"You're dating Atty, right? I hope you don't mind him still being hung up on me."
Who the... what in the hell is happening right now?
One second I'm minding my business at the appetizers table, stuffing my plate and hurting nobody, the next I'm hit with this.
When I turn to face my 'guest' I see a tall brunette with sparkling honey eyes and a diamond choker perched on her slender neck. Great, my harasser is pretty.
Before I can manage a response, she sticks out a neatly trimmed hand. "Alice Manet. You're Jade, I'm assuming. The one Marge has been fawning over."
I clear my throat, trying to quickly shove down the mini croissant lodged in there from earlier. There was no room on my plate so I had shoved it in my mouth hoping nobody saw.
"Take your time, those croissants aren't the easiest to chow down," she remarks in an offhanded tone that is probably meant to be sweet but really isn't.
Okay, so Alice Manet apparently saw.
"Well I don't know about the fawning but yeah, I'm Jade." And I'll be ignoring that croissant comment. Nobody can ruin croissants for me, they're my mama's specialty. That and macaroons.
Hmm, macaroons. I love those suckers.
"So," she says, keeping her eyes trained on me.
This is awkward. What does she expect? For me to bring up her Atty comment? No way am I doing that. Instead, I'll be heading to the jerk himself first chance I get and grilling him on why he felt it was appropriate to leave out the warning about an ex.
I may be a fake girlfriend but I can't be worth my salt as an actress if I don't know the full story. And since I don't know the full story (this could be a genuine ex that broke Atty's baby heart or a delusional hook up for all I know) I'll be keeping my mouth shut until I don't have a choice.
"How is it going with you guys?" she asks. After her earlier bluntness, I'm surprised she's deciding to play coy. Not the best move when your opponent has decided to play dumb.
"Good." Can't mess up if its only a word.
"I see, that's good, it's great. Not many women are okay with their partner's heart being elsewhere."
"Ha ha ha. It's not a problem, I can share his heart with his family. But you're right, many women can't share and that's why a lot of couples break up." I have no idea if that's why her and Atty broke up or if they were even a thing but the comment was right there, I had to say it.
She frowns, and shakes her head. "It's alright if you want to pretend you don't see it. Atty's a catch so yeah, if that's what you gotta do to stay with him then alright. Just thought I would introduce myself since you may have been wondering."
Actually no, I wasn't wondering. Up until a few moments ago, I didn't even know what 'Alice Manet' was. Now I know it's an annoying who. Atty's supposed ex-who.
This is upsetting me more than it should. I'm not actually his girlfriend and if his heart really is stuck on her then what's it to me.
But the more I think of it, the more nauseous I feel. I can't imagine Atty, of all people, even being able to stand her let alone love her. And now I feel like a bitch. Great. This was supposed to be a fun time party. The only drama I wanted was the Devin-centred type.
When I return to the table, Atty is in full blown debate with Marge over the benefits of working from home. Since Marge seems to be losing the battle, she jumps at me the moment I sit down.
"Jade!" she proclaims. "Please tell Atty he needs to come into the office more often, sometimes we forget what he looks like!"
Coco finishes braiding in the loose strands of his lilac hair and chimes in, "so true. Your boy was never much of a mingler but after that accident of his last year, we've only seen him about six times."
I'm quick to mask my confusion, because as his supposed girlfriend it's assumed I know all about this accident. I give a half-hearted response and let Coco and Marge carry the conversation. There's a lot to process right now.
Atty eyes me quizzically. He doesn't say anything, just occasionally glances over while conversing with Coco.
I run the conversation with Alice over and over. Surely there was a better way to handle it. I should've slid in another snide remark, instead I let her best me.
"Jade, what's wrong?" Atty whispers under his breath. I shake my head and flash him a smile for added effect.
"Babe," he says loudly, "come with me, I have to show you something." Then he makes a dramatic show of offering me his hand and leading us out of there.
I stifle a groan as I follow behind him. He's such a bad liar that it's laughable. That was the least believable 'excuse' ever. Since nobody else has caught on to my mood, the entire table is probably thinking we're sneaking off to make out.
