’ve made your point. It won’t happen again.”

  I was desperate to get away from him, desperate to go and talk to Matt. I didn’t know why, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  “You see that it doesn’t,” Jason said, his voice cold. “I’m serious, Jen.”

  I turned and walked away, but now Kiki and her cousin had joined Matt and Eric. There was no way I could get a private word with him—Kiki would no doubt be watching us like a hawk.

  When I joined them, Kiki gave me a huge hug. “Jen, last night was the best,” she said, much more quietly than was normal for her. “I had so much fun. God, doesn’t your head hurt?”

  “It’s pounding,” I told her. “But I had an aspirin when I first woke up; I think that helped.” I tried to meet Matt’s eye as I said this, eager to smile and show him how thankful I was, but he seemed to be staring determinedly at the floor. My stomach plummeted a few more notches. Was something going on?

  When the Barkers joined us we all loaded into the limo. Matt sat next to his brother, about as far away from me as possible. I tried to tell myself that he just didn’t want to do anything obvious with the present company. Kiki kept me occupied with a steady stream of talk about details we would take care of now the dress was sorted. For a girl with a hangover, she could really talk.

  When we reached the plane, I finally had my chance. As we lined up at the steps on the tarmac, I purposefully hung back, pretending to search for something in my purse. When Matt, bringing up the rear of the group passed me, I grabbed him arm.

  “Hey,” I said softly, smiling up at him. “Thanks for the aspirin.”

  He looked down at me, and the coldness in his eyes hit me like a slap across the face. “It was no problem. Forget about it,” he said, his voice dead. “In fact,
Jen, why don’t you forget about all of it.” The same look of indifference he had worn so many times settled on his face, and he turned away from me, leaving me standing alone on the tarmac, tears filling my eyes.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I just don’t understand what I did,” I said for the tenth time. “Something must have happened that I can’t remember.”

  “You were pretty drunk, by the sound of it,” Ginny agreed, holding my hand.

  “Was he really drunk?” Annie asked, refilling my wine glass. “Maybe he’s remembering something wrong.”

  I was sitting at the kitchen table with Ginny, Annie, and Josh. I had just recapped the entire tale over a bottle of wine. I felt absolutely wretched. If Josh hadn’t been there, I was sure I’d be sobbing onto the girls’ shoulders by now.

  I thought about what Annie said, racking my brain to try and remember. Had Matt been really drunk? I didn’t think so. He and Eric had expressed plenty of disdain for the mixed drinks at most of the clubs, though I recalled them each having a few. Not enough to get trashed on though, as far as I could remember.

  “I don’t think so,” I told her miserably. “Maybe he just remembered all the reasons why he didn’t like me in the first place.”

  “Give me a break, Jen,” Annie said. I had also told them about my previous encounters with Matt, about the way he so often seemed to look straight through me. “If he didn’t like you before, he certainly seemed to change his mind. I mean, he kissed you and tucked you into bed.”

  “I have to agree,” Josh said thoughtfully. “I know it might go against the stereotype, but I don’t know many guys who would do that with a girl they couldn’t stand.”

  “Then that leaves me exactly where I started,” I moaned. “What the hell happened?”

  “You could always call him,” Ginny suggested. “He did leave you his cell phone number, right?”