"It's a doozy of a day," Louis says as Lux walks out. "Great," Lux grumbles sitting down and pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Why do you look like you were slapped in the face?" Louis asks.
"You ever did things as an immature child and now feel sick every time you think about it?"
"No. I have no faults."
Lux dives into her pitiful actions around fucking Austin's head up and getting him punched in the face to feed her bitchy ego then sits back in her chair to wait for his words of wisdom, or judgment. She will take either.
"Are you sorry you did that?"
"Very."
"Would you ever do that again?"
"Never."
"Well, there you go."
Lux blinks at him then frowns and sits forward.
"It's just that easy, huh? I don't owe him an apology?"
"Do you want to apologize?"
"I don't fucking know Louis! Maybe..."
"Why?"
"Because I am sorry for doing that to him and he deserves a fucking apology."
Louis smiles and gives a wink. Lux glares at him then sits back in her chair again. "I see what you did there. You got me to admit that I want to apologize by mind fucking me," she says. "I will add this session to your bill. You will be paying for my new car," Louis says then points to the itinerary. "Proceed, but if today does not include an acid bath I will be disappointed," she says. "Close, only more painful. Yoga, breakfast - like every day. Then a guided tour around the heart of Phuket on mopeds-"
"Phuket?"
"The city this lovely resort is situated in. You have been here for three days, Lux."
"Oh...continue."
"You will have lunch in a marketplace. Austin will not be forking out for that though - lunch, you have to pay for yourself today, there is a small apology note. Then-"
"Excuse me?"
"Read it yourself if you are not listening."
"No, I mean what do you mean Austin is not forking out for it?"
"I mean as it says on the back page..." Louis says flipping to the back of the itinerary file. "There is a full page thanking Austin for paying for this entire wedding...everything. Not your bitchy attitude though, that we get for free."
Lux takes the itinerary file and reads through the acknowledgment. Austin is paying for everything - accommodation, food, drinks, activities, and even the wedding reception. Anything Demi's heart desires Austin has swiped his card happily for. Lux hands the file back to Louis then stands and grabs her bag. "You don't want to hear the rest?" Louis asks. "No," Lux mumbles walking down the steps and heading toward Austin who had just started to cross the lawn. She ignores him when she stamps past him. When she gets to the beach she throws her bag down and makes a beeline for Demi, grabbing her arm and yanking her away as Demi apologizes to Shawn for being kidnapped.
"What the fuck, Demi!?" Lux shouts when they are far enough away and hidden behind a tree. "What?" Demi asks. "Austin is paying for your whole wedding?" Lux asks. Demi rolls her eyes and nods. "He insisted. We had a whole plan. We would save for five years and then have the wedding I had always dreamed of, this one. But he insisted on paying. Said it would be his wedding gift to us and we could use the money we intended on saving as a down payment on a house. After I had planned everything and then saw how expensive it was Shawn and I decided we were just going to have a wedding in LA - would be easier on Austin's pocket - but he was not having it and insisted the wedding go ahead just as I had planned."
"Why didn't you phone me? You know I would have paid."
Demi leans forward and whispers the cost of the wedding in her ear. "Ok, I would have paid half...a quarter. I am your sister Demi. You should have come to me."
"You never answer my calls," Demi says softly. All of Lux's anger deflates and seeps out of her body. She and Demi had been close once but then Austin happened and Lux become a bitch. She pushed Demi away. Their mother had told Demi that as soon as Lux grows up a little she will turn back into a human, but then she got focused on her career and then New York - somewhere in all that she had stopped answering Demi's texts and then started screening her calls. Now she is 29 and Demi is 25. Demi never stopped trying though. Lux tries to blink back her tears, but she is too late and Demi's eyes go wide as she watches a tear slip down Lux's face. Fuck, she cries so easily lately.
"Demi-"
"Wait. Let me get this out while you have softened. I don't know how long I have. I love you. I love you so much Lux and I know you are guarded and tough as shit, I know you don't need hugs and kisses as I do and I know you think all this is stupid. But, I had one wish and one wish only for this wedding and that was you being by my side because this is the happiest time of my life and I love Shawn so much but I knew I could never be fully happy without you there on my wedding day. Because I just love you so much. Like I love you a whole bunch. Hailey has a big sister and so does Jess, they go shopping together and do their hair and nails and I feel sad sometimes that we don't do that but I know if anyone ever hurt me that you would jump on a plane, fly to LA and kill them. You will always have my back. You are my favorite person and I love you...so much."
Lux reaches out, pulling Demi into a hug. Demi squeaks in surprise but wastes no time wrapping her arms around Lux and squeezing her tight. "I am sorry Demi. I have not been a good sister to you. I promise things will change...I will be nicer and..." Lux whispers. "This may sound crazy...but I love you just the way you are...I just want you to pick up when I call, come for Christmas, and maybe suffer through a BBQ or two," Demi whispers. "Ok...and I will hug your children, but bath them first," Lux says. Demi lets out a watery laugh and agrees.
They walk back to the yoga and Demi slips into a worried-looking Shawn's arms while Lix goes to the back of the group and stands next to Austin. They get into the first pose and then the second, and then her arms shake again in the third pose as she tries to hold Austin's heavy body up. She is dreading the fourth position and by the way Austin is avoiding eye contact with her, she knows he is too. "Ok, same as yesterday. Stand facing your partner, say something nice, and embrace till I tell you to let go," the instructor says. "You first," Lux whispers. "Realness," Austin whispers, he is not looking at her but rather at the open space between them. Lux frowns. "You...when I met you I had nothing. I could only offer you myself and my pipe dream - you didn't blink...you took me as I was, no expectations. Over the years, the more successful I have become the less real the woman I meet are..." Austin whispers. Lux stares at him. She had not known Auatin would ever make anything of himself and for a while there it looked like he never would, but that had never mattered to her. She would have made him a kept man if his bar dreams had failed when her career had flourished.
