“Yes, you could have. I knew you would regret this, and Charlie would never in this lifetime forgive you for it despite you two not being together.”
“But who’s to say she didn’t fuck Julian in the past week or even last night?” The words leaving my mouth are enough to allow the rage inside me to boil over once again.
“Because she wouldn’t. Both of you need to learn the meaning of trust because without it, how can you give yourself completely to another person?”
“There’s nothing left to give. I’m heading back to London tonight and staying put. Any New York work can be handled by you or even Peters. Yeah, send him over to handle the press of the new office.”
“Is this how you’re going to leave it?”
“There’s no other option, she made that clear.”
“There always is, you just don’t want to open your eyes,” she tells me, rather rudely.
Maybe that’s the case, but I’m sick of being in this love triangle. All I ever wanted is her. Alone. No one else. When it comes to us, there’s always someone else involved.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Thank you for stopping me last night, but this topic is off-limits, you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” She stands and walks away, defeated.
I was harsh and know she has good intentions. But I need solitude.
Fuck, I’ll do anything to erase all this mess right now.
***
“Hold still, Lex!”
I stand on this podium-looking thing in the middle of Adriana’s guest bedroom. She places pins along the hemline, circling both legs. This is the last thing I want to do after battling a hangover all day.
“Okay, done. Not bad, big bro.”
“I feel like a penguin. Why do the suits have these tail things?”
“Because it’s a classic tuxedo, you doofus.”
As I glance around the room, the three matching dresses catch my attention. The wedding is just over a month away, and there’s no way of avoiding it no matter how much I kick and scream. I thought of several excuses to back out of attending, but I owe this to Adriana plus, I’d never hear the end of it from my mother.
Yet the cold, harsh reality is that I’ll have to see her, and I will have to walk down the aisle with her. Staying true to wedding traditions, I’ll probably have to dance with her. A whole lot of touching with someone I can’t have.
“I know what you’re thinking. You’ll have to see her in a little over a month, have to walk down the aisle with her, dance with her.”
Lifting my head, I gaze at my sister with an incredulous stare. “Seriously, Adriana, what the hell?”
“I know, right?” She nods her head, resting her hands on her lap. “It appears as I’m getting older, I am becoming more psychic. Either that or you’re easy to read.”
Adriana packs up her pins and places them in her sewing kit. Sitting on the floor cross-legged, she looks me in the face. I know the look, so I decide to avoid it by walking behind the screen and changing back into my jeans.
“Look, Lex, if I have to rearrange partners and stuff, I can.”
“No, Adriana, this is your wedding. Don’t change anything,” I almost demand, the masochistic side of me wanting to smell Charlotte’s scent as she walks beside me. “We are adults and can behave for a few hours.”
“Like six hours, Lex.”
“What! Your wedding goes for six hours?”
“Well, eight if you include the ceremony.”
This is why I don’t do weddings. I hate all this shit, and it’s just for show, anyway. You don’t need to spend ridiculous amounts of money and invite hundreds of people to show how much you love each other. Fuck, eight hours of pretending to smile. I recall my own wedding to Samantha years ago, it was the same old bullshit and for what? America has the highest divorce-rate statistics. I’ve got one under my belt and am about to go for round two.