Lucas
The music was blasting as the wedding of Faith’s cousin Cindy went full on. Faith barely introduced me to the bride and groom before dragging me out onto the dance floor, already partly inebriated as she grinded against me. I did my best to gyrate to the beat while keeping her from bumping into other people. I must’ve been doing well, for I soon gathered a group of girls who found it was better to group dance with one guy than dance alone. I was all for that.
“Oh, Lucas, you’re a divine dancer.” Faith hung off my neck, completely drunk and giggling every two seconds. I grunted under her weight and made my way off the dance floor, hoping I didn’t drop her before I deposited her onto a chair at the nearest table.
“Oh, phooey. You’re a party-pooper, Lucas.” She held her hand up, waving down a waiter. “Another shot of whiskey!” The poor guy nodded and headed off to get her what she wanted. If he knew what was good for him, he’d bring it watered down or replaced with a soda. I was positive she wouldn’t notice, as far gone as she was.
“I’m going to grab some cake. Do you want some, Faith?”
“Hmm,” she mumbled, hanging off another drunk friend who’d joined her to her left. “See, Summer, you need to find one like Lucas here, such a gentleman and handsome. But such a bad, bad boy. Not the kind to show up to your Daddy’s house but great in bed.” The two girls burst out giggling as they barely notice I was standing right in front of them. I shook my head at her pal and tried to smile.
“Um, Summer, would you like some cake too?”
“No, I don’t feel so good.” The girl was turning a bit green. I reached over for the floating candle centerpiece sitting crooked in a round, shallow water bowl. Tossing the water into the nearby grass, I placed the now doused candle onto the table before handing her the bowl.
“Here, aim for that. How about I get you girls some water? Be right back.” I snuck away before they could protest, making my way toward the refreshment area.
Sneaking away from my date was usually beneath me, but after directing another waiter to take Faith and her friend Skyler or Summer or whatever her name was some water, I paid him a twenty to call a cab for them and make sure they got in it. I then headed away from the venue and into the night. I’d met Faith there since it was a walk away from the resort, and she’d been part of the bridesmaid’s entourage. I liked that I wasn’t required to keep her company all night even though she would hang off me like a monkey if I let her.
And I might’ve let her, if my thoughts hadn’t been occupied by Jenni. She’d run through my head all day long, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on inside hers. I hated that we weren’t close right away, like we used to be. Now it seemed harder to get inside her head or even closer to her when we should’ve connected right away. If only I could get that close again. So many years between us, and the only steps I’d taken were to buy her some Chinese food and drive her moving truck to return it. Maybe it was time to take another step forward. Maybe I should tell her that the promise we’d made so many years ago, nearly nine years ago, was still on, and I meant for it to happen even now. I hoped she remembered it, for it shined vividly in my memory. My devotion to her was endless. Was hers?
“Hey, stranger.”
I looked up and inadvertently found myself steps away from Jenni’s cabin. She sat on the steps sipping a mason jar of iced tea, wearing shorts and a tank top which matched the color of the sun. She smiled and patted the spot on the steps next to her.
I grinned, amused that I’d subconsciously ended up there. I guess the heart wants what it wants, right? I kept finding my way to her cabin. I looked around and noticed that it was just a jump, skip, and hop around the corner from the venue, which had an outside courtyard where the music could be heard bouncing across the lake. It really wasn’t that far, and I wondered how Jenni would sleep with the music blaring loudly, as though her front yard was a rave.
“Hey. Fancy seeing you here.” I cringed at my words but joined her on the steps.
“Yeah, I do live here. It’s kind of unavoidable.” She eyed me with a funny look in her eyes. “You sure you’re not stalking me, right?”
“I’m pretty sure, but I could if you want me to.” I laughed, trying to not sound too crazy.
“Right. I’ll think about it. What are you up to, wandering around here in the dark?”
“I was just enjoying the music and walking home.”
“Ah. The party was a bust?”
“You could say that. Faith got blasted. Called a cab for her and her friend too, since they both were greener than your patch of grass out here.” I peered around her porch and glanced at the reception hall across the water. “Wow, it’s pretty loud. How do you sleep through this?”
