by Stacy Borel
Harper had on a black silk dress that went to the floor. It hugged every inch of her body and draped in the front so she had to be careful how she moved or else we’d be having a wardrobe malfunction. She had her hair pulled up in an elegant, loose bun and she’d shaded her eyelids in a smoky black that made her green eyes pop.
We were definitely ready to go. Stepping out of Harper’s car, a young man—who I assumed was the valet driver—approached us with wide eyes. He gave Harper long once over when she handed him the keys along with a generous tip. I saw her wink at him when he handed her the parking ticket and she thanked him in a low purr.
Stepping inside the hotel lobby I giggled at Harper. “Easy Killer, that kid can’t have been more than twenty years old.”
“Mmmhmmm, and I bet his stamina is fantastic too.”
“Oh good, so you like the little kiddies now too?”
“Have you ever slept with someone that’s a few years younger than you Em?”
“You know I’ve only ever been with Finley and Weston.”
She sighed disapprovingly. “Well, let me tell you, it is worth it. They can go for hours.” Harper thought that I should have shopped around a bit before I settled with West. But I’d never been that kind of girl.
As we approached the banquet room there were two tables set up outside the door. The tables were manned by three people that I immediately recognized as the cheerleading triplets Susan, Aubrey, and Cassie. They weren’t really triplets but Harper and I had called them that because they were always together, dressed the same, and finished each other’s sentences. These were the girls that gave Harper the hardest time in school. They were what we considered the ‘popular crowd’. The ones who only dated the football players and wore designer clothes. Apparently Harper hadn’t been good enough to socialize with them because of her secondhand clothes, and because she hadn’t lived in the nicest part of town. I thought the real reason they hadn’t liked her was because they knew Kyler was interested in her and he was the only football player that wouldn’t give them the time of day. It pissed them off that someone they thought was beneath them was being noticed. That was until I came along and got Finn’s attention. Then they turned their venomous stares and words on me. They were cruel in the worst ways teenage girls could be.
Once in gym class, Aubrey had taken a picture on her cell of Harper naked in the shower; she’d been bending over to get a bottle of shampoo. Aubrey sent it to every single person in her contact list. They then forwarded it to everyone they knew and so on and so forth, until everyone in the school had it. Guys were saying nasty, vulgar things to her because of the position she was in. They said she was bending over and begging for it. Aubrey told everyone that Harper had asked for her picture to be taken. Harper was so mortified that she stayed home from school for a whole week because of it. As much as I’d tried to convince her that the rumors had died down, it eventually took for Kyler to go over to her house and speak to her before she would listen. Harper wouldn’t tell me what Kyler had said to get her to come back to school, but she did and nobody bothered her about it. I had no doubt that Kyler threatened anybody who dared to say something about the picture. The girls toned it down after that, but they still found ways to make our lives hell.
Despite the lessened cruelty, I remained a target of their hounding. They were always there in my ear, making me feel like I wasn’t good enough—or pretty enough—to be with someone like Finn. After time, they didn’t even have to be there telling me these things, because I told myself the damaging words.
As we walked to the table I could see that Cassie had nudged Susan and bumped elbows with Aubrey. The three of them watched us with their perfect little smirks until we got up to the table. None of us said anything right away because we were doing what all women do; sizing each other up. I decided to be the one to break the ice.
“Hi Cassie, Susan, Aubrey. It’s nice to see you all.” I gave them the most genuine smile I could muster.
I heard Harper snort next to me. “Yeah I can see that time has been real nice to you all.” Her sarcasm couldn’t have been more obvious.
Susan was pregnant with her third child. She had married a bank manager and I’d heard that he was known to run around on her. By the looks of things she’d put on a bit more than just pregnancy weight. Aubrey was a heavy smoker and her persistent tanning made her look like she was in her fifties not twenties. She had an on-again/off-again boyfriend Gabe, who worked at the car shop in town. Cassie used to have thick beautiful golden locks but time hadn’t done her any favors. Her hair was now sparse and brittle and she was in the middle of her second divorce.
