by DW Cee
“What happened to her after high school? Did you drop her for Emily?”
“No. Her family moved away to Michigan the summer before our senior year and we just grew apart. By the middle of our senior year, we broke up.”
“And that’s it?”
“What else do you want me to say?” Now he was sounding upset, though I had no understanding as to why.
“All right. I’ll drop it...for now. Let’s get back to the party.”
“Jane, I don’t want you to bring up Hannah and our past relationship again, okay?”
Geez...what’s got you in such a snit? “Okay,” I agreed reluctantly.
Max left for the hospital, and the party died down early as our eighty-year-old lovebirds needed their beauty rest before their big day tomorrow. I thought more about Max and Hannah and before I fell asleep, I couldn’t help wondering why Max was so agitated with me knowing about him and Hannah.
Saturday morning was glorious! The sun smiled on Gram and Gimpy as they said their vows, and the wedding breakfast got underway. We had more of an American wedding breakfast with lots of traditional English food items as well. We had biscuit cakes, scones, English pancakes, croque monsieurs, bread puddings, as well as frittatas, eggs benedict, and an omelet station. About 100 family members, friends and law associates attended the celebration.
“Hullo Jane. It’s nice to see you again.” Sea-foam goddess looked regal in her garden-cum-knock ‘em-dead dress, and matching hat. “Your grandmother and Roland are divine together.”
“Yep. Divine...that’s them.” What a stupid answer! “Has Donovan convinced you to join our firm?”
She gave a hearty laugh. “Yes. Donovan was convincing enough...I believe I’ll join the firm for the time being.”
Yeah, slut! I’m sure Donovan convinced you plenty.
“There you are,” Donovan called out to Kate. “The partners would like to speak with you. They’re over with Roland right now.”
“If you’ll excuse me?”
I watched Kate walk away from us and was at a loss for words. How would I handle watching the two sex-gods working together?
“So Gimpy told me it was your job to bring Kate into our firm. I see you’ve succeeded.”
“I guess you can say that.”
“What’s the story between you and this woman? You seem awfully chummy with someone who appeared out of nowhere. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you or Jake talk about her.”
Donovan smiled. I don’t know how I didn’t notice till this moment, but Donovan came dressed to the nine. He looked...dear God...he looked dazzling, delicious, debonair, James Bond-like, David Beckham at Wills and Kate’s wedding-like, OMG-like! He had on the dark suit with a tail, a cream-colored ascot cravat with a pin in the middle, a dark colored brocade vest, and even a top hat.
“Who the hell dresses you every morning?” I blurted out.
Donovan smiled again. This was a smile that could make us all forget our spouses and significant others.
“Why...you applying for the job? I promise not to be too demanding if you choose to fill in as my valet.”
“Shut up,” I laughed. “I can’t get over how good you look.” What a stupid thing to say to a man.
“Why thank you Lady Jane. You look just as delicious,” he flirted. How’d he know I thought he looked yummy?
“Should you be saying stuff like this to me? If my boyfriend doesn’t kick your ass already, it may be Sea-foam who’ll finish the job.”
He gave me a confused look. “Who or what is Sea-foam? Never mind...I don’t want to know. You asked about Kate? If your boyfriend will allow you to sit with me, I’ll tell you about her.”
Luckily, Max was occupied dancing with Ellie and James, so I freely plopped myself down looking forward to hearing about the goddess.
“Kate and I’ve been together, on and off, for about ten years.”
What the hell? Why didn’t I know this?
“We started seeing each other my junior year in undergrad, and by the end of my senior year, I’d practically moved in with her and had asked her to marry me.”
What the HELL?? Where was I during all this?
“What’d she say when you asked her to marry you?”
“She laughed at me and told me to finish law school, then get a job.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that comment.
“Kate was in her early thirties at the time, and on the fast track to success and stardom in the hedge fund world. She didn’t need a strapping young buck holding her back. So we broke up, I went to law school, got a job, and we’ve been picking up where we left off ever since.”
“In the young buck department?”
“Funny! I love your sense of humor, Jane.”
“So she’s back to pick up where you left off again? Are you so in love with her that you drop everything and anyone whenever she’s back in town?”
He raised one eyebrow at me and my accusation. “She came back to ask me to marry her, if you must know, my curious Jane.”
