Chapter 22 #2
‘Lawrence and I had a big fight because he was at my apartment when I was getting ready to leave and he just… he told me that the top I was wearing was too revealing and I don’t…
I mean it was tight and I know that he’s only trying to protect me…
’ She is dressed in tight blue jeans and a flowing black silk top that drapes over her body rather than clings to it.
I wonder what she was wearing before. It hasn’t stopped every man in the place from giving her a quick look.
In contrast I’m wearing unflattering dungarees because they’re comfortable.
I came to the bar from my Sunday job which is tutoring a small group of final year history students who are getting ready for their exams and I didn’t have time to go back and change, something I could have done if I had known Reese would be half an hour late.
A few more tears appear and I dismiss my thoughts about myself because she does seem to be really upset.
‘Reese, I’ve never seen you in anything too revealing. Plus, even if it was revealing, who cares?’
‘Maybe, but maybe he has a right to kind of… just say what he likes and doesn’t like. I mean I tell him when I think he should change a shirt or something.’
I nod like I’m agreeing with her but I know that’s crap. And I can’t help a little streak of schadenfreude that runs through me. Reese’s life is not perfect. And it shouldn’t be. It was thanks to me that Reese even met Lawrence in the first place.
A year ago, near the end of October, the very good-looking Lawrence Holmes the Third walked into the museum where I work as a tour guide for one of my jobs.
He was with his five-year-old nephew. He paid for a private tour and I was asked to give it.
I thought it would be an easy gig, just an uncle and his nephew.
I never expected someone like Lawrence, who listened to everything I said, made sure that the kid paid attention and smelt so good that I kept getting close to him so I could get a whiff of something deep and spicy.
At the end of the tour, he invited me for lunch with his nephew and I accepted, even though it was not my break time.
James, the nephew, didn’t shut up for five minutes as he inhaled his hot chips but I didn’t care. I was happy just to look at Lawrence.
When lunch was over Lawrence said, ‘I’m having a party at my apartment for Halloween. Why don’t you come and bring some friends? Let me give you my number and address.’
I can remember the way my heart thrummed in my chest as I handed him my phone and he put his number in.
I should have gone alone. But he asked me to bring some friends. And I wanted to show Reese and Victoria that a really good-looking guy was into me.
I went dressed as a sexy cat, in a leather body suit.
Victoria went as a sexy witch and Reese went as Galadriel from Lord of the Rings in a shimmering silk dress with her red-brown curls down her back.
The rest, as they say, is history. Lawrence didn’t even look at me and he hovered near Reese all night long.
When he asked her out for the first time, Reese called me and asked if I was actually interested in him.
‘Not at all, he’s just some guy who was having a party,’ I lied.
And now we are here. They dated for six months before he proposed and now the wedding is upon us. Reese has sorted out her whole perfect future with a man I introduced her to. And now, he’s telling her what to wear.
‘Maybe that’s just his way,’ I say, my fingers touching the condensation on the side of my glass. ‘He’s obviously great in other ways but maybe he just has a thing about the clothes you wear.’
Reese shakes her head. ‘Well he also pays attention to what I eat, because he loves my body the way it is. And he has this thing about me keeping my hair long.’
‘Well, you don’t have to look the way he wants you to look.’
‘No,’ Reese says as she bites down on her lip. ‘He told me that I don’t need to work after we get married, so that’s good, I guess.’
‘Only if you don’t want to work. You’ve only just started your job in event planning. It would be a shame to not even try that for a bit, I think.’
‘Yeah.’ She finishes up her drink. ‘Another one?’ she asks and without even waiting for my reply, she gets up.
When she returns she is carrying a whole tray of drinks with four shots and another wine for herself, another vodka for me and a number she places on the table.
‘I got us some tequila and food,’ she says with a smile.
Tonight feels like a different kind of night.
Something has shifted in Reese, something is different.
I’ve never seen Reese drunk. She’s gotten tipsy, as we all have, but she always seems to pull back just before she gets to a point where she may embarrass herself.
I’m so glad Victoria isn’t here to stop her because I can feel a fun evening ahead.
‘Wow, planning on getting really drunk tonight?’ I say, laughing. Maybe if she drops her guard enough, I can ask her for the money for Sophie? I feel a bit bad thinking about myself but it’s for Sophie, not me.
‘Ha, ha, you know me, always the party girl.’ She picks up a shot and downs it and then immediately takes a sip of her wine. And then she takes another shot.
I can see the alcohol burns going down but it doesn’t stop her.
‘Have mine,’ I say, pushing another shot towards her.
If she wants to drink enough to get plastered, who am I to stop her?
She knocks back the shot, spilling a few drops down her blouse that she wipes at and I can see her metaphorically wiping away her boundaries.
I’m going to learn some interesting things tonight, I can tell.
‘You can talk to me, you know,’ I tell her.
‘Oh yeah, yeah, I know we used to have… great chats, didn’t we? I mean, when you lived with me.’
‘We did,’ I agree, although those were few and far between. Mostly she nagged me.
‘Maybe we could have… figured things out but Victoria said…’ She stops speaking.
‘Victoria said you should kick me out?’
‘No, no… I mean maybe, but…’ She waves her hand and I see her eyes glaze over a little as she finishes her wine.
‘It’s all water under the bridge now and I’m really glad you’re so happy with Lawrence,’ I say, hoping she can’t hear the disingenuousness in my voice.
‘Yeah, Lawrence is great… so great,’ she says, picking up the last shot and downing it.
A waitress arrives and puts a large plate of nachos and a plate of sweet potato fries down in front of us. Both of these are foods that Reese never usually orders. She’s a salad girl through and through.
Reese picks up a few of the fries and crams them into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before grabbing a chip smothered in cheese and avocado from the other plate.
‘Lawrence is great,’ she says as she chews.
‘He basically swept me off my feet. He’s just amazing and he’s so attentive and loving and he buys me all these little gifts just because…
I mean look at this,’ she says, holding out her arm so I can admire a white gold bracelet set with tiny diamonds.
‘He bought this for me today, just because he thought it would look nice on me.’
I swallow my envy over the beautiful piece that sparkles in the dim light of the bar. I bet that’s worth at least two thousand dollars and to Reese it’s just a pretty trinket but to Sophie, it’s everything she needs.
‘And he’s great in bed,’ she says, her words slurring a little. ‘And he takes me out to the best…’ She hiccups. ‘The best dinners.’