Crash the wedding

*Mistakes can be made*

As soon as I entered the restaurant, I immediately saw Tommy. He was wearing a black button down shirt and jeans on grey sneakers. It was annoying how easily I could still recognize him in a multitude of men.

I was trying to stop being timid, but I couldn’t confront him when people were around him. That was too many pairs of eyes on the new me. So I waited, even though I was getting silly glances from the other people at the restaurant. They were probably wondering how I would afford even a glass of wine here.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to put up with their stares for very long. Tommy left his group of friends and slid into a chair around a table by the window.

I brought out my phone and took one look at the amount in my account, then a long look at Tommy, and anger began to run in my veins again. I marched over to his table, making very small sounds. The last thing I needed was all eyes in this restaurant to be on me. I’d put on enough show for all those closer to the door. There was no need to put on more for the people behind.

“Georgia…” Tommy smiled.

How could he pretend like this was a courtesy visit. He obviously wasn’t taking my anger seriously.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I whisper yelled, one hand resting on the table wedging my body from falling as I leaned close to Tommy.

“Georgia, Please, don’t be upset...”

“Don’t be upset! You freaking sent me money I rejected. I said I didn’t want your money. I said I wasn’t going to be bought with your stupid money. Giving me fifty thousand dollars doesn’t make the fact that you hurt me go away. Nothing will make that fact go away. What don’t you understand. There is no restitution here. This is going to haunt you until I say otherwise. Now give me your damned bank account details so I can return your stupid money.”

Something told me to look behind me, so I did. And low and behold, a pair of eyes in a very gorgeous blue suit was staring at me, trying desperately not to laugh.

My hazel grey eyes grew with shock and embarrassment. I wanted to fall into a hole or at least faint so I didn’t have to continue feeling so ashamed of myself.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. How did I not see the man sitting opposite Tommy…

“Hi. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

I pointed at myself, “me? You-you, you know me?”

“You’ve met?” Tommy asked.

“Maybe this will jog your memory.”

He held his nose and raised his head up so it was falling backwards.

It took me a while to understand what he was doing, but when it finally clicked, I became mortified.

“You remember me now, don’t you?”

I could only nod my head. I was sure I was paralyzed on the spot.

If he was the guy who broke my nose, who did I yell at at the mall?

Oh for f***s sake!

Michael!!! I screamed in my head.

“Where did you meet her?”

Tommy was once again ignored.

“Where did you go? I went inside the church and when I came back out, you were gone. What happened? Your nose looks fine by the way.” He smiled.

I should be more focused on the mistake I had made, but by God, it was hard when this man looked so pretty.

I knew he would never leave me hanging. He sounded too nice to be capable of something so wrong. He looked too nice to hurt a fly.

“Did you say you met her at the church?”

“Yes.” The man with the blue suit finally answered Tommy. “So, your name is Georgia. Nice to meet you, Georgia. I’m Skylar.”

Even his name was pretty. I took the empty seat beside him, comporting myself before I started drooling over this man.

“How did you two meet? Wait…” Tommy looked at me. “Did you go by the church?”

I took Skylar’s hand, gripping lightly. He held it for longer than a handshake demanded. I didn’t mind. I was captivated by this man. His smile was making me delirious, so much so that I had totally forgotten the reason why I was here. I could freaking spend all day just shaking hands with him.

“Skylar, let go of her hand now.”

“She’s not complaining, Tom. Are you complaining sweetheart?”

I shook my head slowly, my eyes fixated on him.

The next thing I knew I felt a hand hit our hands, causing mine and Skylar’s hand to seperate.

It broke whatever spell had been cast on me, and I started feeling like the biggest i***t.

How many more times can I make a fool of myself in one day?

And in less than a few seconds later, I got the answer to that question.

“Excuse me, that’s my seat.” I heard a voice say.

Without thinking, I rushed up to allow him to have his seat, but wound up stepping on his leg.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I whispered as I saw him wince in pain.

“You’re still on it.”

I quickly moved my leg, apologizing another three times.

“That’s very ungentlemanly of you, Chris.” Skylar said to the guy as he took his seat. It was then that I really looked at his face.

Holy f**k!

Christopher Hailing. A.k.a, one of the most eligible bachelors in Vermont. A.k.a, the owner of the multi billion dollar Hailings conglomerate. A.k.a, the guy who I yelled at at the mall.

Why do I ever listen to Michael? He’s always messing things up for me. But this time, he f****d me up big time. Like, really big time.

I needed to leave before he recognized me.

“Tommy, we’ll pick this up another day.” I smiled and began to walk away before Tommy could give a response.

“Wait.”

My heart beat increased and sweat trickled down my forehead when I stopped on my steps. It was Christopher’s voice. I took a deep breath before turning to their table.

“Uh-huh.” My voice was low.

“Your bag.” Christopher held out my brown glittery handbag with one finger, his head looking straight ahead.

I forced a smile and nodded my thank you. Grabbing my bag, I ran out of that restaurant like someone was on my tail.

***

I had missed three calls and a message from Michael, and one call from Drew.

Michael’s message said they’d gone to Drew’s house to set up for the party.

So I took a cab and went straight to Drew’s mansion-like house. I rang the doorbell and his nanny opened up for me.

“Nanny Cairo.” I beamed, hugging the white small lady in a red apron.

“How are you, my little Georgia. I haven’t seen you in a long time. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Nanny.”

“You don’t visit. You don’t call.”

“I’m sorry, Nanny. I’ll try to visit more often.”

“Congratulations on your graduations, little Georgia. I’m so proud of you.” She said, leading me inside the house. I could already hear voices, Michael’s in particular. As always, he was barking orders.

