Chapter 4 The Awkward Aftermath
The Awkward Aftermath
“So…she just sat there?” Matthew asked. “Pasta sauce dripping down her face and she orders Barolo?”
“She’s a weirdo, Matt. No normal person reacts like that.”
His friend smiled at him from across the table. “That intrigued you.”
“It was damn near bizarre.”
“But you stayed?”
“I had to stay.”
“No, you didn’t. Trisha wasn’t there. You had the perfect excuse to call the whole thing off and you didn’t. You…” He narrowed his eyes and nodded. “You had fun last night.”
Tyler rolled his eyes and stood up. “I wouldn’t exactly call it fun.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“I would call it a failed attempt to get Trisha back.”
Matthew sighed. “Why do you find it so hard to admit what you really feel?”
“Who are you? Dr. Phil? This is not a therapy session. There is nothing to admit. I took Jordan out to make Trisha jealous and it was all for nothing. The way I see it, I have one more shot at this and next time there can be no room for failure.” Tyler walked back to the desk and sat down.
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’ve been thinking—”
“It’s already a bad idea.”
“Matt, I have listened to every despicable scheme you have had for nineteen years. The least you could do is afford me the same courtesy.”
Matthew sighed his submission. “Fine. What is it?”
“Trisha left some of her things at my penthouse. Jewelry and clothes and some other stuff. Why don’t you call her and arrange a meeting to give her stuff back and I will make sure Jordan and I are at the very same place.”
“It will never work, Ty. It’s so obvious it’s a ploy. Trisha isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but even she could figure that out.”
Tyler was getting a little annoyed with him constantly bad-mouthing her, but he didn’t complain. Matt had his reasons. He’d always been on and off about Trisha, fluctuating between “Yeah, she’s okay.” to “Tyler, why are you with this woman?”
But when she left, it tipped the scale rather unfavorably.
It was the way she did it, callously, cruelly.
She just left, giving him no explanations or reasons.
He came home one day and she was gone. Bags packed.
Cupboards empty. She didn’t take his calls.
She refused to speak to him. Not even a text to say: Thanks. It was a great three years.
It was all too familiar. It hit too close to home, not just for Tyler, but for Matt too.
All circumstances considered, it was something they had both not taken well.
Tyler was willing to look past it. Trisha made him happy and he was willing to fight for what he wanted.
Matthew, however, wasn’t so forgiving. He was only going along with this plan because Tyler had asked for help.
“Well, what else can I do, Matt? There is no other way to guarantee that Trisha will see us together.”
“Just sit tight.” The wheels in his friend’s twisted head were already beginning to turn. “I’ll think of something better for…Operation Cupid.”
Tyler’s face scrunched involuntarily. “We’re spies now?”
“I thought it had a nice ring to it.”
“It sounds dumb.”
“Would you prefer Operation let-her-go-man-you’re-better-off-without-her?”
Tyler smiled a fake smile. “Operation Cupid, it is.”
* * * * *
“I’ve finally decided on a designer,” Trisha said when she heard her sister enter the room. Stacey dropped her Gucci bag on the couch and took a seat next to Trisha.
“Who?”
“Gregory Tubac. All his dresses have made the cover of Bridal Weekly. He designed the bridal gown for the Rochester wedding.”
Stacey’s eyes widened. “OMG! That was him?”
“Yep and he only makes one of every dress so mine will be unique.” She twisted the magazine she held in her hands so Stacey could see his works of art. “Aren’t they all amazing?”
“That one is perfect,” Stacey said, pointing to the lower left corner of the page. “Off the shoulder. Long train. It’s stunning.”
“My dress is going to be so much better. I’ve already arranged a meeting with him to discuss my design.”
Stacey dug into her handbag and popped a piece of gum into her mouth. “Am I invited to this meeting?”
“Well, duh!”
She smiled and Trisha put down the bridal magazine. “So how was your blind date last night?”
“Incredible,” Stacey replied much too quickly.
“I’m sitting at Giovanni’s and he walks in and I swear, the world stops spinning.
He’s like the hottest guy I’ve ever had the pleasure of boning and a perfect gentleman.
” Trisha didn’t think the words gentleman and boning could ever be used in the same sentence, but this was her sister after all.
“A bit of a bore to talk to,” Stacey continued, “but I don’t really care too much for personality. The guy is filthy rich.”