WHAT THE HELL???
“I see I’ve finally shocked you into silence.”
“You gonna marry her?”
He shook his head no. My body shook in relief!
“I don’t love her anymore, though the attraction is still there. Maybe what I felt for her back in college was a young buck’s fascination, adulation, obsession. I don’t know if it was love. Plus, there’s somebody holding me back from wanting to explore anything with anyone new.” My body now shook in expectation and fear. “I know you’re with another man. I’m not going to take what’s not mine. But I can’t help wonder what it would be like to be with you...to laugh with you...to love with you.... A chance with you is what’s holding me back from moving on.... There’s my confession for the day. And now, I better get out of your boyfriend’s seat.”
Waltz...Tango...Foxtrot...!
March 18, 2013 Shocking(est) Confession‼!
“You nervous about meeting my family?” Max asked while we drove together to his house.
“A bit?” I think I was more nervous about seeing Hannah again. No matter how many times Max told me Hannah had moved on since their high school relationship, it did not look like it from where I stood.
“You have nothing to worry about. They’ll all love you. Just remember that my family is not as jovial as yours. If you keep that in mind, all will be okay.”
“All right.”
Max’s family home was nice, really nice. Looking at his home, I realized how much he downplayed his family’s wealth. It was a wonder why he was living on student loans rather than asking his parents for help. I suppose that was another question for another day...
“Hello,” Max’s mom and dad greeted us.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Thank you for inviting me. These are for you,” I said handing them a bottle of wine and an orchid plant. “You have a lovely home.” Now I sounded just like Emily.
“Thank you,” Mrs. Davis answered politely. “Hannah, could you put these away for me?” She passed off my gifts without much thought.
There she was—the girl who popped my boyfriend’s cherry, metaphorically speaking, of course.
“Hi Jane. Welcome to our home.”
Last I checked, this wasn’t your home but whatever...
“Thank you. Can I help with anything?”
“No, dinner’s set. Let’s all sit down and eat.” His mom led the way to the dining room.
No cocktail hour, no conversation over a charcuterie platter, no get-to-know-you time...straight to dinner. Okay...
“Hope you like chicken. That’s all I know how to make,” Hannah said with a smile.
I hoped she didn’t poison my plate.
“You made your baked chicken dish?” Max asked with a smile.
“I know how much you liked it in the past, and I thought you might still like it?” She gave my boyfriend a lovey-dovey look that I’m sure he didn’t notice, but I sure did.
&nb
sp; “It’s been a long time since I’ve had it. I’m sure it’ll be as delicious as always.” He gave her a side hug. I totally felt like the outsider at this dinner table.
“Hello!” Two young Max look-alike men greeted me. “You must be Jane. I’m Garret, Max’s younger brother, and this is Josh, the youngest of us all.”
“Very nice to finally meet you.”
I sat next to Max and his brothers, while Hannah sat on Max’s other side with his parents. While Mr. and Mrs. Davis didn’t say much, when they did, it was a question that led to a conversation between them, Max and Hannah. There was no room in their conversation for me. Max’s brothers were cool. Catching on to what was happening on the other side of the table, they started a conversation that involved the three of us.
I learned that Garret was studying to be an architect and Josh was a dreamer.
“So Josh, you’re going to take off for a year and live in Italy so you can paint?” I asked, a bit flabbergasted.
“Yeah. I’ve earned enough credits to graduate early so I think I’ll use that time to explore my artistic side.”
“That’s kind of cool. Crazy, but cool,” I commended. “No one in my family is that brave. My younger brother took a year off to decide which graduate school to attend, but he was working in a bio-chem lab in the meanwhile. My older brother went from undergrad to med school, I went from undergrad to law school—we’re all pretty dull people. So where will you stay in Italy?”
“I don’t know. I may go hang out in London for a while, then Paris, then eventually make it into Italy.”
“My cousin Laney will be living in London as of June this year. You should befriend her and hang out.”
“That’d be cool.”
“You good?” Max whispered in my ear.
“Yeah,” I whispered back, and was tempted to give his lips a kiss. “I just want to know what the hell this is that we’re eating.”
Max busted up laughing. “Hannah, Jane would like your baked chicken recipe.”
