As angry and bitter as I was right now, Clay could make me smile like no one else could. Especially when he was wearing sequined pink joggers and a black tank top.
Laura was properly horrified. "Clay, what in the blazes are you wearing?"
"My narrator outfit. You like?" he asked, beaming and wiggling his hips a little.
I ran up and hugged him, so relieved to see someone who I wasn't fighting with. He embraced me, whispering, "Kylie wanted to be here, but she had to work. Sorry."
"It's okay. You're more than enough," I said, squeezing him.
He sniffled "Aww. Don't make me cry for the best day of my life."
I laughed and stepped away, my smile still lingering as we both faced Laura. Her lips were stuck, as if she'd permanently tasted lemon. It got worse when Clay casually walked towards her.
"Allow me to explain!" he said in as big of a booming voice that he could muster up. "My dear, dear mother who I only have a biological connection to."
"Excuse me?" Laura gasped, lightly touching her collarbone in shock.
He winked at her. "It's a wonderful realization, isn't it? But yes, Laura, it is I, Clay. Your youngest offspring, your most forgotten child, yet the one with the biggest impact on your life. You may want to sit down for this one."
"Sit down?" Clay ignored her shock and lightly pushed her into a nearby chair. He hopped up on the glass coffee table, testing its weight only after he'd stood on it. I stood nearby (on the ground) as his personal storytelling assistant.
"ONCE UPON A TIME!" he cried loudly "There were two young adults. Grayson Answell and Jackie Langford. Strangers. Until, by wonderful, inconceivable coincidence, they arrived in the same town at the same time."
"Barcelona," Laura said, trying to sound intelligent.
"HA!" he yelled, mockingly pointing at her. "Wrong! It was not Barcelona, but rather Las Vegas, Nevada. Sin City."
She looked so pale that I thought she'd lost all her blood at once. "Las Vegas?" she whispered, horrified, as if the very city left a sour taste in her mouth.
Clay's grin was more wicked than all of Las Vegas squeezed into a jar. "Yes," he said maniacally. "Yes, so it's Las Vegas. The year is last year. A man, your son, walks into a bar. Guess what? He's massively depressed because–spoiler alert–he has the worst mother in the world. He's had so many bad dates, so many girls. So many failed loves, all of them only out for his money. Yet he has to marry by the new year, before his twenty-fifth birthday. It's tragic!"
"He went to Vegas?" Laura was a terrible listener.
He picked up on this and said loudly, as if talking to a half-deaf person, "YES, mother, he went to VEGAS. That was a whole paragraph ago!"
"Oh my," she whispered faintly.
"I agree," he said cheerfully. "But the joke isn't done, because Jackie Langford walks into a bar as well! In fact, it's the same bar! Except she's not depressed, she's here with her smoking hot best friend plus Nina!"
"They're equally my best friends!" I hissed.
"Well I can't just call them both smoking hot!" he said, frustrated. Laura coughed, so he was forced to continue. "So our girl Jackie walks in, and she happens to sit next to your darling son Grayson. First they talk pleasantly, but then we introduce my favorite type of juice: alcohol!"
"Oh, no," she squeaked, going paler by the minute.
"Oh, yes," Clay cackled. "It was beautiful. They drink, they laugh, they talk, and lo and behold, it's the perfect match. The perfect couple. The sweetest romance."
Embarrassed, I chimed in, "Maybe not all that."
"All that," he disagreed. "So they keep drinking, and then things get interesting. So interesting, that neither of them knows how interesting. So interesting that they wake up the next morning with only two facts."
Laura looked like it was dawning on her, how we'd gotten married. But Clay was far from done, and his pants had a lot more sparkle left in them.
"The first fact," he said dramatically. "Was that last night, they had the nastiest, dirtiest, sheet-gripping–"
"Clay!" I close to shrieked.
"Jackie, don't cramp my style," he complained, but thankfully he did not finish the first fact.
"The second fact!" he shouted, loud enough that even Calgary could probably hear him "Was that they were now married!"
