Chapter 8
Harlow
"Tomcat," Bennett says, and everyone laughs at him. "It’s an animal."
"No, it’s not," Presley says from her spot beside him. We moved from the bar to a table when the music started. People slowly started to leave, and now it was just our table left. We’ve been playing this game for the last hour, and the drinks have been flowing. The tension of me being here is gone, or at least it doesn’t bother me now because I have booze flowing through my system.
Sitting at the table between Rachel and Victoria, it’s definitely different from when we did this before. Especially since I used to either sit beside Travis or on top of him. Now he is facing me, and I am having a hard time not looking over at him. I would, of course, have to look over at him when it was his time during the game, but when it wasn’t, I would sneak looks over at him and hope he would miss me. A couple of times, I caught him looking and just smiled at him. My whole body was on high alert as if it was waiting for his touch. When he came to the bar and I handed him a drink, it was to make myself not reach out for him. It was what I always did. I had to tell myself that it was the past and he was with someone now. It was hard for me to swallow, but I did it for him. I did it because I promised him that I would be here and I was a woman of my word. I mean, I also promised to kick him in the balls the next time I would see him, so there is a promise that I don’t know if I will keep.
His voice when he said it was canceled, I thought I wasn’t hearing him correctly. I thought it was a mistake, and then he announced it, and I had all the questions in the world. What the hell was happening? Where was the bride? Who changed their mind? All the questions yet knew that he owed me nothing.
"I’m going to the bathroom," I say, standing up, the room spins, and then I sit down and laugh. I look around the table to see if anyone is watching and find his eyes on me. His eyes are a touch lighter than they were when he walked in. His side smirk makes my stomach flip and flop, and then the feeling goes a touch lower to a specific area he definitely made happy daily. It’s the smirk that I used to reach up and touch with my index finger right before I leaned in and kissed his lips.
"What is that smirk about?" I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed his hands on my hips. His hands always were on my hips, where he squeezed me and pulled me toward him.
He would lift one of his hands and push my hair to the back of my shoulder so he could lean in and whisper in my ear. "Because I know what I’m going to be doing to you after we leave here." I would throw my head back and laugh, and he would take the opportunity to lean in and kiss my neck while he wrapped his arms around my waist, and I would be stuck to him.
"You are fortunate that I like you," I would say to him, and that would make him laugh, giving me the opportunity to kiss his neck and slip my hands into the back of his hair. "I like you a lot." His eyes would come back to mine. "I love you, Harlow," he would say, and no matter where we were or how loud it was, I could always hear those words clear as day. It would fill my whole body; it would make me feel complete. It would make my heart full in my chest. It was a feeling I thought would never go away.
I blink away the memory. "Okay, take two," I say, getting up, putting my hands on the table to steady myself, and when I don’t wobble, I want to give myself a high five. Instead, I giggle to myself.
"I’ll come with you," Shelby says, getting up. "I need to pee also."
We walk side by side through the tables and into the bathroom, and I stand here in shock. "Oh my God." I look around the square room that has all exposed red bricks. Wooden beams are exposed on the ceiling, with a crystal chandelier hanging down.
Five white sinks are along one of the walls, but what gets me is the big white bench right in front of a mirror that fills most of the wall, but it’s the thick gold antique frame. "This is gorgeous." I walk to the edge and touch the intricate lines with my fingers, tracing the tiny flowers.
"It’s the perfect place for a selfie," Shelby suggests, taking her phone out of her pocket. "Sit down," she says, motioning to the seat in front of it, and I do. "Face the mirror," she instructs me, and I follow her lead. "Put your legs to the side." I laugh when she says this. "Smile."
I smile into the mirror, and then she shows me the picture. "Damn, if you ever give up being a vet." She laughs when she walks into one of the stalls while I hold her phone in my hand. "You could be a model."
I can’t help but laugh at that. "Thanks"—I shake my head—"but no, thanks. I’m happy doing what I’m doing."
I look up at the stall when I hear the toilet flush, and then she walks out going to the sink. "You know," she says. "I’m not going to lie. I was shocked when I got your response." I get up from the bench and go to her as she turns the water off and then takes one of the white hand towels and dries her hands.
"I made him a promise I would be there on the happiest day of his life," I share with her, looking down and then blinking away the tears from that memory. "And I am a woman of my word." I look back at her, smiling. "For the most part."
"There is a reason that you came today." She grabs the phone from me. "I have no idea what it is, but it’s the universe telling you something."
