She walks out of the dining room, and I rush around to get the table cleared, shower in the hallway bathroom, and Bella and I come down the steps together. We’re both quiet as I drive us to the Whiskey Whistler. I try to fill the silence with small talk, but all I get from her are one- and two-word answers. When we finally get to the bar, Carlotta and Dwayne are already there. We no sooner get to the table than Carlotta whisks her away, leaving Dwayne and me staring after them.
“So how’s married life?” he asks me.
I try to see if he knows our situation, and he doesn’t leave me hanging. “I know, but don’t worry. Carlotta swore me to secrecy, and I promise you, there’s no way I’m getting on her bad side.”
I laugh at that. “It’s good. I’ve already fucked up, though.”
He waves at the waitress, and she stops at our table. “What are you having?”
I shake my head. “Nothing for me. I’m driving. I’ll get my wife a beer, though. Whatever you have on draft.”
The waitress takes Dwayne’s order, and when she walks away, I find my wife on the dance floor. Dwayne clears his throat. “So you already fucked up, huh? You do realize you’ve just been married twenty-four hours, right?”
I laugh, and the waitress comes back. She sets the beers on the table, and I turn to Dwayne. “Yep, trust me, I know. Obviously, I’m not going to be any good at this and poor Bella. She definitely got the raw end of the deal.”
Dwayne takes a drink. “Okay, I’ll bite. What did you do?”
I steady a look at him to read his reaction. Maybe then I’ll know exactly how bad I fucked up. He’s been married awhile, so I’m sure he can give me some advice. “Okay, uh, I went to work for a few hours today. My assistant said some things came up. I ended up staying all day and was late for dinner.”
His forehead creases. “But it’s Sunday.”
“Fuck man, I know. Kelly said there was something up with one of the accounts.”
“Oh fuck,” Dwayne says. “Kelly’s your assistant, right? Fuck, I’ve heard all about her.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “What do you mean, you’ve heard all about her?”
“Uhhhh,” he stutters and holds his hands up. “Forget it. Forget I even said anything.”
I would laugh at the scared look on his face if I wasn’t seriously trying to figure out what’s going on here. “No, really, what is it?”
He shakes his head, and I lean toward him. “Look, Dwayne. There has to be some kind of bro code or something here, right? If you can help me out, that would be great, especially seeing as how I’m so new to this and obviously have no fuckin’ clue what I’m doing.”
He laughs at that and looks at his wife on the dance floor. Bella and Carlotta are barely moving and seem to be in a big discussion about something.
Dwayne blows out a breath. “Fine, but don’t use this against Bella because if you do, I’m pretty sure my wife will put me in the doghouse–literally the doghouse–for a week. She loves her friend, and I don’t want to betray my wife or Bella.”
Now I’m more curious than ever. “Fine. I promise. Now what about Kelly?”
He shrugs. “I’ve just heard the girls complaining about her, that’s all. She’s not nice to Issi at all. I guess Kelly has some kind of hold on you... she’s been after you for a while. I’m sure that’s probably why Bella took today so hard. I mean besides the fact you went to work on a Sunday the day after you got married. I mean, that’s pretty fucked up.”
I groan and shake my head. Damn, to hear him put it that way, it sounds really bad. But I still need to clear this all up. “There’s nothing between Kelly and me. She’s my employee. She’s been my assistant for years, and there’s never been anything between us.”
He shrugs, and I look out at the dance floor. The DJ is playing a fast song, and there’s a man that has come up to talk to Carlotta and Bella. It’s obvious by the way he’s talking to my wife that he’s making a move on her, and I don’t like it one bit. I stand and watch, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. He hasn’t touched her, but the way he’s leaning over to talk into her ear has me seeing red. I can feel Dwayne’s eyes boring into me, and it’s not like me to cause a scene, but I can feel the rage building inside me. The DJ announces that he’s switching it up, and a slow song comes on. I’m off the stool and across the bar in an instant. When I reach Bella, I don’t give her a choice. I pull her into my arms and away from the man that I’m pretty sure was going to ask her to dance with him.