Laura appropriately gasped. Maybe she wasn't the worst listener after all.
"Yes, it was all terrible and horrible and romantic," he whispered, sliding his hand down the front of his face for effect. "Until dear Grayson, the smart boy, realized something. He was in need of a wife before his birthday so his evil mother couldn't hold him back from his dreams. So Jackie, with her innocent heart of gold, stayed with him."
She covered her mouth, her eyes wide. Now she was visibly shaking. I couldn't help but smile at the ruin I'd put her in. It was all coming together now. The past six months, even the past few days included, had all been worth it for this moment.
"And they lived on," Clay said, grinning. "They were married. Grayson introduced her to his family. They planned a wedding. They faked being in love. Then they fell in love for real–"
"No, they didn't," I interrupted, hanging my head.
That broke Clay's flow. "They didn't?" he asked, crestfallen. "Even after the sexy vacation you took this week?"
"No," I muttered, too upset to even be that embarrassed.
"You're telling me that the entire time, you helped Grayson fake being married all so he could claim the company?" Laura cut into the argument.
"Yes," I said defiantly. "I did it all for him. He deserves to have the dream he's been promised since the day he was born, with or without a spouse. Since we already happened to be married, we took advantage of the terrible situation and turned it around. Our plan worked flawlessly, and now Grayson legally owns the company and there's nothing you can do about it!"
Flawlessly–except for the part where I doubted we'd ever speak to each other again.
"No, no, no," she murmured, holding her hand to her head. "No, Jackie, you're supposed to support him. You're supposed to be the charming wife who compliments the dashing businessman. You're supposed to–" Her words were cut off by her own gasp of realization.
I smiled sweetly. "Provide an heir? Yeah, I thought I did pretty well considering we weren't actually trying."
"Excuse me," Laura said meekly. Clay and I watched as she teetered away in her heels to another room. A second later, violent vomiting could be heard, followed with hysterical crying. Upon hearing these noises, Clay gave me a celebratory hip-bump, whispering, "I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet!"
"Hold your horses, or you'll throw up in excitement," I remarked, stifling a laugh.
A few moments later, his mother returned, still pale but with a tinge of green still lingering. That meant she had one more vomit left in her. Rather stiffly, she stood before us, one hand lightly balanced on her stomach.
"I think it would be wise if you both left," she said softly.
Clay grinned. "There's more."
"Oh, stars, of course there's more," she bemoaned, sitting down again.
This time he had props. He held up his phone, asking, "Do you recognize this man?"
Laura squinted. "No, I don't believe so."
"Are you sure? Rack your brain. Maybe you've seen him at a party. Maybe he's one of our 'connections.' Or maybe, just maybe, and I feel as if this is a pretty small maybe, he's the man you've been cheating on dad with for the past year!" Clay snapped.
Unfortunately, with this accusation, came an angry jump. He seemed to have forgotten that he was atop a glass table. With the last word, he slammed through the glass, the shards flying everywhere as he abruptly landed on the floor. Thankfully, he went straight down, instead of tripping on one of the iron legs. There was a moment of silence, mostly in surprise, but Clay did not let the event phase him. He put his hands on his hips, waiting for her response.
"Clay, don't be ridiculous, why would I ever..." she trailed off as he showed her a new picture.
"Oh, now she knows what I'm talking about," he said serenely. "Shocking, isn't it?"
"How did you get those messages?" she hissed, trying to grab the phone. It helped that Clay was a good six inches taller than her and surrounded by broken glass.
"Well, it helped that after I walked in on you, I had reason to go searching," he said. "Boy, I found a lot. Also, your phone needs better security. Also, your passcode should not be one, two, three, four. Also, you're a terrible person."
Laura plastered on a fake smile. "Remember, Clay, you said you wouldn't say anything."