I shake my head. "It’s probably the universe telling me I should have let sleeping dogs lie," I say, walking into the stall and going to the bathroom.
When I walk out, she is sitting on the bench, and she watches me while I wash my hands. "I don’t think that Jennifer was the one for him," she confides, and I stop my hands from rinsing under the water. "I know it’s a shitty thing to say, and I am not going to talk bad about her, but I just didn’t think that they loved each other." I turn off the water, trying to get my heart to calm down at this news. "I mean, I think he loved her but I don’t think he was in love with her."
I grab a towel and dry my hands. "Your brother wouldn’t marry anyone that he didn’t love. I might not know the man he is today." The burning now comes to fill my stomach. "But the man he was wouldn’t ask someone to marry him if he didn’t love her."
"I think, that before you leave"—she puts the phone back into her pocket—"I would have a talk with my brother. At least to clear some things up."
I shake my head. "Nothing to clear up. We were two young kids who dated ages ago." I don’t believe the words coming out of my mouth and I have a strong feeling that neither does Shelby. "We’ve moved on. The end." I put the towel into the basket at the side.
She shakes her head. "You really should at least clear the air."
"There is no air to clear." I put my hand to my stomach. "I came here to wish a friend well, and tomorrow I’ll be going back to my life, and he will continue with his."
"Okay," she says, not sounding convinced at all. "Shall we get back to the party?"
I pull open the door, and I hear the song "Hey Girl" come on, and I laugh when I hear the song start. I clap my hands when I get close to the table, and the girls look up at me. I take a glance at Travis, smile, and he brings his cup to his lips.
"Oh, now we start," Rachel says, taking the shot in front of her. "I lose this round." She takes another shot. "Time to line dance." She points at me, going to the dance floor. "Let’s see if I remember this."
She starts to move her feet, and she stumbles a bit. Everyone from the table is now on the dance floor. "Harlow," Shelby says. "Go in front, and we will follow you."
I laugh as I walk to the front and then start to move my feet, but with the heels, it’s hurting my feet, so I bend and untie the straps around my ankles and then start over. I look over at the DJ. "Can we start over?" He nods his head and starts the song again. "Okay, so you are going to walk right foot, left foot, shake shake." I shimmy my hips. "Shimmy shimmy." I move my hips from side to side. "And then triple step back. Repeating the steps again."
"I’m sorry," Frankie says. "You lost me at shimmy."
"Yeah, can you shimmy shimmy again?” Jake jokes, clapping his hands.
"Or we can change the song," Travis suggests. "Put on another song."
"Yes," Rachel says. "Put the ‘Cha-Cha Slide.’"
The DJ puts the song on, and everyone is moving at their own speed. No one is following anyone, and then the song goes into Usher, and now we are all dancing to our own beat. I walk back to the table to grab a drink, and so does Bennett. "It’s good to see you," he says, smiling at me.
"Is that the booze talking?" I ask him, grabbing a glass of water and downing it.
"Could be a bit of both," he confesses and takes a shot of tequila. The song changes to a slow one, and he holds out his hand to me. "May I have this dance?"
I bat my eyes at him. "Why, I would be honored." He drags me to the dance floor and puts his hand around my waist and holds my hand up.
We move side to side and then bump into Presley and Travis. "Yeah, this is wrong," Bennett says, letting me go and then grabbing Presley’s hand. "Now this." He wraps his arms around her. "This is so much better." He moves away from us, leaving Travis and me just standing here.
I shake my head. "That would be weird," I say to him, and he nods his head.
"Let’s get a drink," he offers and holds out his hand for me to lead the way, and I can feel his hand at the bottom of my back as he follows me to the bar.
"Two glasses of scotch." He holds up two fingers and sits on the stool beside me. I lean on the bar instead of sitting.
The bartender comes back in record time, putting the two glasses down on two white napkins. "You know what I didn’t expect today?" he asks, bringing his glass to his mouth.
"Not to get married?" I say, picking up my own glass and bringing it to my lips while he chuckles. The liquid is cool against my tongue yet burns all the way down. My eyes never leave his, and I see the little lines at the side of his eyes that weren’t there before. He’s older now, and I wonder if his lips taste like scotch. I wonder if I kissed him, would it be just like it was back then? I move my eyes away from him, scared that he will be able to read my thoughts.
"That." He points at me, putting his glass down. "And." He looks at his glass and then at me. "Seeing you."