Chapter 29
PETAL
I search through the giant crowd for Wendy and Daria, the women who made me feel at home on the Vegas trip, but the ballroom is so packed, my efforts are futile.
“My God. Who are all these people?” I ask.
“Dunno,” Rake says. “I know the team, and their significant others are here, but the others are people who the owner invites, I guess. And there are photographers. Always, photographers.”
As we work our way through the crowd, I notice I’m getting a lot of stares, but for some reason, I don’t really mind. A server passes with a tray of champagne and Rake grabs one for each of us.
“Petal!” a voice behind me screams. I turn and find Wendy, with Tito close behind.
She throws her arms around me in a big, warm hug, and I am so, so grateful for this nice woman. She takes a step back and looks me up and down.
“Damn, girl, look at you. So hot,” she says.
Rake looks over the heads of most people in the crowd. “Where’s the rest of the gang?”
Tito points to the far wall. “We have a table over that way. We saved you seats.”
We follow Wendy and Tito through the crowd, but it’s pretty slow-going. Seems everyone wants to shake the players’ hands.
Wendy notices me waiting patiently. “It’s always like this, honey. You’ll get used to it.”
I shrug. “I don’t mind. It’s fun to see him in action.”
She nods. “Definitely. There’s nothing like seeing Tito change one of the kids’ poopy diapers, then watching him here at something like this, where he’s treated like a God. Life is crazy like that.”
“You are so great,” I tell her. “Thank you for making me feel welcome.”
She smiles broadly. “You’re a cool chick, Petal. Everyone likes you. In fact, we hope you stick around.” She says this last bit quietly.
“Oh, well….” I start to answer, but realize I don’t know my answer.
We find the rest of the crew, and I greet Tyler, Jonas, Zink, and Daria with hugs and kisses.
“What happened to Rake?” Tyler asks.
I whip around. “He was right behind me,” I say, looking into the dense crowd.
“Anybody up for a little nose powdering?” Daria asks, looking straight at Wendy and me.
I’m still not sure where Rake disappeared to, but I do want to check my makeup after that one errant tear threatened to ruin my face.
“Let’s go,” I say.
We weave through the crowd, with Wendy and Daria saying hi to people. I overhear more than one person say ‘there she is,’ and ‘that’s Rake’s new wife,’ but I keep moving.
I figure I’ll meet them all eventually. Well, depending on how long I’m going to be around.
We get to the ladies’ room, and Daria looks under the stall doors. “Coast is clear. Nobody else is here. “So how are things going, honey? I think people are really buying that you two are an actual couple.”
God, I hope so.
“That is the plan,” I say.
“Well, you guys are adorable together. I’ve been seeing your photos in the paper and everything. It’s like you were born to be an athlete’s wife,” Wendy says.
We line up, side by side, each touching up our lipstick in the bathroom mirror, and while I am so, so grateful these two women have kind of taken me under their wings, I realize how much I miss my own girls, Lucy and Gilly.
I make a mental note to text them later to set something up for the coming week.
It seems being ‘married’ has been more time consuming than I expected.
Wendy and Daria get lost in swapping toilet training techniques, and since I have nothing to add to the conversation, I beg off. “Guys, I’m getting something to eat. I’ll see you back at our table, okay?”
I leave them in the throes of debating who is harder to train, boys or girls, and make my way through the crowd. When I reach the food, I take a plate and start to load up on shrimp. But I don’t want to have fish breath, so I limit myself, and grab some mini carrots.
Carrots give you good breath, right?
I’m savoring my second shrimp, especially since I’m not letting myself gorge on them, when I overhear someone say Rake’s name.
“I haven’t seen his new wife yet, have you?” a woman asks.
Oh my God. They’re talking about me. Heat blasts across my face, and not wanting anyone to see me, I study a carrot stick like I’ve never seen one before.
“Haven’t met her yet. In fact, I have no idea what she looks like. But I understand she’s, you know, kind of average,” the other woman says.
What? Was last night’s face mask all for nothing?
“Oh? That’s a shame. I tried to introduce him to my Janie awhile back. It didn’t go anywhere. And you know how beautiful my daughter is.”
“It’s just so strange, this whole elopement thing. Kind of like it’s some sort of publicity stunt,” the first one adds.
They titter, and I start to turn around to introduce myself. Put those bitches in their place. But I don’t want to cause Rake any trouble. I’m here to help him, not make him look bad. So I just simmer.
I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of simmering lately.
Maybe I should go along with the stupid press conference thing Rake told me Vince was pressuring him into, just to shut people like that up. Sure, my marriage is fake, but it’s no one else’s fucking business.
“Why, it’s Miss Petal.”
I turn to see Vince Vincent, PR guru and general pain in the ass, looking like a kid dressed up in a tux. It must be hard, working around all these Adonises when you’re so scrawny. Probably why he loves having power over them.
“Hello Vince. Enjoying the party?” I ask after he stares at my boobs for too long.
“Oh yes. Very much so. You look incredible in that green.”
I look down and remind myself that yes, my dress is very pretty. Those nasty women can suck it. “Thanks, Vince. Rake got it for me,” I say loudly.
“Say, where is he?” Vince asks, looking around as if he might be able to see over the crowd. Poor guy. Maybe I can hoist him onto my shoulders. “Have you lost your husband already?” he bends over, laughing at his own joke.
I see from the corner of my vision the two biddies who were just talking about me turn our way, horrified looks on their faces. I abandon my plate on the buffet table and clasp my hands in front of myself like a little angel.
“Rake’s around here somewhere. I was chatting with the girls and he got pulled off by someone he needed to say hi to.”
It’s then that Vince notices the women. Had he heard them? “Hello ladies,” he says cheerfully. “Lovely to see you. I don’t think you’ve met Rake Hanson’s new bride.”
They grimace as I extend my hand with the biggest smile I can muster. “Hello. So nice to meet you. I’m Petal Parker. Well, I guess I should start saying Petal Hanson, shouldn’t I? And what are your names?”
They reluctantly introduce themselves because they have no other option, and I excuse myself before I say what I’m really thinking.