Aubrey snickered and flicked her short brown hair behind her shoulder, “Well hello Harper,” and nodded in my direction. “Emilyn. How has life been treating you two?”
“Pretty well thank you,” I replied. “How about yourself?”
Sticking her nose in the air a bit she said, “I just opened the new tanning salon on First Street. And Gabe and I are getting engaged soon.” She paused, probably waiting for us to applaud her or something; so not happening. She must have figured that out because she continued, “Cassie is moving to Boise to be closer to her new job and Susan is happily married and adding to her beautiful family in two months.”
I saw a little glimmer of nastiness cross her face. “So last I heard Emilyn you were living in Chicago with your lawyer husband. Though I’m still not sure how you snagged a man like him. Weren’t you supposed to go to college or something after high school?” Her little minions perked up. She wasted no time throwing the daggers in my direction. I wouldn’t show her that her comment was below the belt.
Harper however, jumped in to defend me. She leaned in real close to Aubrey across the table. “Em ‘snagged’ Weston the good ol’ fashion way, by letting the man chase her and not spreading her legs on the first date. You wouldn’t understand that though would you?” Aubrey’s mouth was in a thin angry line. I’d known that the situation would likely be awkward but I hadn’t expected Harper to pull out the big guns so early in the evening.
Aubrey’s eyes widened before she snapped. She jumped out of her chair, and I could have sworn she was going to come across the table at us. Instead she got right in Harper’s face. “I’d be careful Harper, I know what you do in those houses you sell. Whoring yourself to get a sale is prostitution isn’t it? Word gets around you little bitch, so I’d keep that in mind.” She turned at looked at her friends, who were now standing but both appeared to be unsure about what Aubrey was doing.
Harper laughed a condescending laugh and looked Aubrey in the eyes. “No need for me to include myself in the sales I make because I’m a professional. Besides, I get plenty of attention outside of work. But I’d re-evaluate your relationship before you go accusing me of whoring myself. I believe it was Gabe that asked me to take him back to my house after drinks a few days ago.” Harper grabbed my hand and started to pull me inside the banquet hall but suddenly changed her mind, paused and turned around. “Oh and by the way, this isn’t high school anymore Aubrey. I’ve grown up and I don’t put up with shit. You want to fuck with me then bring it because I’ll rock your world honey. And seriously, maybe you should stop tanning. You look like a fucking Cheeto.” With that, Harper and I walked away. I could hear Aubrey yelling and cursing at Harper while her friends tried to calm her down.
When we stepped inside the doors it was like stepping back in time. There were streamers coming from the center of the ceiling and going out to different points in the room. There was a DJ in the corner playing music that was popular from the year we graduated. The tables were decorated with a small vase on each with water and a floating candle in each and rose petals scattered over the table tops. Over in the corner opposite the DJ was a bar, and next to the bar was a buffet that servers were currently filling with food.
Harper and I found a table close to the dance floor and set our purses down. “Jesus I need a drink.” She looked stressed. Instead
of asking her if she was okay, I decided to follow her over to the bar. She asked, “You want something?”
“A sparkling water, my stomach is a bit upset still after last night.”
Harper told the bartender what we wanted and while we waited for our order to be filled, I had to ask her what Aubrey meant by her sleeping with clients.
“Please tell me you didn’t sleep with Gabe the mechanic. That would be a new low Harper.”
She looked over at me and her mouth dropped open a little bit. “Are you fucking serious? You think that I would actually sleep with him? No way! That man came up to me at a bar one night and practically begged me to go home with him. I knew he was screwing Aubrey and I don’t want that slut’s sloppy seconds.” She tossed back a shot and handed me my water. “Gabe may be easy on the eyes but I do have standards Em.”
We made our way back to our table. “I know, but why did Aubrey insinuate that you sleep with your clients. That’s against the rules right?”
