Chapter 3
Clarabella
One minute, I'm looking at Edward as he tells me about his day, and the next, I hear his voice. "Hi." At first, I think it's all in my head. I mean, it has to be because I know he's left town. I had no idea where he went, and I wasn’t ever going to ask.
I close my eyes for a second, thinking I must have misheard before lifting my head. The clinking plates and laughing people sound far, far away. My eyes spot his hand as my head slowly lifts, or maybe it lifts fast. The only thing I know is I'm staring into his blue eyes. The smile on my face fades when he says my name. “Clarabella."
My heart speeds up in my chest, and I look over at Edward to see if he can hear it. I swallow hard, but my mouth is so dry nothing goes down. Edward smiles at me, so I put on my game face and look back up at Luke. "Luke." I say his name as if it's nothing. As if I'm not surprised he's here, and I'm not slowly freaking out on the inside. Okay, it's not slow. It's a full-blown freak-out. "I didn't know you were back." I want to kick myself the minute the words come out of my mouth. The last thing I want him to think is that I care he was gone or that I know he even left.
"Got back today," he replies. "So you're getting married." His face doesn’t show anything as he looks at me and then at Edward. "We go way back." He smirks, and my mouth goes dry.
"Oh," Edward responds, looking at Luke and then at me.
"Not that way back." My voice comes out cracking, and I clear my throat. "We went to college together a long time ago." I smile at Edward. "He dated my best friend at the time. Then he came through when Travis was going to get married." I look back up at Luke. "Is Mikaela not here today?" I ignore my erratic breathing as I try to control it and press down the nerves.
"She is, but I'll be the one working with you tonight,” he states. My head yells fuck no, and I have to bite down on my tongue to make sure that the words don't actually come out.
"Great," Edward says. "Someone who knows my girl."
"I guess that would be me." He just looks at me, and I look away, taking the glass of water and drinking it. Hoping that it goes down past the lump in my throat. "I'll be back with some food, yeah."
He walks away, and I make the mistake of watching his ass move. "Are you all right?" Edward asks, and I whip my head back to him. "You look a little flushed."
Putting my hand to my face, I can feel the heat from it. Was I this flushed the whole time? "It's a little hot in here." I look around and see that the entire restaurant is full. "I'm going to go to the restroom,” I say, and he leans and kisses my lips. I smile at him, not saying anything. Grabbing my purse, I wait for him to get up, then scoot over to get out of the booth. Swinging one foot out, I stand, hoping my knees don't give out. "I'll be right back," I assure him, standing up in front of Edward and looking up at him.
I turn to walk away from him, making my way to the bathroom. I push open the brown door and head straight to the sink, looking at myself in the mirror. My cheeks look like I've been sitting in the sun too long or drinking too much scotch. "What the heck is he doing here?" I ask myself, hoping that someone gives me an answer. The last thing I expected for tonight was running into Luke. I put my hand on my stomach when I think about the last time I saw him. I shouldn't feel this way. My body should not feel like this. "Traitor," I mumble, looking down at my heaving chest.
I'm engaged. I look at myself, reminding my brain of this. I have a fiancé who I love. But do you? When he proposed to me, all I could do was look around at all the faces staring at me. How could I have said no? My thirtieth birthday became our engagement party, which then led to the night I slept on my bathroom floor for the first time ever. When I woke up in the morning, Edward was there with a glass of water and two ibuprofen and a calendar.
If it was up to him, we would have been married within two weeks, but thankfully, my sister told him the earliest they could plan a decent wedding was four months. I knew they were giving me time, especially since we planned a kick-ass event in seventy-two hours. So for the past four months, I've been planning my wedding, even though it doesn't feel right. Even though I think we should take more time. From everything that I've read online and in the magazines, this is a normal reaction. It doesn't mean I don't love him. It means I'm not sure about giving up who I am. Even listening to my own words, I want to yell that it's a crock of shit. But instead, I grab my phone and text my sisters.
Me: We have a situation.
"It's going to be fine." I look at my reflection in the mirror and set down the phone. Turning on the cold water, I put my hand under the stream to make my hand cold before placing it back on my face to cool it down. I wet both cheeks twice when my phone beeps, and I pick it up, seeing that Presley answered.
Presley: I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach about this situation does not care. Do you know why? Because the last time you had this type of text message, it was because you couldn't get powder-blue napkins, which, I may add, is not a situation. Finding the groom fucking his best man? Now that’s a situation. Finding the bride blowing one of the groomsmen? That's a situation.
