Chapter 26 Lucy #2
“Hey, guys.” Oliver stands up and gives me a hug. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, you know…” Marsh lets out a sarcastic smile.
“Lucy! Hi!” Quinn wraps her arms around me. “Have a seat right here.” She points to the chair next to her.
“Thanks!” Eying the spot next to mine, I notice a nameplate that says Marshall Oakley in gold cursive. Meanwhile, my nameplate is bare.
“When does Mom land?” Marsh asks.
“Tomorrow, eight a.m.,” Quinn answers. “We’ll pick her up.”
“This is such a beautiful hotel, isn’t it?” Oliver says, taking a sip of his drink. Some kind of whiskey or scotch if I had to guess.
“Sure is.” Marsh points to Oliver’s drink. “I think I need one of those.”
“Yeah, let’s go to the bar.” Oliver stands up.
“You want anything, Luce?” Marsh asks, following Oliver.
“Please. I will take anything,” I say, and Marsh rubs my shoulder before he disappears.
“How’s it going?” Quinn turns to me, taking a sip of her champagne. “I’m so happy you were able to come!”
There’s something about Quinn that feels like a wool blanket on a chilly day.
There’s a raw kindness, an empathetic flair to her that makes me feel like she has my back.
I wish I was able to spend more time with her at Sadie’s birthday, but now that we’re here in an adults-only setting, I’m so happy to get to know her better.
“It’s going good!” I answer, and it’s not an act. “Everything looks so…big.” I eye the more than dramatic display of flower centerpieces at every table.
Quinn smooths the fabric on her lap. “Also, okay, I’ve been dying to tell you something…”
I freeze. “What?”
“So, I have read your column before,” Quinn starts. “I wanted to tell you when we first met but I was a little embarrassed. But I love it, Lucy. Really. It always feels like I’m getting advice from a friend.”
“Seriously?” My heart flutters. “Oh my god, Quinn, thank you so much. Really.”
“I’m serious! I’ve been reading The Rue for years. It’s one of my favorite magazines. And I’m not going to lie…I made Ollie try out some of the things you recommended, and it was…” Her smile turns into a full-blown smirk, and she doesn’t need to finish the sentence.
“Shut up.” I can’t help but beam. “From which article?”
“I don’t remember what it’s called, but it was like last year. The one about dirty talk.”
I know exactly what she’s talking about. “I have said it once and I’ll say it again. Dirty talk is underrated.”
“It’s been a game changer.” Quinn grabs my hand and laughs. “Also! I read your most recent stories…I’m so happy for you and Marsh. You both seem super happy.”
My insides twist with guilt thinking about how people who now know Marsh and me, people like Quinn and Oliver, are reading what I’m writing and how that can affect them.
Suddenly, my “readers” aren’t faceless people looking for advice.
They’re people who are wholeheartedly following my words as if it’s a diary entry.
If I write something negative about my current relationship, that’s not just a reflection of me. That’s a reflection of Marsh.
“I really am happy. Marsh is amazing.” My gaze sweeps to him and he’s in deep conversation with Oliver. He pushes up his glasses with his middle finger then starts laughing at something.
“I’ve known him practically my whole life,” Quinn says. “He’s like my brother and I can honestly say that he’s one of the good guys.”
“Yeah…” I take another glance across the room. “He really is.”
The servers start to come around and bring us our meals.
As they do, Julia and her fiancé start clinking their glasses and the music softens.
Chad is blond-haired and blue-eyed. I can’t really place any defining features on him.
If he were standing behind me at my local Trader Joe’s I wouldn’t even recognize him.
“Hi, everyone,” Julia starts, and the guests go silent, focusing their attention on the couple.
Marsh and Oliver find their seats, and I reach my hand over to Marsh’s, giving it a squeeze.
“We just wanted to say thank you so much for spending this weekend with us. You all mean the world to both of us in different ways, and we’re honored we get to have this special night before the big day. ”
Everyone applauds and Julia waits to continue. “I met Chad when he was picking up Kim from work.”
Chad tips his glass to who I put together is his sister at another table.
“You’re welcome,” she calls out, and everyone laughs.
Chad then jumps in. “The minute I saw Jules, I think I fell in love. I asked her out and, man, did she play hard to get!” he says, and there are more laughs. My eyes cut to Marsh, who currently holds a poker face. “She gave me her number but didn’t text me back until maybe a month later.”
“She made you work for it, huh, Chad?” someone chirps.
“But I remember our first date. I took her to the Griffith Observatory…I know, typical LA date. We just stayed there all night and looked up at the stars, the Hollywood Sign, talked about our hopes and dreams, and I realized that I wanted to be that person that helped her get everything she deserves. I’m excited to start the rest of our life tomorrow…
although I think the rest of my life started that night. ”
The two of them kiss and everyone starts cheering and applauding. But I can’t help shake a gut feeling I have in my core. To openly share that story comes from a place of pure nostalgia, innocence in remembering your early days. I wonder if Chad even knows that Julia was having an affair with him.
“And the reason we wanted to bring everyone together here tonight,” Julia says, her smile slowly inching wider across her face, “is because not only are our lives starting together…” She places her right hand over her belly and my face falls. “But because a new life has started.”
Julia and Chad both hold on to her stomach while the room suddenly fills with gasps and oh my gods and congratulations. People start to squeal and give their well-wishes to Julia’s and Chad’s parents.
I look to Marsh, and he’s pale. The blood has drained from his face in an instant. He’s staring ahead, but he’s no longer here in this room. He’s somewhere else. Somewhere dark and painful. Then as if a switch has been turned on, his chin lifts and he silently claps along with everyone else.
“I can’t tell you all what it means to share this news with you,” Julia adds, and I catch her gaze fall on Marsh.
It’s brief, but undeniable. “We are so excited to give this little girl the best life she deserves. And, Chad, I know you are going to be the most amazing father any child could ever ask for.”
The two of them kiss again and Chad and Julia murmur I love yous to each other while the applauding continues. As guests head toward the happy couple for congratulatory hugs, I watch Julia wipe a tear of joy from her eye and I clench my teeth.
I lean toward Marsh. “Did you know?”
His mouth remains tight, the muscles in his jaw working overtime. “No,” he barely says.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Mhm,” he says. “I just need to get another drink.” He stands up and makes his way to the bar and Oliver follows him.
Everyone goes back to their small talk while I make my way toward the hotel lobby and find the closest restroom. I look into the mirror and reapply my lip gloss. Taking a breath, I try to not feel sick by what just happened.
I want to believe that Julia didn’t intend to hurt Marsh, or that her actions weren’t manipulative, but what just happened was cruel.
She didn’t need to invite Marsh to her wedding, let alone her rehearsal dinner where she decided to break the news that she’s pregnant.
After everything that happened between the two of them, my heart breaks for Marsh and what he just witnessed.