50. Daisy
50
DAISY
“ I knew it,” I sobbed at breakfast when I saw the morning’s newspaper. “I knew it was all an act. I knew he just wanted a mistress.”
“Look on the bright side. You stuck to your guns. That’s worth something.” Reese patted my arm.
“You’re never going to have sex that good ever again in your life,” Granny Madge said solemnly, “but you know, integrity will keep you warm at night.”
“I’m going to go give Aaron a piece of my mind.” My mom dusted off her hands. “This behavior was uncalled for.”
“Mom, just leave it. No one talk to Aaron. He’s dead to all of us.”
I stared down at the announcement in the style section of the New York Times .
Aaron Richmond and Aurora Langely are getting married! It was destiny. Emily Ragnor and Becca Langely had always dreamed of their children one day falling in love and getting married. Emily, who was trapped for twelve long years by kidnapper Stuart Richmond with five other young women, credits the hope of this childhood dream with her ability to survive.
“Seeing Emily again was the happiest day of my life, and I’m so looking forward to the wedding!” Becca tells the reporter.
“Aw, that is sweet.”
I slapped Alex. “That’s a picture of them at my own goddamn wedding reception.”
“Mom!” Alex threw a spoon at me.
“They’ve been plotting against me this whole time, laughing about it behind my back,” I yelled, shoving her. “And you don’t care at all!”
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Drew chanted.
“Girls!”
“Daisychain.” My dad hugged me. “It’s all right. Now you can move on. You can find your real one true love.”
“Right, because Aaron had lied when he said he loved me.” I started to cry.
“Do you think we’ll all get wedding invites?” Jordan mused.
“We’re sort of family,” Brooklyn said.
“No one is going to that wedding!” I screeched.
“That’s it.” Granny Madge scooted her chair back. “Wyatt, you coddle that girl. Daisy, put your bra on. We’re going out. You, too, girls.” Gran pointed at the twins. “Granny bought you fake IDs.”
“This isn’t as much fun as it looks on TV,” one of the twins complained. We were sitting in the courtyard of a trendy new downtown bar.
“I thought we were going clubbing,” Brooklyn whined.
“This is how adults go drinking,” Reese told them.
“Speak for yourself,” Gran hollered. “The good clubs don’t open ’til eleven, and they close at three. I’m going to be getting free drinks all night with you all with me.”
“Oh my god,” I groaned, scrolling through Instagram. “Emily Ragnor is posting wedding planning photos. It’s really happening.”
“You’re not supposed to be on your phone,” Jordan scolded me as she took selfies in the bar.
I grabbed Jordan’s drink before she could take more than a sip.
Reese looked over my shoulder.
“I mean, if that’s the kind of wedding you’d have to have, then maybe it’s a blessing that you didn’t tie yourself down to Aaron.”
“What? This is amazing! It’s vintage nineties,” the twins insisted.
“Youth is wasted on the young.” Reese sighed.
“I want a wedding just like that,” Jordan said in a swoony voice.
“Aurora’s going to look awful on her wedding day,” Reese said, taking Brooklyn’s drink and giving it to me. “With the big hair, this is a very early-nineties wedding. This isn’t even Sex and the City . Honestly, your photos with Aaron are going to look better than hers.”
“I didn’t even see my wedding photos,” I cried.
“I have, and believe me when I say that Aurora’s in for a shock when she walks down the aisle.” Alex patted my shoulder.
“Did I make a mistake?” I sobbed. “Maybe I should have said yes.”
“If Aaron had Aurora waiting in the wings, then no,” Reese assured me.
“He was going to choose me over her,” I sobbed.
“I bet Aurora was behind this whole thing—the humiliation, the proposal, everything,” Alex said as she sipped her martini. “She played mind games with him and swooped in when he was bleeding and heartbroken. She didn’t want Aaron to be in love with you while he was married to you, so she manipulated him and you so you’d break his heart. Trust me. I was popular in high school. You two weren’t.”
The twins listened with rapt attention.
“Don’t pay attention to her. Be a girls’ girl,” Reese urged.
“Do girls’ girls have anal sex without a condom?” Brooklyn asked, holding up her phone as it played the video of the proposal.
“Why is this video all over the internet?” I drained one of the twins’ glasses.
Granny Madge hustled over, waving her phone.
