2. Altercation
two
At my uncle’s beach house in Montauk, my cousin was getting married. Of course, the entire family had to be in attendance, including my little sister and me. To poke fun at the ‘and guest’ on the invitation, she came to my home office with a pep in her step the night before.
“Say, are you bringing anyone to Lily’s wedding tomorrow?”
“I’m… not.” I frowned at the financial report on the screen in front of me, pushing my reading glasses over the bridge of my nose.
“That’s too bad,” she slowly approached, distracting me.
“Why aren’t you at her bachelorette party?” I monotonously asked.
“Abel, it’s nine o’clock. It hasn’t started yet. Aren’t you going to Ewan’s?”
“For me to be able to go to Montauk tomorrow, I have to finish a lot of work tonight.” I didn’t raise my eyes from the screen.
“Wanna be my plus one?” she childishly offered.
In disbelief, I took off the glasses and straightened up in my seat with parted lips. “Are you serious? Whatever happened to Incredible Isaac?”
“We’re going through an ‘off’ phase right now.” Leaning against the wall, she busied her fingers with the frame hanging a few inches away.
“You both need to grow up. If you’ve found reasons to break up three times before, it’s clearly not working.”
“First of all,” she dipped her head like she always did when she’s about to make a statement. “We’re both twenty-two… Technically, we’re not allowed to act grown up just yet.” She giggled.
“And second?”
“Just because you’re a few years older than me—”
“Eight,” I humorously added.
“Doesn’t mean that you qualify as a love guru. Where’s your successfully working relationship, Abel Drakos, King of Heartbreakers?”
Chuckling, I rolled my eyes, tossing the glasses over the pile of printed reports on my desk. “Nobody calls me that anymore.”
“Can you blame anyone? I mean, when was the last time you had an impressive escapade?”
“Adele, I beg of you. I have work to do.”
“Then it’s done!” she theatrically raised her shoulders, shaking her head. “You’re my plus one.” Quickly rushing toward me, she gave me a peck on the cheek before skipping back out. “Don’t work too hard!”
Shaking my head, I put my glasses back on and resumed my work. It didn’t matter that we were going to the wedding together. Knowing Adele, she was bound to attract the gaze of some young heir and spend the rest of the evening taunting him. I loved my sister, but her approach to relationships was something I could never agree with.
“What’s wrong with having fun? She’s still young,” cousin Lily once defended.
“How is she ever going to find love if she looks at every man as a ticket to a short-lived rollercoaster ride?”
“Love never happens when we’re looking for it. Only when you least expect it.”
I knew Lily was drawing from her own experience when she said that—and that she was mostly right. What made her statement even more profound was when I watched a couple fight while Uncle Danny was giving his speech.
“Have some dignity, Jude, and walk away before I raise my voice,” she warned.
“You wouldn’t dare. Not tonight. Not right here.” The emotion radiating from his eyes wasn’t love, bargaining, or despair. It was something more sinister, like spite or even revenge.
“I fucking hate you!” she strained, and for some reason, I believed her with every fiber of my being.
As I watched the man named Jude try to restrain his anger, I saw that the veins in his neck were about to pop. While I couldn’t resist the desire to see the woman’s face, I walked past her and turned slightly around, lifting up my hand as if to check my phone. In fact, I should have been checking my email.
How did Lily’s theory fit into all of this? Simply put, I was ready to bet everything I owned on the notion that when Jude here met his—oh, wow, she was gorgeous—erm, girlfriend… they both believed that it was going to lead to something everlasting. Neither one of them expected that she would be breaking up with him at Lily Engelbert’s wedding.
I wondered what he did to warrant a harsh statement like ‘I fucking hate you.’
As I mindlessly accepted the empty glass, she obliviously placed into my raised hand, I thought I saw tears in her beautiful gray eyes.
“Why don’t you take a fucking picture? It’ll last longer,” she groaned at me before spinning around, making her way through the crowd as she walked away.
Lost for words, I turned to look at the disgruntled man who irately shifted, rudely brushing against every shoulder in order to follow her out. “Ella!” he shouted.
My eyes quickly scanned the space around me in search of Adele, and there she was across the room, talking to Toby Adelson. I quickly glanced at the glass between my fingers, and just as I did, a waiter appeared with a tray. Quickly placing the glass on there, I virtually leaped after the unhappy couple.
Angry Jude was about to draw out sad Ella’s tears, letting them run down her cheeks, streaking them with mascara and her dissolved grace. But not if I caught up with her first. I didn’t know why I had the urge to help her—after all, she could be the villain in this scenario. Nonetheless, my mother had brought me up to never cause a woman distress in public and never to let her humiliate herself in front of strangers, even if she was in the wrong. There was a time and place for personal arguments, and a wedding was not it.
Stepping out onto the terrace, I searched left and right until I finally saw her standing there. With her back to me, she was standing a few inches away from the ledge, staring out into the dark horizon.
I cleared my throat as I approached her. “Uh, miss?”
