“Bit of everything,” I say, putting my weight on my back foot. “Now? A lot of woodworking.”
Silence falls between us.
Alex smiles at the corner of his mouth, amused by my approach to this very normal line of questioning.
I don't know if it's just a man thing or if women do this as well, but I've noticed that whenever I'm in a group of strangers we all seem to measure each other up by figuring out where we stand in the financial pecking order.
“Actually, Liam is here to talk to me about getting some of his money invested in the fund,” Alex cuts me off just as I'm about to open my mouth and say some more inappropriate things. “Liam, George here is one of my biggest investors.”
“Oh, yeah? What are your thoughts?”
I look up at a man with reddish blond hair and freckles, which gives him a boyish look.
“I wouldn't trust my money with anyone else,” George says.“Although from what I've heard, he’s not taking on any new people.”
“Where did you hear that?” Alex asks, taking a sip of scotch.
“Your father. I had a few friends that I thought would place their money with you as well, but when you were busy, your secretary put them through to your father and that's what he told me.”
“Yeah, we've had a few conversations about that. He wants to limit the number of investors that we bring in and increase the amount of money that they give to us. I think that there's nothing wrong with opening ourselves up to more money from friends and family. Please don't worry about that. One of these days, Father will let me run this thing the way that it should be run and everything will be fine.”
After George and his friends walk away to mingle with the rest of the crowd, Alex turns to me and laughs.
“I forgot how much you like to fuck with people,” he says.
“Why?” I ask innocently. “Did I offend him?”
Alex shakes his head and gets us another round of drinks.
“I just happen to think that there's more to us than what they have in the bank,” I say. “I'm sorry that George didn't agree with me.”
“That is something George will never agree with.”
Alex uses this as a lead way to start telling me about his investment fund. I know that it’s probably a good idea to put my money in there, he has an excellent reputation and that's technically why I came here, but I'm not really in the mood to talk about it now.
I glance over to Emma, who is standing against the wall, practically hugging it.
“I completely forgot.” Alex is ushering me toward her. “Let me introduce you to my fiancée.”
I hesitate but I have no choice. I decide to take her lead. If she pretends that we have never met, then I'll go along with it.
Alex introduces her by grabbing her left hand and showing me her big ring. From the outside, you wouldn't know that anything is wrong.
I guess that's the thing about pretending.
We all do it, right?
That's what everyone keeps telling me and that's exactly why I live out there on my acreage all by myself as far away from people as possible.
After we shake hands, Emma cowers into herself but remains standing before me. In the bright light of the room, she looks small and insecure, but still undeniably beautiful. She has big eyes and beautiful shiny hair that cascades down her shoulders.
Alex keeps talking even though neither of us give him much encouragement except for a brief nod here and there. Instead, our eyes stay focused on one another's and I realize just how difficult this moment is for her.
“Emma and I are planning on going to Laguna Beach this weekend. We got a suite right on the beach. It's not going to be particularly warm. It's not Hawaii, of course, or the Caribbean, but you know, we’ll try to have fun.”
Emma’s eyes dart to Alex.
She shakes her head, but just a little bit. I wait for her to finally cave and forgive him, but she surprises me.
“No,” she says.
The word comes out strong and categorical.
Assertive.
“What?” Alex asks.
A plastic smile appears on his face, the kind that we all use when we want to get someone to stop saying things that we don't agree with.
“No, I'm not going to Laguna Beach this weekend and no, Liam, Alex is not my fiancé.”
“Honey, let's just not do this right here.”
“Okay,” she says, crossing her arms. “Let's not. The only problem is that this is our engagement party. This is my parents’ home and you're here. Why are you here?”
“You know perfectly well,” he says under his breath. “My family and their friends flew in from New York and everywhere else. I couldn’t just not come.”
“You could have not been fucking your boss and then we wouldn't be in this mess.”
I take a step back and my mouth opens a little bit. I have never seen a scene like this unfold in front of my eyes.
Of course, we have seen plenty of this on television and movies, but to actually witness the unraveling of an engagement, that's quite something.
“Look what we are doing,” Alex says. “You're making my friend uncomfortable.”
I raise my hands up in the air and say, “No.”
“Listen,” Emma says, quieting her voice. “I told you that this wedding is off. Yet you can't seem to get that through your head. I know that it is one thing for my mom to say stuff like that, but you are the one that hurt me. You are the one that I caught cheating. It's over. You clearly never cared about me and you clearly don't now. Why are you here putting on this charade?”
12
Emma
I don't know why I am here.
I don't know why I'm talking to him.
I feel like Liam and I shared a moment and I thought that I might have found a friend. Maybe not a friend, but at least a friendly face. But looking at him now, I know he’s on Alex’s side.
I don’t care. I deserve better than this asshole and I know that even if no one else does.
Alex keeps trying to talk to me, but I just walk away. I've repeated myself enough and it's still not getting through to him.
Alex follows me until I disappear in the bathroom.
Frustrated, annoyed, and trapped in my own parents’ home, I open my phone and stare at the messages. I scroll through a million useless tweets and pretty images on Instagram.
A few videos pop up, but I quickly turn those off. I don't have the energy to watch or engage on any level beyond the very basic.
I'm not sure what leads me to his social media besides my own frustration at my predicament, but I search for D. B. Carter's name in the search bar on Facebook. He has over 100,000 followers, which is quite a lot for a fantasy author without a television show or who isn't JRR Martin or Tolkien.
I scroll through the main posts on his page trying to glean any personal information, but there are just posts about his new releases and promotions. There's a free book and there is another book on sale for $.99. Along with that, he also has a brand-new release that just came out last week.
I turn my attention to Amazon and decide to count up all the books he has written. I get to seventy-eight before I lose track when my sister knocks on the door.