by Calista Kyle
“You know me, I’m always here to help,” she said.
We parted soon afterwards, her to her fabulous life with her loving fiancé, and me back to my lonely apartment. I shook my head, angry with myself at the turn my thoughts were taking. I should be happy for Lily. I was happy for Lily. She deserved every good thing that came her way. After the hell she had been through with Roman, it was nice to see her get her happily ever after. I just needed to suck it up and get out of my funk.
Chapter 2: Ryan
“Right this way, sir. If you’ll follow me.”
The maître d’ shuffled in front of me before lifting his nose in the air and stiffening his spine to begin his procession across the club. I walked behind him, trying hard not to roll my eyes.
Even though I’d been a member of the exclusive Bolo club for several years, I still felt uncomfortable coming here. It was one of those private social clubs for the rich and connected, and full of uptight snobs who looked down their noses at people like me. Or at least the person I used to be before I came into my fortune.
The only reason I had even applied for membership was due to Roman’s urging. He’d said business deals were struck in places like this instead of the board rooms, and if I wanted to play with the big boys, I had to go where they went. So that’s what I did. Even with Roman and his cousin Rob’s sponsorship, it still took several months before I was finally accepted.
We passed by several tables and I nodded at familiar faces, but didn’t stop to chat with anyone. Despite my current location, it was good to be back in New York. After spending the past two years in Asia, New York felt like coming home again. Everything was exactly the same and yet so different.
When my friend Roman phoned me to tell me he was getting married, I thought he was joking at first. The fact that he was able to stay with the same woman for more than two months straight was surprising enough, but to actually go and make the plunge and decide to marry her? That seemed out of character for him. I had to see in person if this was real or just some elaborate joke.
The maître d’ arrived at our destination, and gave me a stiff nod before heading back to the front of the club. Roman and Rob were engrossed in a lively conversation so they didn’t notice my entrance. I bent down low so that I was right about ear level with them and shouted, “Boo!”
They both jumped up startled and I couldn’t hold back the laugh as I saw their surprised faces. Rob had spilled his whisky on the front of his shirt and he cursed as he tried to dry himself off.
“Was that really necessary?” Roman asked.
“Of course it was. You don’t think I’d pass up an opportunity to make you cry like a little girl, do you?”
“It was hardly that,” Rob interjected. “I wouldn’t call screaming in someone’s ears exactly clever.”
“It wasn’t meant to be clever, Robbie. It was meant to startle you, and judging from that wet spot on your shirt, I accomplished my goal.”
“Prick,” Rob mumbled under his breath.
“Are you two going to bicker all night? Because I’ve got better things to do,” Roman said in a bored tone.
“Is this the welcome I get?” I said, looking from Roman to Rob.
“If you’d been a little more civilized and mature in your entrance maybe you’d have gotten a different reception,” Rob said.
“Guys, I’ve been away for two years,” I said.
“Don’t blame us for your self-exile. No one told you to go chasing—what was her name? Nori?” Roman said.
“No, it was Mari,” Rob added.
“It was Mariko and for the record, it was love,” I said.
“So, then what happened?” Roman asked.
I shrugged my shoulders as I poured out a glass of whisky for myself. “We fell out of love,” I said, simply.
“You’re hopeless,” Roman replied.
I looked up, the surprise evident on my face. “You really have changed,” I said.
“Don’t even get me started on it, Ryan. Sometimes I wonder if he’s been possessed by my mother. All he can talk about is marriage and love. It’s pretty disgusting,” Rob said.
“When you two meet the right person, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about,” Roman said.
“Don’t hold your breath Cuz. I have no intention of settling down anytime soon,” Rob said.
“What about you Ryan?” Roman asked, turning towards me.
I shook my head. “We can’t all be lucky like you. Good women are hard to come by,” I answered.
That much was true. Then again, I wasn’t in a particular hurry to get married either.
“You’ve been looking in the wrong places. Trust me, I’ve been there and I know the type of women you go for. Hell, they were the same types I used to date,” Roman said. “It’s not like you’re getting any younger.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re actually going to lecture me on my love life,” I said. “Rob’s right. You’re sounding like an old woman more and more.”
“Exactly!” Rob chimed in. “I swear, my mother won’t leave me alone now that Roman’s finally settling down. And if you even mention to her how happy you are to be getting married, I’ll kill you,” he added.
Roman laughed and sipped his drink, eyeing Rob and I over the top of the glass. He wore a smug smile, seeming to be very satisfied with himself. “Suit yourselves. I’ve got better things to do with my time anyways,” he said.
“So tell me about her then. It’s obvious she makes you happy.”
“She’s perfect,” Roman said. He wore a dreamy, almost goofy grin on his face and I had to fight to keep from dropping my drink. In all the 15 years that I’d known Roman, he never lost his head over a girl before. He was always so cool and aloof, not really caring if they stayed or left. To see him now, practically mooning over someone was a shock indeed.
“I see,” I finally said. “I guess I’ll meet her soon enough at the party and see what type of person has finally tamed the notorious Roman Conrad.”
“You will. So tell me, how long are you going to be staying for?” Roman asked.