Hannah broke into an uneasy smile that made me feel bad. “Oh, it’s a chicken breast stuffed with Rice-a-Roni, smothered in Campbells’ cream of mushroom soup, then baked for forty-five minutes. This used to be Max’s favorite meal.”
“I’ll try and remember to make it for him next time he comes over. Thank you,” I grunted, trying hard not to laugh.
“So Jane, you’re a lawyer?” Max’s mom asked. “And your brother is a doctor?”
“Yes. And my younger brother is in med school with Max.”
“How did you and Max meet?”
How to answer this one.... There was really no un-awkward way around it.
“My brother Jake married Emily Logan.”
“No way!” Garret called out. “I wanted to marry Emily Logan when Max broke up with her.”
“Me too!” Josh added. “Who wouldn’t want to marry such a pretty and sweet girl? I always thought Max was crazy to break up with her.”
“Well, Max’s loss was my brother’s gain. They are blissfully married with twins and another one on the way.”
“I’d like to see Emily again.” Josh said with Garret nodding his head in agreement.
“Why don’t you guys come over with Max one night? Emily and her family live across the street from my parents’ house. You can meet my brother and their beautiful babies. Maybe next weekend?”
“Could I come too?” Hannah added.
“Of course,” I said. Though I was unsure about Hannah, she did seem like a perfectly nice person. She appeared to be sweet, Max’s family liked her, and there was no awkwardness between her and Max. So maybe I was making something out of nothing. With her living here, I’d have to get to know her whether or not I wanted to get to know her.
“Hannah. Tell me what brought you back to California.”
“Oh Max, it’s a bit of a long story, but to make it short, I lost my job, my parents are going through an ugly divorce, and I happened to email your mom about a job at her company, and she graciously invited me to live here. I’m sorry that I’ve taken over your old room. I hope that’s okay,” she treaded cautiously.
“That’s fine.” Max didn’t sound like that was fine. By the surprised look on his face, I could tell Max had no idea his room was given away. It wasn’t very kind of his parents to do this without his knowledge and to take away Max’s place in his home. Max wasn’t showing any outward signs of hurt, but I could feel it.
“Well, we thought that we owed it to Hannah,” his mom answered cryptically.
“Oh Mom. You don’t owe me anything. I’m so grateful you’ve allowed me to stay here rent-free while I try and figure out my life. And it’s wonderful to reconnect with Max, Garret and Josh.”
“Hannah, we owe you more than a roof over your head.” Max’s dad finally spoke.
Max and Hannah were both looking uncomfortable. Gawd...will someone explain to me what’s going on?
“We should never have disapproved of your plans to get married,” Mrs. Davis said calmly, while I was about to jump out of my seat.
Marriage???
“MOM!” Max raised his voice in anger.
Max’s mom could care less. She gave her son a not very kind look and continued, “Your father and I blame ourselves for the loss of the baby.”
BABY??? What BABY??? Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on?!?
“If we hadn’t been so adamant about you finishing high school before getting married, Hannah might not have miscarried your baby. We’ve always thought that our censure and criticism of you getting Hannah pregnant caused her undue pressure and stress. You two could’ve married right away and made a lovely family by now.”
“DAMMIT MOM!” Max roared. “Is this really necessary?”
I don’t know what happened from here because everything kinda went dark...
March 21, 2013 Fuck! Did That Just Happen?
“Are you sure you’re feeling all right? I don’t need to take you to the hospital?” Max asked, very concerned for my welfare.
“No. You checked me over. I’ll have Jake check me over. I’ll even go see Uncle Henry if necessary. You can just drop me off now.” I opened the door, trying to escape without talking about anything. I pretended to still feel faint during the drive home after the dinner from hell.
“Jane.” Max grabbed my arm. “Hear me out. Let me explain. I don’t want you going dark on me again.”
I paused for a while, and just stared off into space.
“I got the gist of what happened between you and Hannah, thanks to your mother. Give me time to process, evaluate, accept...and whatever else I need to do. I promise I won’t go dark, but I probably won’t call you or answer your calls for a few days.”
“I’m sorry, Jane. I’m sorry how that all came out. I’m sorry my mother acted so cruelly. And I’m sorry I’m always disappointing you.”