“I got blackmail material!” she crowed.
“Gran…”
“That man-stealing bitch is here, and she’s cheating on your ex-husband.”
“Oh, this is juicy!” Brooklyn rubbed her hands together.
“You can blow up her wedding like she blew up hers.”
“Nice job, Gran!” Alex fist-bumped her. “Where is Aurora?”
Our grandmother pointed. “Go rub this in her face.”
Granny Madge handed out shots of tequila. I took my own and the twins’.
“Oof, because that’s gonna end well,” Reese muttered.
“Give me that phone,” I slurred. “I’ve been drinking for three, and I’m freakin’ angry.” I staggered off the stool, Gran’s phone with the incriminating pictures in hand.
“Cheating bitch!” I yelled at Aurora.
Her coworkers stared in shock.
Reese ran after me.
“Maybe you should do this later,” she said. “I didn’t realize how drunk you were.”
“You’re cheating on Aaron,” I slurred, pointing a finger at Aurora, or at least in her general direction. The room kept moving. “I’m going to show him the evidence and blow up your love story. Ruin your life like you did mine. You were so awful to me in high school.”
Aurora pursed her mouth.
“You treated me like shit, and now I have dirt on you, and I’m spreading it all over the yard.” I swayed on my feet.
“Daisy, of course I’m not cheating on Aaron.”
“Don’t gaslight me.”
“I’m not with him, so I can’t cheat on him.” She was annoyed.
“Liar! It’s liars all the way down,” I railed. “I saw the marriage announcement.”
“The what?”
“Don’t play dumb.” Alex appeared over my shoulder. “It was a whole spread in the style section.”
Aurora scowled when Alex showed her the spread.
“This wasn’t me. It was Emily. His mother did this. She’s crazy.”
“Just admit what you did!” I screeched as Reese tried to keep me upright.
Aurora sighed loudly. “I should have known Aaron wouldn’t have explained things to you.”
“I don’t need an explanation to know you both are assholes.”
“God. Men. Fucking worthless.” Aurora took a deep breath and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Daisy, you are supposed to be with Aaron right now. You’re in love with him.” She seemed impatient.
“He asked me to marry him, and I said go to hell.”
“Because she’s an independent woman!” Jordan whooped as she and her twin raced over to give moral support.
“Jesus Christ, this is such a disaster,” Aurora muttered.
“I’m posting this to the Facebook group… Wait, this isn’t my phone…” I tapped the screen.
“Not to mention you’re holding it backward,” Reese said over my shoulder.
“It’s barely six thirty. How much did she drink?” Aurora asked.
“Too much.” Reese took the phone.
“Daisy,” Aurora told me loudly and slowly, “Aaron is in love with you , not me. You should marry him.”
“Don’t try to play us,” Alex snapped. “After all the shit you put my sister through, you deserve to get dragged online.”
“Yeah,” the twins echoed, not that they really knew what was going on.
Aurora looked between us.
“Daisy.” She took another deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry. I did treat you poorly in high school. That was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have acted like that. I was a bitch.”
“Oh.” I had not expected an apology.
“So classy,” Jordan swooned.
“And her hair.” Brooklyn clutched her twin. “Slay.”
“You were flirting with Aaron at my wedding.” I wasn’t letting it go that easily. “He left me for you.” I started crying.
Granny Madge handed me another shot.
“Let’s not…” Reese reached for it. “Oh, okay, we’re drinking that.”
I poured the liquor into my mouth. “He wanted you because you’re better than me.” My chin wobbled.
“Oh, Daisy!” Aurora laughed. “Aaron is obsessed with you. Sure, we dated for, like, three weeks in high school, but we’ve been friends longer. I’ve known him for years, and you were always his number one—he was constantly talking about you, constantly obsessing about what you said to him, what you did, the way you looked at him, what you wore.”
“And you were jealous, and you ruined her marriage because of it,” Alex snapped.
Aurora raised an eyebrow. “Ladies, the man in the photos is my boyfriend.”
“You don’t have a boyfriend,” Reese shot back. “I stalked your social media.”
“Yeah, because I keep him hidden.”
“You what?”
Aurora looked sad for a moment.
