Bad Timing

XXXIX

"Ok?" Ross's eyes go wide in shock at my response. Surely he wasn't expecting I would respond with that.
"Claire, I was asking you to dump Dean and be with me. You know that right?"
"I know," I smile warmly and rest my hand on his cheek.
Ross brings me close to him and he kisses me gently on the lips. The moment is fleeting as we both realize it's only one hour until my friends and family are going to show up to my room to help me get ready.
"Meet me at Penn Station," Ross says getting dressed, "I'll be waiting."
I nod and he comes over to kiss me swiftly.
As he is about to go to I stop him, "Ross!"
"Yeah?" He looks at me from the doorway.
"I love you," I tell him for the first time.
"I love you too," he says and leaves the room.
I give myself five minutes to just bask in the feeling of love with Ross before getting dressed and making my way to Dean's suite.
I throw on a pink cable knit sweater and jeans and make my way to tell Dean the news.
"Claire? What are you doing here?" Dean opens the door in boxers and a worn Stanford grey sweatshirt.
"Can we talk?" I ask and he lets me in.
I take a seat on the couch in a crisscross applesauce position.
"Is everything ok?" He looks at me with worry in his eyes.
"No. Dean, I can't marry you," I blurt out.
"What? I don't understand," he strokes the back of my head and bores his eyes into mine.
"Dean, I love Ross. He's never left my mind and I have come to terms with the fact that I can never love anyone the way I love him. I'm so sorry," I take my engagement ring off and set it on the coffee table in front of us as I begin to cry. Dean rolls up his sweatshirt sleeve to wipe the tears away.
"It's ok," he says.
"Ugh! That's such a fucking 'Dean Armstrong' thing to say! I want you to say that it's not fucking ok. Because it's not! I want you to be mad at me," I say this between my sobs. Dean's eyes stay soft, however.
"That's not me, Claire. You should know that," he laughs, "of fucking course I'm sad we aren't getting married. But what can I do? I mean yeah fuck you, Claire, for waiting until our wedding day to say this but isn't that a 'Clarisse Dyer' thing to do?"
We laugh together and I rest my head on his shoulder and take a deep breath.
"I just want you to happy," he says, "and if you aren't going to be as happy with me than with that Ross guy, well then you should be with him. Now, for me personally, I don't know if I trust him, but I don't know him like you do."
"Yeah, I'll be careful," I stand up and face him on the couch, "we should probably tell everyone the news."
"Yeah," he inhales sharply, "you think they'll hate us?"
"Only me," I shrug.
"I'll tell them. You go," he says.
"No. No way, that would be the douche move of the century," I laugh.
"Well, in that case," he looks at his watch, "you should go back upstairs because people are gonna be here in 10."
"Right. Ok," I make my way to the door, "and Dean?"
He looks over at me and I run back to him and kiss him on the lips one last time, "I love you."
"I love you too, Claire."
I change into an emerald green slip style dress and a leather jacket before washing my face and brushing my teeth.
That's when the doorbell rings.
"Hello future Mrs. Armstr- what are you wearing?" Harper looks at me with a puzzled expression.
I wait for everyone to get into the room.
Harper, Jordan, Tavia, Dean's cousins Lily and Ella. And of course the make up and hair team.
"Hi guys. So I'm not getting married. Dean and I actually broke up 15 minutes ago because I'm in love with someone else," I say candidly and every jaw in the room drops to the floor.
"What the hell?" Tavia says, "is it Ross fucking Adler? That man has loved you since he first saw you."
"It is," I blush and Harper squeals and hugs me.
"I'm so happy for you!" She exclaims.
"Don't worry hair and makeup, you will still be paid. Lily and Ella, your cousin, Dean, is absolutely amazing, but he's just not for me. But anyways, I have to go, I have a train to catch," I blow kisses before exiting the room and making my way to my my dad's room. The hardest of all.
"Dad?" I say.
"Clarisse. What are you doing?"
"Dad I'm not getting married to Dean today. We actually aren't getting married...ever," I say.
He furrows his eyebrows at me, "why not?"
"I love someone else. Ross Adler. You've met him before. It's a long, complicated story that I will explain thoroughly once I get back from my trip with Ross where we are gonna figure everything out, ok?"
He raises his eyebrow at me and shakes his head in disbelief, "yeah ok. This is such a Claire thing for you to do. Does poor old Dean know?"
"Yeah of course."
"And you're sure this is what you want?"
"I'm sure."
"Be careful ok?"
"Ok. I love you dad," I hug him and walk down the hallway to the elevator with the biggest smile on my face.
I walk to Penn Station and think about all of the "almosts" Ross and I have had. But I wouldn't change the way my life has gone one bit. Ross and I weren't ready to be together then. I needed to go through shit and so did he. All that shit led us to here, today, August 6th 2022.
The train station is packed on this Saturday morning but Ross Adler still sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I swear I could find this man in the crowd of people looking at the Mona Lisa.
Ross Adler in all of his cargo pant glory. He spots me too and I run up to him and he picks me up and whirls me around as we kiss each other.
"This is it. This is us," I smile like a four year old.
" And I love it," he smiles back.
"And where are we going, Mr. Adler?" I wrap my arms around his neck.
"Where ever the fuck we want to go, Miss Dyer," he kisses me hard.
"Ibiza sounds nice," I stick my tongue out and smile.
"Then we're in the wrong goddamn place," he takes my hand and we run out of Penn Station and hail the first taxi we see.