She shrugged, tilting her head to the music. “Luckily, it does shut down at eleven most nights. Midnight on weekends. Not too late if you ask me. Plus, I used to live in L.A. where motorcycles revved their engines at two in the morning. I’m enjoying this bit of noise. Feels like home.”
“So L.A. was home? Wow, never been there. I’ve been stuck here since you left.”
She sipped her ice tea quietly before she perked up and turned toward me. “Want some iced tea? I got it at the local coffee and tea shop. Great stuff.” It didn’t take a genius to see she wanted to change the subject.
“Sure.” I watched her jump up and head inside. Watching her walk away still sent a flutter through my body, and I jerked my eyes back to the lake, bobbing my head with the beat of music. God, I wanted to know everything about her: her life outside of Endings, her career, her aspirations. So many things had changed in the years since she’d left, also so many things hadn’t. I, for one, was one of the few things which hadn’t changed. My life was a rock in the shifting sand flying around me. I didn’t mind it whatsoever, and it wasn’t me I was interested in; I only wanted to hear all about Jenni’s life, and I hoped she was willing to share it with me.
“Here.” She pressed a cold cup of amber colored iced tea into my hands.
“Thank you,” I said before sipping on the frigid liquid. Settling back down next to me, she brought her own to her lips. Sipping in silence, I listened to the pumping beat of music in the distance. It was almost like the stereo was right there in front of her house. I loved it, and when the beat slowed down to a slow song, I hopped to my feet and held my hand out.
“Come on. Let’s dance.”
Stunned, Jenni stared at my hand as she flushed beneath the harsh porch light. “Um, I’m not that great a dancer.”
“Come on. No one is watching. Not even Ms. Ansley. She’s at the wedding party and not minding who sees her dance, mind you. Live a little.”
Jenni stared at my outstretched arm, frozen. I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and twirl her around. Damn any inhibitions.
“No, really… I will step on you.”
“My shoes can take it.”
For the first time, Jenni eyed me up and down, noticing my semi-formal wedding garb. Lifting an eyebrow, she took my hand, and I lifted her up to her toes.
“Says the person dressed like he belongs on Dancing with the Stars,” she groaned.
“Hey, what can I say? I was just at the wedding. Trust me, you’ll do just fine compared to those nimrods at the dance having epileptic seizures and calling it dancing.”
“How did the rest of the party go?”
“It was okay. I just hate it when Faith gets so stupid drunk she’s clawing at me to hold her up. Called her a cab. I’m not completely heartless.”
“Oh? You didn’t wait to take her home?”
I shook my head. “No. Really. She gets so smashed at these parties, she wouldn’t care if I took her home or a cab. Her father’s butler pays the cab when it gets her there. They all know the deal. She’s rich like that.”
“And you wouldn’t want to marry a rich girl?”
I turned to her and laughed. “No. She’s not the marrying kind anyway. She says she’s got plans.” I made quotation marks in the air. “And they sure as hell don’t include me.”
“You’re just her good time, right?”
“You could say that.”
“Must be weird.”
“What?”
“Being used like that.”
“I guess you can say that it’s not one-sided. Sometimes people use each other for mutual benefit. I’ve traveled with her a lot, seen Europe, gone to the Bahamas—all because she doesn’t want to go alone. I’m at fault too. I’ve used her too for those trips, and she buys me nice threads. Can’t say I haven’t gotten anything out of it. Everything is temporary.”
“So you’re like a kept man, right?”
“Hey, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that. She got what she wanted, I got what I wanted. It works both ways.”
“Doesn’t really sound like much fun to me.” I watched her bite her bottom lip. It was swollen and agitated from her constant assaults. I liked the way she did that. My heart excitedly responded to the pink of her lips and the scent of her skin, freshly washed and doused in some girly lotion meant to drive men wild. I wanted to lean forward and distract her from mangling her lips with my own. Maybe I could. This was the perfect time and place for that, wasn’t it? I inhaled slowly, hoping to balance my nerves as I began to drift forward just a bit.