“The move is permanent. I’ve no desire to go gallivanting around the world chasing pretty faces any more. I think it’s time I put down some roots and settle. Don’t go getting ideas,” I added quickly seeing the look on Roman’s face. “I meant living wise, not relationship wise. Besides, I’m sure New York has an abundance of beautiful women. I won’t be getting bored anytime soon.”
“You’ll get bored with it eventually. Everyone does,” Roman said.
“Speak for yourself,” Rob chimed in.
Roman shrugged his shoulders and let the argument drop. I sat back and observed all this with surprise. Love had really changed him. He was almost mellow. I had been prepared to feel sorry for him, being forced to be leg shackled to only one person for the rest of his life, but now I was almost starting to envy him a little. Thankfully, the feeling was short lived. Rob brought up stories about our past and we spent the rest of the night recounting some of the more outrageous scraps we found ourselves in. By the time I made it home that night, I had already forgotten that little pang of envy.
Chapter 3: Mel
I arrived half an hour late to Lily and Roman’s engagement party. My mother had kept me at the office going over the guest list again for the magazine’s 45th anniversary party. I wasn’t even supposed to be working this weekend, but that didn’t stop my mother from phoning me up at 7 am with her “emergency” staff meeting.
I finally put my foot down, and left just before the party was supposed to start. I was glad I had the foresight to dress up to the office since I didn’t have a chance to go home and change.
Like Lily had said, the party was very small and intimate and I recognized several familiar faces. Miguel and Doris, her employees from the bookshop, were standing together by the bar and I made my way over to them, in need of a stiff drink.
“Hey guys,” I said, coming up to them.
“Mel!” Doris said delightedly as she threw her arms around me. “Lily’s been looking for you.”
“Oh yeah?” I said, feeling slightly guilty. “I got stuck at the office today.”
“You don’t have to explain to me,” she said.
“This is a pretty swanky party, no?” Miguel asked.
“It’s about what I expected. Where is Lily?” I asked.
“Not sure. Last I saw she was with Roman, chatting to some older couple,” Miguel said.
My eyes continued to scan the room when I was brought up short by the most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on, and that was saying something since I’d seen my fair share of men. There was no other way to describe it. He was quite simply a hunk. He was tall, easily over 6’ and towered over most everyone in the room, with an athletically graceful physique and broad shoulders. He had sandy blonde hair that was combed back from his face, and a square jaw line. What was most striking was his killer smile. It was the kind of smile that came easily and always got him what he wanted. And judging by the small gaggle of females crowded around him, he had no problems in that department.
“He’s a tall drink of water, isn’t he?” Doris said, standing beside me. I looked over at her and lifted my brow. “What? I may be old, but I’m not dead,” she said.
“Old enough to be his mother,” I teased. “Do you know who he is?”
“No idea,” Doris said. “Why don’t you go over there and find out?”
The smile slipped from my face. I had no intention of going over and finding out who that man was. It was easy to see he was trouble. After years of jumping in head first, I’d finally learned caution. The old Mel wouldn’t have hesitated to walk on over and introduce herself and flirt shamelessly with an attractive man. The new Mel knew better. That path led to nothing but heartbreak and disappointment.
“Sorry sweetie. I forgot about you and Chad,” Doris said giving me a sympathetic look.
“Don’t worry about it Doris. I’m over Chad,” I said. I figured if I said it enough times, it might start being true.
I finally spotted Lily standing with her mother and another woman off on the opposite side of the room and bid farewell to Doris before heading in that direction. The path I took brought me within hearing distance of The Hunk and his small posse. I hadn’t intended to walk this way earlier, but now that I was here, I couldn’t help but pause to get a better look at him.
He was bent town talking to a brunette with her bust practically shoved in his face. He smiled down at her, showing off a flash of white teeth, like a hunter baiting his prey. I shook my head wryly. So typical. Before I could pass them, I heard my name spoken and turned to look in their direction.
“Have you met the maid of honor, Mel Abelgard?” one of the women said.
“Mel Abelgard? Don’t tell me that she’s related to Cora Abelgard?” The Hunk replied.
“That’s her daughter.”
He let out a low whistle and shook his head slowly. “I had no idea she was the maid of honor. If her mother’s anything to go by, she must be a piece of work,” he said.
The girls in his group giggled and covered their faces looking scandalized, but secretly pleased. I felt heat rise up my face and was tempted to walk up to them give him a piece of my mind. How dare this man talk about me like that? He didn’t know me. In fact, I’d never met him in my life. Who was he to say I was a piece of work?
Oh I was so mad, but I knew the last thing I wanted was to make a scene. Not only would it ruin Lily’s party, but I didn’t want to give this jerk the satisfaction to know that he’d upset me. Instead, I lifted my chin up and straightened my spine and strode past them, not evening deigning to look in their direction.
I walked straight towards Lily and her mother, counting to ten in my head to calm my raging temper. I exhaled a deep breath once I reached Lily. She put down her drink and folded me in a tight hug.
“Mel! I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show,” she said. “Why are you late?”
“Just some work stuff,” I grumbled, still upset about what I had overheard.
