Lux gets off in the bathroom to the memory of Austin's hand on her thighs. She has been fussing in this bathroom for half an hour so she smiles when she opens the door. Her slowness is sure to have left Austin pissed off so she fully expects a few bitchy words from him when she steps out onto the patio. She is severely disappointed when she finds him playing a game of catchers with some kids on the lawn. He is smiling and laughing, he looks happy and it pisses Lux off.
"Sweet guy. They just make them like that anymore," Louis says from his patio. "You are a bitches ass, Louis. You are meant to hate him," Lux says. "I tried but with those baby blues - it's impossible," Louis says, laughing.
"What color eyes does your ex have?"
"Brown. The color of shit."
"Boo for you. Come with us to the pool, we can have dinner later and then you can come with us to karaoke."
"I would like to enjoy my pity party - not find reasons to kill myself. Go away now."
Lux rolls her eyes. Louis is looking a little worse for wear right now. He talks a big game but she can see his shit has taken a toll on him - of course it would. His wife and brother? That's fucked up.
Lux walks down her steps and then past Austin without stopping. She hears Austin saying goodbye to the kids as they groan then runs to catch up with her. "You look nice," he says from behind her. "Go fuck yourself, Austin," Lux says as the pool comes into view. The area is full of their family and other resort guests so she finds a sun chair between random resort guests. She is here and that is all Demi asked of her - she will be ignoring everyone for the remainder of the afternoon and through dinner too if she can, karaoke too. She slathers sun cream on, then sits back and closes her eyes.
She groans internally when someone stands in front of her, blocking out the sun. If it's not a waiter offering her a drink they will die today. "L-Lux..." she hears Hailey's nervous voice come at her. "What?" Lux asks, her eyes still closed in the hopes Hailey will catch a hint and fuck off. "We have a favor to ask of you," Petra's voice comes at her. Fuck. Lux opens her eyes and sees all three bridesmaids standing in front of her. Jessica who has never spoken a word to her is half-hidden behind Petra with shaky legs. Is she that unapproachable? When Petra does not say anything further Lux raises her brows at them.
"We, uh, we want to do a dance for Demi and Shawn at the wedding reception. We have worked out the choreography and everything."
"Wonderful."
"We thought maybe you-"
"No."
"Go to the meeting point, girls. She will do it. We will meet you there," Austin's voice comes flying at her, she sits up and glares at him.
"Those are Demi's best friends, Lux."
"So?"
"So they are special to her and that means you need to put a little effort in with them. They want to do this for Demi and Shawn. It's stupid, cringe-worthy even. Pete and Harry have to throw back three drinks each just to get through the rehearsals - but Demi and Shawn mean that much to them. Hell, I am even talking to you for them."
Lux frowns, Austin confuses her so fucking much. She had loved him with all her heart and still he never so much as bought her a flower except that one time but it landed up in a fight because she knew he was hiding something and he was only trying to soften her. But, here he is prepared to make a fool of himself for three girls that are not even his friends. So basically, he is prepared to put effort into everything and everyone except her. It's a fucking degrading thought - she was never good enough, go figure.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you acting like you care so much? You have always been a self-centered arrogant asshole."
Austin sighs and picks up her bag. "Yeah, I was...ten years ago. People change, Lux," he says then turns and walks toward the beach. People change? Yeah, they do - she has become a bitter woman. Six months with Austin and he had changed her. She gets off her sun chair and follows him - she is going to make Demi pay for all this shit one day. Austin takes her to a secluded area where the three bridesmaids, Pete, Harry, Dre, and a woman she thinks is Austin's cousin are waiting. The bridesmaids giggle happily when they see Lux. Lux is just happy Louis is not around, he would love this and rip into her for hours.
"Ok, Lux. Julia has been keeping your spot so you stay there and we will run through the dance so you can see what you have to do. We had started with a rather intricate dance but have had to make a lot of changes to accommodate the boys, except Dre, they have no rhythm," Petra says. "Hey!" the three men shout, offended.
"Ok! Positions everyone!" Hailey shouts. The girls get into position excitedly while the guys look like they are about to cry as they walk unenthusiastically to their places. "Hit it, Jessica! And one, two, three!" Dre shouts, Lux's eyes widen at his enthusiasm.
Three things - Hailey, Petra, and Jessica were defiantly cheerleaders in high school then joined a sorority in college - the boys did neither of those things and thirdly, Dre is taking this very seriously. Lux's eyes widen and her mouth pops open as the tune to 'pocket full of sunshine' starts playing. The girls start singing and the boys come in with the echo. It's terrible. They also start dancing - the girl's movements are clean and sharp as they move around while the men stumble around like baby calves, not a fucking rhythm in sight, except for Dre who turns out to be smoother and sharper than them all with his serious face. Lux would laugh, she would collapse and fall to the floor - crying with laughter, but it's just so bad that she can't get past her shock as she stands frozen in place.