He takes a step forward and lifts his head slowly, biting his lip. "Gentle hands. You are massive...your hands are big. You could hurt people with just one swing. You could be controlling and violent but you choose to be gentle, delicate even, with how you touch people weaker than you. You would never take advantage of your natural strength," Lux says then takes a step forward, pressing up against Austin's front. She rolls onto her toes and lifts her arms. When Austin bends she wraps her arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around her waist gently then stands, lifting her feet off the ground. She rests her cheek on his shoulder, looking down the beach as they both seem to get a little lost in the tender moment. He always used to hug her like this and for the first time in years, she lets herself remember how much she missed the way it made her feel. Warm and safe.
"Ok! Now the real challenge! While still in your partner's embrace, I want you each to take the chance to tell your partner something you don't like about them. I want you to listen with an open heart and try to remain in that embrace while you sit with your feelings," the instructor shouts out. What the fuck is up with this yoga class? This is not fucking yoga. "You first this time," Austin whispers.
"I don't like how you have pushed all the blame for our breakup on me."
"And I don't like that you fucked another man."
Lux swings her leg as hard as she can, Austin drops her and goes down like a ton of bricks. "Again with the ball kicking! Lux! How is the boy meant to have beautiful babies one day?!" her mother shouts running to Austin's side. "Relax, I did the world a favor," Lux snips then storms off. She gets halfway down the beach when she hears someone calling her, she fully intends on ignoring them but she can hear it's Austin's father, Rich. She stops and watches him jog toward her then smile when he catches up to her. "You are giving my boy a bit of a hard time there, darlin'," he says. "It's not like he does not deserve it," she snips. "I agree," Rich says with a chuckle. Lux was ready to give him a piece of her mind but is caught off guard by his agreement.
"Shawn tells me you two have a history. You dated at nineteen, yes?"
"Mhmmm."
"How about you and I skip breakfast with the family? There is a barista just down the road from the resort. We will take a walk, chat..."
Lux is not sure. Rich has a kind friendly face and he looks like the type to talk sense into hardheaded people - people like that are never to be trusted. But, she would take any opportunity to miss another breakfast so she nods and then takes Rich's elbow gingerly when he offers it to her. They walk down the beach then up the steps and past the pool. When they leave the resort gates Lux feels slightly relieved at the thought of getting away from the family.
"When Austin was ten," Rich starts suddenly, "he got this model car. He had to build it, it was complicated and had tiny parts. He got so engrossed that he neglected everything else in his life. His mother had to threaten to take the car away if he did not eat or bathe. If we had left him to his demise he would have locked himself in his room for three weeks solid. A few weeks later he got a model airplane and again he neglected everything until he had completed it - with great care and skill might I add," Rich says as they walk down the road slowly. "It was like that with every new project he got. When he was sixteen his grandfather bought a beat-up old car that needed a complete overhaul. Austin got a job to pay for the parts and then spent most nights out in the garage. Shawn and I started helping him while his mother read her book from a chair in the garage just so we could spend some time with him," Rich says then orders them a coffee and a breakfast roll at the barista.
"It's his personality. When he was seventeen he decided he wanted to open a bar and eventually a chain of bars. He became obsessed... neglected everyone in his drive. He got cocky, selfish, and self-centered - I found he became a stranger to me. I could see him in there, my sweet-hearted boy, but he was a little lost and his mother was very worried about him. I think...this may be around the time you met him? Yes?"
"Yes."
"It's no excuse...I don't like the idea of either of my boys treating women poorly. That is not the way they were raised. But, there came a time and I think it may just be around the time you guys broke it off, he came home. Sad, hurt, heartbroken. He did some soul-searching. He never lost his drive and made a success of himself like we always knew he would - but he had changed. He never lost focus on those around him again. He always made a point of learning from his mistakes."
"Does not change what happened between the two of us."
"You are right, it does not. We can't change the past but that does not mean it has to dictate our future. Hanging onto anger can be very tiring. I know he hurt you very badly, I can see it in your eyes and he probably deserves a few more kicks in the balls."
"He does."
Rich chuckles, it's one of the chuckles only a father who has learned from his own mistakes can make. "I married my wife thirty-five years ago. We have had our fair share of fights... it's easy to blame the other person."
"And what? It takes a strong, driven, determined woman like me to find the strength and admit I too may have faults."
"As I said, Lux, I have been married for thirty-five years - my wife has taught me that women were born faultless."
"Your wife is a smart woman."
"She is and she also knows where to hit me where it hurts most...that's what love does to a man. It leaves us wide open, venerable. My son hurt you, there is no denying that...but you hurt him too. I saw it in his eyes when he came home at nineteen and I have seen it every day for the last ten years. Like you, he never got over whatever happened."
"I never intended to hurt him."
"I think that too goes both ways. What if you spend just today getting to know this Austin instead of trying to punish the boy from ten years ago, maybe show him who you are now too... if nothing changes then at least you both know," Rich says circling his arm protectively around her shoulders and pulling her a little closer. "That sounds like a lot of work. I would have to be nice," Lux says. "I like you, Lux," he says with a soft chuckle. "The feeling is not reciprocated. You have made me consider other people's feelings and I don't appreciate it," Lux says. Rich laughs fully now, Austin had inherited his laugh. "I am going to enjoy having you around," he says as they walk back into the resort gates as everyone starts boarding the bus.