“My mom felt horrible about what happened to Emily. Completely consumed by guilt because she’d ditched her friend. She believed if she’d been there, Emily wouldn’t have been kidnapped. Ever since I was a kid, she would pressure me to pretend like I was going to marry Aaron, just to make Emily happy. She would guilt me, tell me that the idea of me marrying Aaron was the only thing that made Emily happy, and I needed to be nice and give that to her. That she was a victim.” Aurora crossed her arms.
“But it’s not like I want to be married to Aaron. His mom is nuts and neurotic. I have to hide Harvey from social media so that Emily doesn’t see and get upset. Becca has Emily over for dinner once a week. I’m required to be there. We also meet her weekly for lunch. She uses the entire meal to rant about Aaron and ask me prying questions about my life. It’s pathological. It’s like she’s trying to catch me lying to her.”
“You were her emotional support surrogate daughter,” Brooklyn said sagely.
“Something like that. To be honest, it’s exhausting, and so is Aaron. I’ve spent years catering to Emily and her delusions. Daisy, you saw how she is. No one in their right mind would want her as a mother-in-law.”
Aurora looked across the crowded bar.
“Harvey’s mom is normal. She doesn’t call him to scream at him. She doesn’t throw things at him, or treat you like a little Easy-Bake Grandkid Oven. I feel bad for the woman, and so does my mom, but I’m really tired of my mom’s guilt controlling my life.” Aurora gave me a sympathetic look. “I hoped that now that Aaron had what he’d wanted more than anything his entire life—”
I winced.
“—that I could be free. But Aaron blew it, because of course he did.”
“I’m sorry,” I said dully.
“It’s not your fault, Daisy.” Aurora laid a comforting hand on my arm. “When Stuart Richmond kidnapped Emily, it set off a nuclear bomb, and we’re all suffering in the fallout zone.”
She tilted her head. “It’s funny, though. I’ve known Aaron for a long time, and I think the only time I’ve ever seen him happy, like, really truly happy, was when he was married to you. He is so freaking in love with you.”
“Oh.” I felt small. And nauseated.
“I can’t really blame you for not wanting to put up with him and his family situation.” She signaled to the bartender. “Let me buy you all a couple of rounds of drinks. No hard feelings?”
“Um, thanks.”
“Daisy Coleman!” Harvey bellowed, carrying over a tray of drinks and food. “I’m illegally grilling sausages outside,” he whispered to us.
“You work here?”
“I’m everywhere in this city, baby!”
Aurora rolled her eyes.
Harvey kissed her. “I’m so glad we’re finally free to be in love!”
“Pause that. Aaron fucked up,” Aurora informed him.
“Ah, shit. Back into the shadows.” He moonwalked.
“I was hoping Aaron would mend things with you and he’d take the heat,” Aurora admitted. “But I’ll have to tell my mom—and Emily.” She made a face.
“Godspeed.” Jordan saluted her.
Back at our table, the twins ate their sausages while I nursed two rounds of drinks.
“It’s so romantic.” The twins swooned over their plates of food.
“She said Daisy is the only thing in the entire world that makes Aaron happy,” Brooklyn gushed.
“And then you humiliated the man in front of everyone.” Alex shook her head.
“No coming back from that,” Jordan said, licking mustard off her finger.
“Just own your choice, Daisy.” Reese patted me.
“I regret my choice!” I wailed.
“Wow,” Alex said, sipping her cocktail daintily. “So after all of that, the only person who is miserable at the end of this story is you.”
“And poor Aaron,” Granny Madge added, raising her glass.
“Well, Aaron apparently flipped a table, and they had to evacuate the whole office, so he’s probably pretty chuffed right now,” Reese informed us, showing us a text message from a couple of the office managers who were friendly with us.
“I feel like there’s a lesson here,” Alex mused.
“Yum, these hot dogs are good.” Brooklyn polished off hers.
“Girls’ night is fun!” Jordan agreed.
“Did I throw away my one chance at true love?” I wondered as the room spun.
“You threw away your one chance to get your own personal dick,” Gran said, knocking back one of the drinks.
“Just call him,” Jordan urged around her food while Reese tried to get me to, “ Just eat something, Daisy—you drank a lot .”
I ignored her, fumbled around with my phone, and called Aaron to beg him to take me back, that I was sorry, that I did love him.
The phone rang. And rang.
“He’s ignoring me. He hates me. I screwed up.” I was breathing hard. “I screwed up true love.”