I grind my teeth, my fingers flying over the phone.
Me: I'm not kidding. This is a huge situation.
I press send at the same time Shelby chimes in.
Shelby: Can the situation be tabled until tomorrow? Ace just got in, and he was gone all week.
Presley: Yeah, leave her alone. She's about to do the nasty.
Shelby: Do you think I would be doing the nasty and answering you at the same time?
Presley: Please, you think your little voice doesn't carry in your office. I heard in detail what you planned to do to his dick.
Shelby: Would you mind your business?
Presley: Trust me, there is nothing in this world I would love to never hear again than I'm going to take you so far in my throat your balls will slap my chin.
Shelby: THAT WAS A PRIVATE CONVERSATION!
I close my eyes and grip my phone in my hand, and to be honest, I wish I could smash it right now. I open them back up, not even bothering to answer my sisters. I take one more look at myself in the mirror before grabbing my purse and walking out. I smile at the girl entering while I exit, and when I get to the table, Edward is on his phone.
"Hey," I say, and he puts his phone down right away. Instead of sitting next to him, I sit in front of him.
"You feeling better?" he asks with concern all over his face, and I nod my head.
"Yes." I put my purse beside me, ignoring the beeping from it. "It must have just been too many people," I state as I spot Luke walking back to us.
"Sorry it took me so long," Luke says, putting down two plates on the table. "As per your request sheet, I made crab cakes with a mango salsa." I look down at one plate, my mouth watering. "And then I took the liberty of going out on my own a bit." He looks at me and then at Edward. "It isn't the South without mac ’n’ cheese. This one is done with lobster." He looks at us. "I'll go get the other two." He turns, looking at the server beside him.
"I got you white wine," Edward says to me as the server puts down a crystal glass of chilled white wine. She places a beer bottle down for Edward, then nods at us before she walks away.
"I thought you were more of a scotch girl," Luke says as soon as my hand grabs the glass of wine. My eyes fly to his, and I can see his eyes light up. "I mean, it was a while ago."
"I prefer white wine," I say, smiling at Edward and ignoring the pull that Luke has on me. Bringing the glass of wine to my lips, I take a sip of it. "What do you want to try first?" I ask Edward, who just grabs one of the crab cakes and tosses it into his mouth. Luke keeps bringing out plate after plate, and I want to taste one thing that isn't good, but it's all melt in your mouth. Regardless of him being a grade A asshole, the man can cook.
"So what do you guys think you'll be going with?" Luke asks us, and I look at Edward, who just shakes his head.
"That's all her domain." Edward smiles at me as he puts up his hands, and I just shake my head.
"From what I saw, there are lots of different options on your list," Luke says. "And we are going to be able to do everything you need." I can't help but look at him, no matter how many times I tell myself I should look away. "When is the wedding again?" His eyes are looking into mine.
"Two weeks," Edward declares with a huge smile on his face, and I turn to look at him.
"How long have you guys been dating?" Luke asks, and I look at him, wanting to snap at him and tell him for as long as he's been gone.
But Edward answers him instead. "Six months," he says. "The best six months of my life."
"You're a lucky, lucky man,” Luke says. I grab the glass of wine and take an even bigger sip this time.
"Hi," Mikaela greets, coming to the table. "I hope you are enjoying the food." She smiles at us.
"It's delicious," I confirm, smiling at her. "Thank you for doing this."
"We do it for all the other brides," she says. "It's only fair you get your turn."
"Well, it's always fun knowing when we will be working together," I reply.
"From now on, you'll be meeting with Luke more than me," she states, and I swallow. "Since he's back, he's going to be handling it and leaving me in the kitchen where I'm happiest."
Oh, hell no, the right side of my brain screams. Out of the fucking question, the left side of my brain answers. "We should get going." I look at Edward, who starts to get out of his side of the booth. He walks over to my side and holds out his hand for me. I slip my hand in his. "I'll call tomorrow with our decisions," I say to Luke and Mikaela. My eyes never go to his, and I can feel him staring at me. I can feel his eyes on me exactly like how a magnet would stick to a fridge.
"I look forward to hearing from you,” Luke says. As I walk out of the restaurant, my heart thumps in my chest the whole time. The sound becomes louder and louder in my ears, and when Edward opens the car door for me, I get in and grab my phone right away.
Me: Tomorrow morning meeting.