Turning to me, she had one fingertip just under her lash line. “Yes?”
“There you are!” Jude caught up with us, prompting a sharp exhale from me. “We need to talk like adults, Ella.”
“Adults?” she raised her voice a little, although I could tell by her stance that she was somewhat tipsy. Her hand clutched the ledge for dear life as she smirked. “Says the grown man who practically crashed a wedding.”
Taking a step back, I watched him grind his jaws. “It’s been six months, and you showed up here alone. Do you expect me to believe that a woman like you couldn’t find a date?”
“I didn’t want a date.”
“Because you still want me. Admit it,” he insisted. “You wanted me to be here with you.”
“How did you even know I was going to be here in the first place?”
He scoffed, running his fingers through his hair. “A man with my connections can find out anything, honey.”
“Don’t call me that!” she raised her voice. “God, Jude—”
I could see the tears welling up in her eyes once more and couldn’t help but try. “Miss,” I repeated.
She turned to me and snapped, “What?”
“You have a call,” I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind, instantly regretting it.
“Excuse me,” she threw the words at Jude like a bullet before marching away. I followed her. “A call? How?” she asked as her hand pulled out a phone from her clutch, swiping across it. “Nobody tried to reach me.”
“No—It’s, uh, the valet.” We continued to make our way across the crowded reception area.
Suddenly stopping, she drew a deep breath as her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose. “Please don’t tell me that they lost my keys.”
“Wha—No. No, no. They… they, um, wanna know if you’d like your car washed.”
“What?” she furrowed her eyebrows. “Washed? What are you talking about?”
My lie was beginning to gain a body of its own, and I had to breathe life into it. “Well, a bird… sort of…” I started to gesture with my hand.
Slowly shaking her head, she stared at my face with a baffled expression. “Yes?”
“Well, there’s bird… excrement on your—”
“Jesus,” she looked away in disgust. “Fine, let them wash it. How much is that gonna cost me?”
“Cost? Uh—No! It’s… it’s a complimentary service. Mr. Engelbert is aware that his garden is a—”
“Fine. Tell them fine. Thank you,” she rushed the words.
As if dropping from the sky, Jude suddenly appeared next to us. “You didn’t ask about the kind of connections I have!”
“I don’t care.” She grabbed her dress at the knees, marching away as he followed her.
And I… followed them.
“I’m grabbing Wall Street by the balls here, Ella. And I want you to be right there with me when I’m at the top of the company.”
“Well, my sincerest congratulations, but I don’t see how your promotion is gonna make this work.”
“I’m earning more, which means that you can work less or not at all if you please!”
Abruptly, she turned to him, and I spun on my heel so she wouldn’t realize that I was still listening. “I am not going to be your kept woman, Jude. We’re not even together anymore, and I really hope that you get that through to your skull.”
“You can keep that strong, independent act for your friends,” he mocked. “Because you, honey, have some pretty expensive hobbies. How are you gonna keep up with your shopping, spas, and beach trips on your salary, huh?”
“Oh my God!” she breathed. “Every word you say right now is confirming to me that I did the right thing… leaving. I am never coming back to you. Do you understand me? If they fire me, and I lose my apartment and become homeless? Guess what? I’m still not coming back!”
He shifted behind me, and something happened that prompted her to whimper, so I quickly turned around to find that he was clutching her wrist tightly enough to make her wince.
That was it. That man had to be kicked out.
“That’s it. Sir?” I swiftly interfered, freeing her hand from his grip. “Sir, please leave.”
“What the fuck? Who the fuck are you?” he shouted, his eyes looking around for someone to take his side. “How dare you touch me? Where’s your manager?”
“Sir?” I warned with a glare. “If you’ll please come with me.” I started to drag him out, and two security guards caught our altercation and came to assist me.
“Ella? Are you fucking kidding me?” He tried to turn around, but the guards’ stern push kept him walking forward.
“Are you alright, miss?” I turned to her as she rubbed her wrist.
“This night is a fucking disaster,” she admitted, looking away.
A waiter came with a tray of fresh drinks, so I grabbed one, offering it to her. “Drink?”
Her eyes landed on my fingers, touching the glass before rising to meet mine. She then sighed, accepting it. “Has anyone taught you not to meddle?” she stared at me from under her eyebrows before taking a sip.
“Was I supposed to watch him abuse you and do nothing?”
“You should’ve called security right away. You don’t know who he is or what he’s capable of.”
“He’s not my boss. I know that.”
“Well, he probably knows your boss, or he’s about to.”
“Really? And because of that, I should’ve let him bruise your arm.”
“You should be a professional. That’s all I’m saying.” She smacked her lips. “Why am I even giving you advice?”
“Because you’re thankful. Yet for some reason, you just won’t say ‘thank you’ to me.”
Tilting her head, she fixed her gaze on my face for a moment. “Thank you. I’m sorry. Now, would you point me to the bathroom? I must look like shit.”
“It’s that way,” I pointed with a slight smirk.
What I really wanted to say was that she looked phenomenal.