Although they came from money, both Stacey and Trisha had resigned themselves to marrying rich men so they wouldn’t have to work a day in their lives. However, Trisha’s last attempt to marry solely for money had failed hopelessly, because she’d actually ended up falling for the guy.
She gave her sister an I-know-better-smile. “Trust me, money and looks aren’t everything. You need someone you can connect with.”
A devilish smile curved on her sister’s lips. “Oh, we connected alright…in a kinky, dirty way.” She reached into her handbag again and pulled out her cell phone. “I’ve got photos if you want to see exactly how dirty it was.”
Trisha shook her head. “You’re disgusting!”
“What?” Stacey giggled. “Oh, c’mon. Are you telling me you’ve never tried anything crazy or kinky with Oliver…or Tyler for that matter?”
“Oliver, yes. Tyler, hell no! Don’t get me wrong, the guy’s amazing in bed, but getting him to try anything new is like trying to draw blood from a stone. It becomes predictable after a while.”
“Hmm…well then maybe he’s better off with that secretary of his. She’s as boring and predictable as he is.”
It took a few seconds for Trisha to register the statement. “Wait…you saw him…with a woman? I mean, he’s dating again…but…wait…Tyler doesn’t have a secretary.”
Stacey was quiet for a while as she tried to think back. “Maybe she’s not his secretary but you know her…the one who’s always at those boring benefit functions and charity events. Tall…awkward…dark hair.”
“Jordan?” Trisha asked in disbelief. She closed her eyes and tried to shake off the completely ludicrous idea. “Tyler is dating Jordan? And he took her to Giovanni’s? That was our special place. I haven’t been there since we broke up because that was our place and he took her there?”
“Maybe it wasn’t a date,” Stacey said quickly, trying to settle her sister.
“Of course it was a date! No one goes to Giovanni’s to discuss business. Did you speak to him? What did he say?”
“I didn’t speak to him. In case you forgot, I was on a hot date.
Besides, he didn’t even notice I was there.
There was a lot of commotion. Their waiter dropped her meal on her head and then there’s shock and gasps and she’s a total mess, but they don’t get up to leave.
I would’ve died of embarrassment, but they just sat there and all of sudden they start laughing. ”
“Laughing? Both of them?”
“Yeah, laughing…like two crazy people. Clearly they found something funny where no one else could see the joke.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Trisha didn’t realize it but she was shouting. “Tyler doesn’t laugh or joke, especially not with a woman who has food in her hair. That’s just—”
“Why are you so upset? I thought you were over him.” Stacey grasped her shoulders and turned her so she could look into her eyes. “You are over him, right?”
“I am,” Trisha replied, still sounding dejected. “I just can’t believe he would take Jordan of all people to Giovanni’s.”
Stacey nodded and swiftly changed the conversation back to wedding plans. Trisha smiled and faked enthusiasm as they spoke about cakes and décor, but she couldn’t rid herself of this horrid revelation.
Tyler was dating Jordan? So many questions flooded her mind.
How long had this been going on for? They’d been working together for two years.
For him to have moved on so quickly must mean he was interested in her before they broke up.
They were together all the time. How many nights had they been flirting with each other at the office when she thought he was working late.
He wouldn’t have cheated, she told herself.
Tyler was a good, faithful man. Yes, he had his flaws, but their relationship had been based on honesty and mutual respect.
He’d never been interested in Jordan. Well, at least that was what Trisha had thought until now.
Maybe she should have questioned it more.
It’ll never last, she concluded.
Unlike her, Jordan did not come from wealth or an esteemed family heritage.
Jordan couldn’t fit into his lifestyle the way she had.
She was just an accountant, for God sakes.
She didn’t know the first thing about keeping a man like Tyler.
He was rich and powerful and she was plain and simple. Ordinary.
How could he stoop so low? His standards had certainly dropped since she dumped him, but that didn’t make her feel any better. She knew she shouldn’t be obsessing over this. She was happy with Oliver and there was no reason why Tyler shouldn’t move on and find happiness as well.
But Tyler dating someone else wasn’t the issue.
Even though it irritated her that the someone else was Jordan, that wasn’t the issue either.
The issue was that she made him laugh. He was a serious man and was not easily amused, so how did Jordan get him to loosen up?
How did she achieve in one evening what Trisha had not achieved in three years?