“Thank you, Nanny.”

“They are right through here.” We were just outside the door to the backyard where the pool was. “Make sure you say goodbye before you leave.” She added.

“Of course Nanny.”

I stepped out to the backyard and my eyes immediately landed on Shannon. She was lying on a chair in her very sexy blue bikini. I could see why Drew married her. Why he loved her so much. She was gorgeous.

“Hey, Gia.” Shannon waved.

And she was nice too. I assumed a girl like her would be rude, you know, difficult to be around. Maybe a little dumb. But not Shannon. She was the opposite of everything I just mentioned.

She deserved to be married to a great guy like Drew.

“Hi, Shannon.” I said walking towards her.

“Where have you been?” Michael stopped in front of me, eyeing me.

“Can’t I have a life without you guys?”

“That’s a very stupid way to avoid my question.”

“Nothing, Michael. I was running an errand for my mum.”

I had to lie. After yesterday's incident, it would be stupid of me to tell them where I’d been all morning.

He waved his lashes up and down my body. “Okay.” He said with a wave to dismiss the topic.

“So what’s all this?” I questioned. “Isn’t it a little too early to be decorating?”

“It’s never too early to decorate.”

“You sure? The party doesn’t start until six.”

“Forget about that.” He pushed me to a chair, forcing me to sit down. “What would be your reaction if I told you I have a stylist coming… for you.”

“For me.”

“Yes. For your makeover. I know you’ve probably changed your mind and this may be upsetting to you, but—”

“I’m cool with it.”

“What?” He looked genuinely surprised.

“I want the makeover. I want to do it.”

“You serious?”

“I am. So how long till she gets here?”

He frowned. “What makes you think it’s a she?”

“Okay, how long till he gets here?”

“Actually, it’s a she. And in about five minutes or less.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“So, pool party? Really?”

“Best way to end college.”

“How?”

“I can’t keep explaining everything to you, G.” He rose to his feet. “Some things you learn yourself.”

Michael was six feet one. African American who had no African feature beside his thick curly black hair. His white skin glistened and it always looked tanned. And to crown it all, he worked out. At one point while we were growing up, I had a crush on him too.

Not that it was surprising though. I easily had crushes. I crushed on every fine looking boy my eyes were glad to see. They never lasted though. Not even the crush I had, have, on Drew. The crush I had, have, on Drew is more complicated because it is like a lightbulb. It goes off and it comes on without warning…

“Do you need any help with the preparations?”

“Stay out of my way. I’ll come get you when she comes.” He dramatically placed his sun shade over his eyes and walked away.

Since I wasn't needed to help with the preparations, I made myself comfortable under the umbrella. My eyes had just shut close when my phone rang. Without checking for the ID of the caller, I answered the call.

“Hello.”

The person took their time to reply. “Hi.”

I removed my phone from my ear and brought it to my face. There was no name. And I couldn’t recognize the number either.

“Sorry, but who’s this?”

“Skylar.”

I sat up immediately, my saliva almost passing through the wrong pipe down my throat.

“Uhm… Sky-Skylar. Hi.”

“You sound flustered—”

I heard rustling in the background, and a voice that sounded like Tommy’s. Then it all became quiet.

“Hey, Gia.”

My surprise morphed into anger when I heard Tommy’s voice.

“I have nothing to say to you Tommy. I’ve said all I wanted to this morning. Goodbye.”

“Wait. Wait. Don’t cut me off, please. Here. I’ll pass the phone back to Skylar.”

“Wait! No, don’t give it back to—”

“Skylar?” The smirk in Skylar’s voice could not have been more audible.

“Hey… Hi… S-Skylar…”

My words slurred as the thought of being caught washed over me.

“Ouch! I’m hurt. I thought you liked me.”

“I... I... I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

He laughed. “Relax, Gia. I was kidding.”

“Right. You were kidding. Of course you were kidding.” I mumbled.

“So, we are having a party this weekend. Actually, it’s more of a small gathering than a party. A friend of ours just bought a new house, and we thought to test it out for him, you know, help him check out the place. I was wondering if you could make it.”

“Uhm.. I don’t think—”

“Don’t answer yet. Just think about it, Georgia.”

The way he said my name. God! I was definitely crushing on him.

Being anywhere with Tommy within five feet of me was a bad idea. He was an ex, and I was still trying b to get over him. Plus he’s married. But he had not invited me, Skylar had. So technically, this had nothing to do with Tommy. And yes, I was bound to run into him at the party for sure, but I believed Skylar was the perfect distraction for me. With him around, I wouldn’t think about Tommy even if we stood, our backs touching each other.

But it still didn’t change the fact that this wasn’t right…

“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

I was supposed to say no. N. O, no. That’s not so hard...

“Good. I’ll send you the address. Or would you rather I picked you up?”

Inside a car alone with Skylar. That’s a recipe for making a fool of myself.

“No! I mean, no.” I said more calmly. “I’ll find my way there.”

“Okay. Bye, Gia.”

“Bye.”

“Someone’s a little too happy.” I turned to the voice and saw Shannon standing behind me. “Who were you talking to?”

“A new friend… I guess.”

Was Skylar really my friend? We only just met for the first time today. Which makes a total of one time.

“Well he seems to make you very giddy. Look at you, you’re blushing.”

I touched my cheeks with my palms. I hadn’t realized I was smiling so much. I looked at Shannon pleadingly, hoping she could understand what my eyes were saying.

“This is our little secret.”

I smiled gratefully at her.

“The stylist is here. C’mon, let’s go.”