“First of all, it’s my company and I make the rules. One of those rules is that you DO NOT fuck the clients. I don’t run a fucking brothel Emilyn and I don’t need to offer myself up to get the sale of a house. Did you actually believe her?” Harper looked hurt.
“No of course I didn’t believe her. I was just worried she was starting rumors that you don’t need to deal with. And I am relieved that you didn’t sleep with Gabe.” I said laughing to lighten the mood. “I know you run a professional business Harper. I just don’t like people talking about you like that. You know?”
She threw her arm around my shoulder effectively dismissing her change of moods. “I know. Let’s go mingle! I saw Maryanne over by the food table and I haven’t seen her in ages.”
As we made our way over to the buffet line, out of the corner of my eye I saw the banquet door open and in walked Finley and Kyler. Oh my god! I froze in place, causing Harper to run into the back of me.
“What the hell Emilyn. Why’d you stop walking?”
I had no words. For the second time in less than twenty-four hours I was speechless. Finn stood tall in a pair of black slacks and black shoes. He wore a crisp white button up shirt that he’d teamed with a black tie, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up his forearms. His tattoos were showing and his hair was swept to the side in a sexy mess. My heart thundered and my breathing was rapid. Why did this man cause me to have this reaction? That was a question that I didn’t want to address at that moment… if ever.
I noticed he was scanning the room, and he stopped when his eyes landed on me. He gave me a slight head nod and the side of his mouth tipped up in a smirk. As he kept those mesmerizing eyes on me I was rooted in place, completely frozen. How in the hell did he still have the power to make a room disappear, and my insides feel like mush. This was not the reaction a married woman should have for another man; let alone the man that had left me weeping in the high school parking lot. That thought gave me the courage to turn away from his penetrating gaze. I couldn’t do this to myself. My feelings for Finn were buried years ago and if I allowed myself to feel even a fraction of them now, it would be like putting a crack in the Hoover Dam. All it would take was a small fracture, before little seeping feelings turned into a full blown out-pouring. And now was not the time, or place, to be addressing those feelings.
I turned my attention back to Harper. “Sorry, let’s get our food and go sit down. Can we catch up with Maryanne in a bit? I’m starving?”
“Yeah… sure.” She didn’t seem to believe me, and when her eyes followed to where I had been looking moments previously, I saw her shake her head and mumble something like ‘dickwad’ under her breath. I didn’t want to get her riled up again, so I chose to ignore it.
The buffet had a wide array of food to choose from. It all looked great, but seeing Finn had given me nervous butterflies, and I wasn’t sure I could eat much. But I’d just told Harper I was hungry so I loaded up my plate with a couple of dinner rolls, a slice of prime rib, green beans, and mashed potatoes.
We made our way back to our table and sat down. I picked at my dinner roll, hoping it would settle my stomach but it was no use. Between knowing Finn was in the room and getting over my hangover, I couldn’t eat anything on my plate.
Harper noticed I wasn’t eating and asked if I was feeling okay. I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I told her I was fine and said I was still hung over from the previous night.
“Yeah, probably a good idea to stay away from the booze tonight hon. We don’t want to be carrying you out again. That would just give the triplet bitches ammo to talk.”
“Definitely no alcohol for me tonight, I’m sticking with the sparkling water.” I nodded in agreement.
A few more minutes passed without event. I refused to look up and scan the room for the one person that I knew was here and was watching me. I knew this because I felt the prickling sensations on my neck.
Harper and I were approached by a few classmates that we had been friendly with in school but who were never part of the crowd we spent most of our time with. We weren’t part of the popular group but when I started dating Finn, more people began to pay more attention to us. Since Finn and Kyler were both athletes, we immediately became connected to the jocks of the school. And since both boys played music, all of the musically inclined students also considered us friends. They were all pretty nice, well except for the few girls that would glare at Harper and I. Those girls were never as mean as the triplets, but some of the looks we used to get made me uncomfortable.
A little while later, after two of our old classmates had chatted with Harper about her blooming business and how well she was doing, I heard someone clear their throat behind me.
