Bumped - Completed Novel

Bumped - Chapter Six

Freddie air kissed me from across the room before pouting, "You're late. I hope you're not this late on the day of the wedding."

"And ruin your day? Never," I blew a kiss back at her and made what I thought was the Girl Scout's sign for honor.

Freddie let out a gusty laugh that spilled over into the spirits of other guests.

"Like they would let you in," she sputtered.

"You were probably the only Girl Scout selling rum cookies," Tina chimed in.

"You mean she was the only Brownie spiking the Brownies at the bake sale," said Maia. I never did like her. With blond locks, she always had a way of lobbing off barbed jokes with a smile that never reached her eyes.

"Yeah, she was her own best customer," added Freddie.

"Obviously you all must have consumed a little too much hater-ade. You need to stop because it ain't cute. Let's focus on the business at hand, Freddie and Nigel. I'd like to propose a toast."

I grabbed a bottle of wine and filled my glass before pushing back my chair and standing up. Everyone raised their glasses in anticipation. "A toast. To Freddie and Nigel. Your love serves as an inspiration to us all. May all your days and nights be filled with happiness, love and one another."

A chorus of "here, here's" swept around the room as glasses clinked against one another.

"And a toast to you, happy belated birthday," Freddie said, raising her glass to me.

Even though I dumped my purse and jacket on the chair next to me, it did nothing to hide Diego's absence. My glass of wine sat untouched as I traded gossip with Tina. Actually, Tina was going on about her divorce, so fortunately, I didn't have to do much talking.

A feeling overcame me and I knew it wasn't a test run. I hurriedly excused myself and made a dash for the bathroom. I rushed in and headed for the nearest stall. After getting up close and personal with the toilet bowl I had to sit on the floor for a few minutes and hold my head between my knees to stop the waves of nausea from rolling in. The variety of stale and putrid scents assaulted my nose. My stomach was still doing a series of flips but finally I was able to stagger out to the sink and splash cold water on my face. When I opened my eyes I was shocked to see a man standing behind me. Were the police following me? Was I being set up?

"What are you doing in here?" I asked. My eyes locked on his in the reflection of the mirror. Why did I stop carrying mace? It didn't look right on my Tiffany key ring. Damn. What was I supposed to do? Stop. Drop. And roll. Wait. That was from those safety lessons in 5th grade in case of a fire.

"What are you doing in here?" He walked over to the sink next to mine and washed his hands.

My eyes traveled around the bathroom in search of an escape. Two lime green urinals stuck out like penises during a bikini wax. The door swung open and another man walked in.

"Oops. Didn't know there was a private party going on," he said as he ducked back out.

I grabbed my purse from off the sink and left. I stopped at the bar and got a cranberry and club soda. Back at the table, Tina asked, "Where were you? You were gone so long I went to check on you and I didn't see you."

"You know me, I needed a refill and uh, I went outside to make a phone call. I wasn't getting good reception in here." I held up my glass to her and took a sip.

The party was interminable. A word I had never, ever uttered in terms of describing a party. By now I would have hijacked the party and everyone would have been singing "happy birthday" to me. But in the new world order of things, I didn't want to bring attention to myself. I just wanted to go home. Every time I wanted to leave, someone would give a toast or Freddie would launch into one of her long stories about how she met this person or that and how we were all so special that's why she wanted to share her special day with us - the bridal party. Blah. Blah. Blah. For those of us who had known Freddie for a minute, we all just prayed the third time's a charm. I was tired of budgeting for her bridal shower and wedding every two years. You would think she would have stopped with the gift registry after wedding number one.

Finally when my migraine kicked in to the tune of "Kung Fu Dancing," I left. Of course, that move garnered a chorus of "Are you alright?" "Elle's the first to leave- there must be something wrong." I mumbled something about work and left. Tongues would start wagging once I stepped out of hearing range.

By the time I got home I was stripping before I took my keys out of the door. My trail of clothes led to the bathroom. I kept the lights off. Turned the shower on high and let the warm stream of water sooth my fractured nerves. I sat on the floor of the bathtub with my back to the faucet and let the water wash over me. The roar of water rushing past my ears was comforting. I stayed that way until the water turned cold. I barely remember crawling into bed. The chime of my cell phone jerked me out of an already fitful sleep. I shivered as a playful night breeze zipped across my naked body. I had crashed on top of the sheets.

It was a text message. We need to talk. Astro's at 8 am? Even though I didn't recognize the phone number, I knew it was Diego.