"Except now I have nothing to lose," he said fiercely. "You've already destroyed both Kylie's and my reputations among the elite, you've given Grayson the company just days after his wedding and birthday, and I am on the rise as a wonderful musician. I have everything, and you can't take any of it no matter how hard you try. You have absolutely nothing left. Just your reputation as one of the wealthiest women in British Columbia."
"Yes, I am one of the wealthiest women in British Columbia. Even if I do lose my sons and my husband, that is worth something," she said, crossing her arms.
Clay took out his phone again, touched the screen, and gasped. "OOPS! Did I just send a long, detailed email chock-full of evidence to the seven major news companies across Canada and the United States revealing that you're a cheater?"
Laura went pale pea green again. "You didn't!"
"Ah, I'm so clumsy," he groaned, tugging on his hair in fake distress. "I'm so sorry, mother."
"You little brat!" she hissed. "Security!"
"Grayson fired all of your staff three minutes ago," Clay said calmly. "If you want to throw me out yourself, by all means, go ahead. You might have raised me never to hit a woman, but I don't think you're human enough to qualify as one."
An unearthly howl of rage emerged from Laura's lips. Clay and I both jumped back as she marched forward, then turned up the stairs. "Grayson!" she roared.
A door clicked open and he appeared. His gaze first went to me before facing her with a hard stare. "Yes?"
"You're telling me that all of this is true?" she cried.
"Very much so. In fact, I can't believe you didn't discover us sooner," he replied, remaining on the second floor.
"Oh, dear, oh, this is terrible," she whispered to herself, grabbing the banister for stability. "Where is George, he will–"
"Father wants you out of the house immediately," Grayson interrupted, glaring down at her.
Laura looked as if she'd been slapped in the face. "Out of...I've lived here for thirty years!"
"I personally think that's a few years too many. Get out. Or I'll call the police," he snarled.
It was with great pleasure that the three of us watched as Laura scrambled about, grabbing her coat and purse on her way out. "I'll expect my things to be mailed to me!" she called, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Only what your money has paid for," Grayson said coolly. "Your birth certificate, your passport, those are yours. That's about all I can think of."
She choked on her anger, still crying loudly as she yanked open the front door. Grayson quickly ran downstairs after her, yelling, "You'll need to call a taxi! I won't have you driving one of the cars!"
More sobbing followed in her wake, until finally it was quiet. For a second no one said anything. Then Clay jumped out of the remains of the table, yelling, "YES! We did it! We broke the most evil woman in the world!"
Grayson was looking at his phone, a half smile on his face. "The press has already made the release. I think it's safe to say she won't be finding any friends nearby."
Clay whooped again, this time grabbing me and twirling me around. "This is the greatest day of my life!"
I shrieked. "Put me down, Clay!"
"Apologies," he said, putting me on two feet. Slightly more calm, he turned to Grayson and asked, "How did dad take it?"
Grayson hung his head. "Not well. He really loved her, for some reason. I was talking to him during your speech. I think he just needs to take some time for himself."
Clay nodded. "Why don't you go check on him? I have some stuff to discuss with Jackie."
His brother nodded and went back upstairs, returning to the room he'd emerged from. Clay turned to me, asking, "You're good after all that? Feeling the vengeance and all that?"
"It feels good to see her get what she deserves," I admitted. "I know that sounds terrible, but at least now she's powerless to hurt you guys."
"Same, except I don't feel like a terrible person at all," he said cheerfully. I laughed, knowing he deserved to feel remorseless.
Clay glanced around before reaching into the sparkly pocket of his pants. "Look, ah, Jackie, I know we just kind of changed our lives forever, but I want to make one more change."
My eyes went wide as he showed me the black leather box. They went wider when he opened the lid, revealing a beautiful diamond ring. I immediately knew who it was for, and even in the wild events of the last couple of days, I couldn't have been happier.
"You know Kylie better than anyone. Even me," he said, for once being serious. "So I only think it's right that I get your blessing before asking her to marry me. I know on the outside, people just see two hormone crazed teenagers, even though she's not a teenager, but I really love her, Jackie. The rest of my life has taken a turn for the better, thankfully, but she's been the brightest part of it. I promise, I'll treat her well and make sure she's happy and give her the best life I can. Now that my mom is out of the way, Kylie should be safe from any bad press."