Lily gave me a strange look, but didn’t pursue it. I knew that wasn’t the end of it though; she’d probably corner me later and grill me about it. For now, she turned to her mother and beamed. “You’ve met my mom before,” she said.
“Hello dear, nice to see you again. You’re looking well.”
“Hi Mrs. Hayward. It’s nice to see you too,” I said leaning over and kissing her cheeks.
“Oh, just call me Marian. How are you?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. I was anything but fine at that moment. Despite my best efforts, I was still pissed off at that arrogant jerk, but I was even more upset at myself for caring in the first place. He was a stranger to me, a nobody, but his words still stung. Just thinking about it got my blood pumping again.
I looked over in his direction, a forbidding expression on my face, daring him to so much as say another word. He was looking straight back at me. My anger soon turned to shock and I found I couldn’t maintain the eye contact. His lips twitched as he noticed my wavering expression, and at that moment I disliked him even more.
“You’re acting kind of strange,” Lily said, interrupting my fantasies of doing bodily harm to that man.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I turned my head to look at her. She wore a frown on her face and her brow was creased with worry.
“You’re gonna need Botox before you’re even 30 if you keep looking at me like that,” I tried to joke.
“Lily would never,” Marian cut in, sounding scandalized.
“Oh I don’t know about that Mom. After all, I do have an image to maintain now,” Lily said. Her twitching lips belied the seriousness in her tone and I could see her mother was horrified by her words. Clearly Marian didn’t know when her daughter was joking. I had to bit my lip to keep from smiling as well.
But there it was again—that pang of envy I felt as I watched how easy and effortlessly Lily could talk to her mother. I would have killed for that type of a relationship with my own mom, but the chances of that ever happening were probably less than being hit by lightning or winning the lottery.
There was one thing the jerk, formerly Mr. Hunk, was right about at least—my mother was a piece of work. It still didn’t give him the right to talk about her though.
“Hello ladies,” I heard a smooth deep voice say to my back. I knew before I turned around that it was the jerk. Of course he would have a perfectly sexy voice to go along with his perfect face and body. It was enough to make me want to throw my hands up in frustration. Too bad he had such a crappy personality to go along with it all.
I finally turned around to face him and mentally cursed myself for that small gasp of breath I took as I got a better look at him. If it was possible, he was even more gorgeous up close. Long eyelashes framed clear blue eyes. Eyes that looked at me in interest and a little bit of mischief. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and judging by the laugh lines around his eyes, he had a healthy sense of humor.
“Ryan, I don’t think you’ve met my friend Mel,” Lily said. “She’s my maid of honor.”
I groaned inwardly. Why did he have to be the best man? Of all the guys in the world, he had to be Ryan Marsden. I took small consolation in the fact that he must have felt the same. I had the pleasure of seeing him flinch momentarily before he caught himself. He smiled and reached out his hand for mine.
I should have refused and left him hanging, but my body had a mind of its own. I held out my hand and he took it in his large warm grasp. The contact sent a jolt of awareness through me. For a second I thought he was going to raise it to his lips and kiss the back of my hand, but he didn’t. A coughing sound brought me out of my momentary stupor, and I was suddenly aware that I had been staring at him. I snatched my hand back and held it to my sides.
“I’m happy to meet you. Roman and Lily have told me a lot about you,” he said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
“
Oh yeah? What did they say?” I wanted wipe that confident smile off his face, but he remained unperturbed.
“Only good things,” he said, smiling at me in a way that made my insides flutter like a thousand butterflies taking flight at once.
Roman walked up to us at that point and whisked Lily and Marian away to make some other introductions. That left the jerk and I alone together. It was the last thing I needed and I was about to turn on my heel and leave as well, but he stopped me with his hand on my arm.
“I have the feeling that you don’t like me,” he said.
I couldn’t hide the surprise from my face as I looked at him. “I don’t even know you that well to form an opinion,” I lied.
“Well, maybe we should get to know each other better,” he said.
“No thanks. I’m a real piece of work. You’d be wasting your time with me. Why don’t you go back to your little fan club? I’m sure they’d appreciate your company more than I do.”
With that, I stalked past him and headed straight for the opposite end of the room. I had the brief satisfaction of seeing his smile falter, but that didn’t last long. He was already wreaking havoc on my emotions and I’d only just met him. I could hear the blood rushing in my ear as I walked away.
Luckily I spotted my friend and coworker, Candace, waving at me across the room. She also happened to be Lily’s cousin, and had recently moved to New York from Los Angeles. Like me, she was a junior assistant Chère magazine. We shared a small cubicle space and worked directly for my mother. I made my way over to her, snatching a glass of champagne from a passing waiter on the way.
“Who was that guy you were talking to?” she asked in greeting.
I turned my head back to where the jerk was still standing, staring after me. I met his gaze and held it, daring him to look away. He tipped his head to me and smiled before finally breaking eye contact. I let out a shaky breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Um, hello? Are you still with me, Mel?” Candace asked.
“What? Oh, sorry. He’s nobody,” I said. She pursed her lips in disbelief and waited for me to explain. “Fine, he’s Roman’s best man, Ryan something,” I bit out reluctantly.