In that sultry deep voice from last night, Finn asked, “Are these seats taken?”
Closing my eyes tightly I took a deep breath, re-opened them and looked up at a smirking Finn. “No, you can sit there.” I’d hoped Kyler would take the seat next to me but of course I had no such luck. Finley planted himself in the chair beside me and I inhaled deeply. He smelled like he did at the bar the previous night; a spicy manly scent that was strictly him. My pulse was racing. I began my mantra to myself over and over; you can do this, you can do this.
Kyler sat in the seat next to Finn and began digging in to his food. “Hey Shorty, how are you feeling after getting wasted last night?”
This was so not what I wanted to talk about right now. I didn’t need a reminder of Finn carrying me out of the bar, or a reason for him to possibly want to talk about it. Pushing the thought away I decided to just focus on the question. “Fine, thank you. I ended up sleeping a bit late today and I’m still feeling somewhat queasy, but I’ll be better tomorrow I’m sure.” I went back to pushing around the green beans on my plate. With Finn sitting this close to me, I’d officially lost my appetite. I risked a glance up in his direction, and saw that he was watching me with furrowed brows.
Kyler laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so trashed Em. Even after that one time in high school when you gave Harper and lap dance and then jumped Finn’s bones in the backseat of my…” he trailed off when he noticed Harper giving him a ‘I’ll fuck you up if you say one more word’ death stare. “Shit, sorry I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“What? I’m not uncomfortable. It’s fine Kyler. Promise.” I gave him a small smile and moved on to picking at the mashed potatoes on my plate. I was intent on looking down because there was no way I could look at Finn. I felt my face flush ten shades of red. That was one of the million memories I had locked away never to be thought about again, and one that I’d safely tuck back away when I wasn’t sitting so close to Finn.
“What about you Harper, are you feeling okay?” Kyler was now smirking at her.
“Oh I’m definitely fine. I’ve had worse nights drinking than last night. I ended up spending part of the night staying up with party girl here,” she nudged me smiling “to make sure she didn’t throw up all over herself.”
“You got sick again?” Finn questioned, obviously feeling the need to interject. Awesome! He was acting like he cared.
“Yeah she got sick a few times but nothing a puke bucket and buddy couldn’t fix.”
Damn it. Why was Harper over sharing? I glared at her, my eyes conveying that she was going to be hearing it when we left. “It’s not a big deal. I shouldn’t have been drinking that much anyway. Harper took care of me and I’m good as new.” I kept my face down refusing to look him in the eye. I knew that’s what he wanted, but his concern wasn’t something I needed.
He leaned over and spoke next to my ear, making it so the other two couldn’t hear him. “Em, can you look at me and tell me you’re fine?”
Seriously, was this him caring? Just as I was about to look him in the face, I heard a couple of boisterous voices at our table. I looked up to see Michael Brant and Corey Landry slapping Kyler and Finley on the back.
“Good god look what the cat dragged in!” Michael, a high school football player and one of the guys that frequented the infamous parties, was grinning from ear to ear. He was a good looking guy back then and the girls all loved him. He was also quite the ladies man. Michael was given a football scholarship to Texas A&M, but he was involved in a motorcycle wreck the week before he was leaving for training, and injured his back. The doctors told him that if he played then he risked getting hit and becoming paralyzed. He ended up turning down the scholarship and went to some college in Florida. He got a degree in business and actually helped Harper start her realty company. She confessed to me a few months ago that they dated and slept together while they were working out the logistics, but they’d both since moved on and stayed good friends.
“Hey man, how’s it going?” Kyler was smiling a huge smile at Michael but it was quickly wiped away when Michael leaned in and gave Harper a hug and quick kiss on the cheek.
“I’m doing pretty good man! Went off to do the college thing and decided to come back home to get some of my shit squared away. Ended up using that degree I was given and started helping people get their new businesses off the ground. Turns out I’m pretty good at it so I decided to help start-up companies. I’m doing so well with it I actually just signed on my first house a few blocks from the high school, thanks to Harper!”