"Ta-da!" Petra shouts at the end. "So...what do you think?" Hailey asks. "It does not matter what she thinks, she is doing it," Austin says walking up to her and handing her a bottle of vodka. "Fuck my life," Lux says lifting the bottle and sucking on it till Austin takes it away from her. "Let's just do this shit," Lux says wiping her mouth and standing in Julia's place. The three bridesmaids erupt in joyous giggles and then start the music again. Lux spends two hours in hell and Austin won't let her have any more vodka. By the time they are done, Lux is sweating.
"We need to tighten up our bend and snap!" Dre complains then ducks when Harry throws a water bottle at him. "Don't worry, we will practice every day for two hours until the wedding. It will be perfect. Lux, you have a natural rhythm and are quick to catch on. Petra and I will work individually with Harry and Pete to help them get a little better, loosen those hips," Hailey says. Austin snorts then hisses when Pete punches his arm. "Will you help Austin? He is a terrible dancer...no offense," Hailey says. Lux snorts now and finds the vodka bottle again. "Offended! Very offended. I am a good dancer," Austin says grabbing the vodka from Lux before she can take a third sip while everyone shakes their heads at him. He looks so miserable and offended that Lux almost does not need the vodka, almost.
They make their way back to the pool and thankfully everyone leaves her alone when she climbs onto a sun chair and closes her eyes as the sun warms her skin and lulls her to sleep.
She wakes up to someone kicking her chair. "Hey, we are all going to our rooms to get ready for dinner. It's at seven, don't be late," Austin says as he walks past. "Whatever," she mumbles closing her eyes again. "Lux, I said wake up," she hears Austin's voice as he walks back to her. "I heard you," she mumbles, her eyes still closed. She has no intention of moving, she will go on her own time.
Suddenly she feels the entire sunchair being lifted up and then she is flying. She screams as her legs and arms flail while she soars through the air then she hits the icy pool water. Water goes fucking everywhere. She pops her head out of the water gasping for air and hears the chuckles of pool patrons. "Seven, Lux, and don't make me come get your sorry ass," Austin says from the side of the pool, the sunchair still in his arms. Lux has never wanted to kill a man more. She wades out of the pool batting off the lifeguard's helpful hands then stamps toward her sunchair that Austin has so kindly put back down. She ignores him as she grabs her bag and stomps off to her room.
"You look like shit," Louis says from his patio, he has a bunch of broken glass on a bed sheet and a hammer in his hand. "Austin threw me in the pool," she says. Louis puts his head back and laughs loudly. "Fuck, I love that man," he says eventually. "What's all this?" she asks pointing to the glass. "This," he points to the broken glass pieces, "is fucking trash. This, however," he says picking up a very fancy-looking whiskey glass, "is a vintage crystal whisky glass. It has been in my ex's family for generations. It's tradition for the father of the bride to hand the set to the groom on their wedding day. It's very expensive," he explains then puts the glass down on the bed sheet and smashes it with the hammer. Lux watches as he continues to smash it until all that's left are tiny little pieces then he takes a sip of his beer, lights a cigarette, and picks up another whiskey glass.
"This is the couples therapy guide?"
"Yes. Under how not to deal with your pain. But, I got to tell you - it makes me feel pretty dam good. Go get ready, don't want to be late for your dinner and karaoke. Am sure you are very excited."
"Overjoyed," Lux deadpans as she walks up her stairs and into her room. She dumps her bag and peels off her wet costume then showers. Austin is a real asshole. He can give her a speech about changing over the years but she does not buy it. Austin had always been self-centered and there is nothing he can do to convince her otherwise. Once out of the shower, she grabs some toilet paper then climbs onto the sink and shoves it into the smoke detector. She heads back into her bedroom, takes clothing, a bottle of water, and a bunch of grapes from the fruit bowl then heads back into the bathroom. She lights a smoke while she gets ready then opens her phone and types in Austin's full name.
Austin Post.
Fucking hell. Shawn had been modest. Austin is successful, very successful and it pisses her off. He has so many clubs and they are all fucking amazing, and exclusive. There are countless pictures of him with famous singers, actors, models, and people who look rich and powerful. Is that the president? Fuck off. None of these people gave him the time of day when he was a nobody and his future was shaky - but she did. It had not mattered to her if he was successful or not, she would have taken him any way he came. She was in love with him - his drive had been enough for her.
She hopes he gets develops a gambling problem or a drug addiction and loses everything.
She flicks through a few more pictures but oddly enough she does not find even one picture with him and his wife. She does however find an article that names him one of LA's most exclusive batcholers. That's odd, interesting, but odd. There are a ton of explanations, maybe his wife likes to stay out of the public eye, and maybe she is a homebody which would explain why she is not here. Or maybe, like Lux, she got to know the real Austin and fucked off before she lost her fucking mind. Lux hopes she got a pretty payout when she left him - the girl deserves it.