Now I was crying. "Clay," I sniffled, wiping my eyes.
"I just want to give her the world," he said softly, looking down at the ring. "I don't know if the world is with me, but I want to do my best to make it that way. To give her the happiness she deserves."
"Gosh, of course you can marry her," I sobbed, hugging him hard. I felt a rush of worry leave him in his sigh of relief. "Thank you, Jackie."
I pulled back, wiping my eyes as I asked, "When are you going to do it?"
"I was thinking Valentine's Day," he said shyly. Aww.
"She'd love that," I told him, beaming.
He laughed, wiping his own eyes and saying, "I should probably let you and Grayson talk. I'm guessing you're flying back to the States tonight."
"Actually, I'm headed to the airport right now," I said quietly, looking down at my boots.
"So soon? I thought you'd at least stay for dinner," Clay said, crestfallen.
I swallowed. "Um, I think I should give your brother some space. He probably doesn't want me hanging around any longer than necessary."
"Jackie, what happened?" he asked, confused.
"Um, I just...we both blew it," I said shakily. "We're not even friends anymore. I know you were hoping we'd stay married, but...we already turned in the divorce papers. We're not planning on getting back together. I'm sorry."
For a second, anger flashed in his eyes. "Do I need to beat him up for you?" he growled.
I laughed, except it came out more like a sob. "Clay, that's your brother."
"I don't care. Does he need beating up?" he asked.
"No, no, it wasn't anything worthy of beating up," I said, fiddling with the remainder of my nail polish. "We were just doomed ever since the beginning, and it finally caught up to us."
Clay gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, Jackie."
"Yeah, it...it's okay," I said with a very convincing sniffle.
"Do you need me to give you a ride to the airport?" he offered.
"That'd be really nice. Thank you," I said, half wishing he'd insisted on dragging me upstairs and demanding that Grayson and I kiss and make up. But Clay knew better than that.
"You want to say goodbye?" he asked quietly.
I looked longing at the stairs. "I better not," I said, knowing that if I went and talked to Grayson I'd probably make a fool of myself and break down crying.
Clay nodded and I followed him out to the garage. The drive to the airport was pretty quiet, right up until he walked me in.
"You know...if you don't want me and um, my brother around, Kylie and I would be more than willing to take a break for a bit," he said, handing me my bags.
"No, I couldn't ask that of you guys. Besides, I'm not letting my messed-up relationship ruin yours," I said quickly. I knew Kylie would've said the exact same thing, and them being separated on my behalf would've been possibly the worst thing ever.
"Okay, well, if you ever need someone as just a talking buddy, or as a personal ninja, you can call me," Clay said, hugging me goodbye.
"Thank you," I murmured, clinging to him. "Thank you for everything, Clay. You're the best."
He kissed my cheek. "Of course. Anytime. Have a good flight, Jackie."
He jumped in his car, waving as he floored it away. I winced slightly at the squealing tires, but I still waved back. Once he was gone, I slowly walked inside, my suitcase squeaking behind me. It wasn't until I reached the gate that I realized just how alone I was.
Grayson was gone. I didn't think I'd ever see him again. No more adventures, no more late night talking. I'd have to eat all the American snacks by myself. No more spontaneous trips to random places for events where we'd rush to the airport, only half-packed and half-awake. The truth was, as hard as it was to admit, was that I'd lost one of my best friends. Maybe even the only person to ever actually make me feel like I was more than just a functioning member of society. One of the only people who ever saw me for what I was like on the inside. There were already so few people I let that close, but now I'd lost him forever.
Gulping back silent sobs, I dialed a number and held my phone to my ear. I waited, also trying to drown out the impossibly loud chatter around me.
"Hey," I said quietly. "Can you come pick me up at Reagan in a little while?"