Chapter 26 Lucy #3
The door then opens and Julia emerges; her face mirrors one of someone who’s seen a ghost—or their ex’s new girlfriend.
“Hi,” she says and then lets out a nervous cough.
“Hi,” I echo as she intentionally chooses the sink farthest away from me. I don’t look at her, but I can practically feel that she’s on edge. Almost like a skunk that’s sprayed to protect themselves.
Julia washes her hands and then takes one of the towels, carefully drying herself.
I can see her eight-carat engagement ring from here.
She’s wearing a simple formfitting white dress.
Her mousy brown hair that I know can’t hold a curl for the life of it is in a low bun.
She looks classically beautiful in a Pippa Middleton way.
She’s purposely not saying anything or making eye contact, and I’m not surprised. I was hoping she would prove me wrong, but I think I have a good gauge on people.
It’s then that I catch her eyes through the reflection in the mirror.
She subtly does a once-over of me, from the top of my head down to my hips.
I’m doing a good job of ignoring her, but then something happens that makes me feel like an officer analyzing footage from a security camera, trying to find the slightest detail on the recorded tape.
Julia rolls her eyes.
“What a lovely speech that was,” I say, breaking the silence like a bell being rung in the middle of a meditation. “Congratulations.”
“Oh,” she says. “Thanks.”
“And, you know,” I continue, “I think it’s so sweet how close you still are with the Oakleys.”
She looks ahead and there’s a plastered grin on her face, almost like it’s rehearsed. “They’re like family.”
“I mean, clearly,” I say to her reflection. “The fact that you went to Sadie’s birthday party…that you invited everyone here to celebrate your new relationship…your new family. That’s so special.”
Julia simply smiles and starts walking toward the door, but I need to know one thing.
“What’s the real reason you invited Marsh?” I ask.
Julia stops in her tracks and turns around to me, a look of offense on her face.
“Excuse me?”
“What’s the real reason you invited Marsh?” I repeat.
I see in real time Julia’s face turn from her perfectly pale complexion to white as a sheet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s just so fascinating to me that you would want your ex and his family here on your special day. I mean, considering how things ended…”
Julia walks toward me, her heels making a hollow echo with every step. “What did he tell you?” There’s nothing threatening about her tone. If anything, she sounds scared.
“Enough,” I say.
“I don’t know what you think you know, Lucy,” she says with a bite to my name, “but whatever happened between Marsh and me…is between Marsh and me. I don’t appreciate you coming to my wedding rehearsal and involving yourself in things that aren’t your business.”
There’s no part of me that wants to make Julia the enemy. She did what she did and the decision Marsh made to leave her was his own. This is Julia’s special day, one I don’t want to ruin.
“I don’t want to start a fight,” I say and I mean it.
“Look, I’m happy for you. Truly. But you knew exactly what you were doing when you made that announcement.
I saw how you looked directly at him.” I now take a step toward her.
“Marsh is the single most important person in my life and how he feels is my business. You’ve messed with his feelings once and that’s more than enough.
So, whatever else you have planned…please, stop it. ”
Her neck now becomes bright red and I want to say I feel sorry for her, but I don’t.
“You think I’m the bad one here?” She lets out an exasperated laugh.
The glint in her eyes is now gone. “You barely know Marsh. I was with him through his days in college, when he was working nonstop at his old newspaper jobs. We didn’t have anything, and I stuck with him through it all.
I spent a decade of my life by his side, and he just stopped remembering birthdays and anniversaries, and he just didn’t care anymore.
” Her voice quavers dangerously. “So yeah, I want him to be here, and I want to show him that I’m going to be fine.
Is that wrong? I want him to know that he wasted the best years of my life. ”
Julia huffs a few teary breaths, and I reach across the sink and give her a towel.
She pats the corners of her eyes and quickly takes a glance in the mirror.
While I want to see a villain right now, or a crazy ex-girlfriend, I don’t.
I see a human. I see a person who, just like Marsh, wants to show everyone that they’re okay.
“I know that the two of you went through something unimaginable…and I’m so sorry.
I really am,” I say, and her stiffness softens.
“But I think maybe you should replay the last ten years in your head again. You’re not the only one who lost a part of them,” I remind her.
“You deserve to be happy, Julia…but so does Marsh.”