Judging by Coco's coiled smirk, he's definitely thinking we're off to do more.
In reality, Atty pulls me into the long hallway we were in before and tucks us between two of the chalky white marble pillars on the left flank of the main doors.
"Tell me what happened. One minute you're giggling and getting seconds- everything's fine, then the next you act as if your plate is full of worms."
With this proximity, Atty's breath tickles my forehead and his cufflinks brush against my arm as he huffs on about opening up to him.
My instinct is to deflect. It's such a reflex that I almost say 'let me get back to my plate of worms'. But it makes no sense to hide why I'm upset. Maybe mama's right, maybe I'm stubborn for the sake of it.
That would explain a lot of the recent events, actually.
"Jade?"
Oh right. I purse my lips, still stained a deep red even after extensive use, and make a sour face. "I met Alice. She's unpleasant." He should understand the rest.
His eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he parts his lips to say something but thinks better of it and stays silent, waiting for me to continue. Seems he has a lot to say about Alice, but of course he senses there's more to why I'm not scarfing down my food and joining Coco in bothering him.
"And, also I guess I'm upset that the illusions' been broken?"
"What do you mean?" Atty looks completely earnest, his eyes are wide and his head is ducked towards me. I really want to tug on the black lapels of his jacket and bring him close. For some reason, I feel the urge to hug him. It's probably because he's standing so close and smells faintly of lavender.
I clear my throat, searching for the right words. "What Coco said... it made me realize that I really know nothing about you. It's easy to forget that we only know each other because I broke into your garage last Friday."
I pause for a bit, trying to gauge his reaction. He seems guarded, I can't read him. I continue, "I guess I fooled myself into thinking we're old friends or something. I don't know, it's stupid."
"Not at all." His response is firm and instant. I don't relish in the reassurance it brings though because he tilts his head back, resting it against the pillar behind him, and I'm immediately distracted. From this angle I can clearly see the angular shape of his jaw and the bump of his Adam's apple.
"I'm sorry," he whispers. So low I barely catch it.
"For what?"
"Sorry that you found out about the accident from Coco and not me. It should come from me."
"That's just silly. You don't owe me an explanation." He really doesn't, it's not like I'm his actual girlfriend.
"Then why do I feel so bad right now?"
"I don't have an answer for that," I respond, "but I can tell you you're under no obligation to explain anything or reveal anything from your past to me."
We both fall silent, occasionally glancing at each other but for the most part, looking at the hallway stretch all the way back.
I shift my feet, ready to step out of the little enclave when he speaks. "And if I want to?"
If he wants to reveal stuff to me? I'd love that. I nod and answer, "then I'm all ears."
Atty pokes his head out of our 'cave' and looks around. Eventually, he unbuttons his vest and untucks his shirt, pulling the right side of the fabric up. Half of his stomach comes into view, I can just about make out where his bellybutton is and oh my god, I didn't think he'd be this fit.
Nice. Maybe he can lift the whole thing up. Seriously though, I don't know where this is going but I'm intrigued.
He pushes the cloth aside and points to a diagonal scar running up from the right side of his waist all the way to near the middle of his abdomen, ending just above his naval. Oh. It's in the late stages of healing but the lack of redness doesn't soften the blow. It looks painful regardless.
My mind goes blank as I try to process a million feelings at once. But despite all those thoughts, I can't imagine what kind of trauma could have caused that.
Atty slowly lowers the material and tucks his shirt back in. He's silent for a while as he survey's my face. If he's trying to read me, good luck with that. Even I don't know what to make of what he's just shown me.
He twiddles with his thumb and taps his oxfords on the marble. When I close my hands around his, he takes in a really big breath and releases an equally loud sigh. Eventually, Atty explains the scar.
"Last year, when I was on my way to my own graduation ceremony, I totaled my car. I was making a left, I had the signal and it was my right of way, when a car sped by and completely broke the light. It rammed right into me and the force started flipping my car. I was thrown out right in the beginning which actually helped because eventually the car flew into a pole and wrapped around it. I got to live, all I had was a few shattered bones, a concussion, and a piece of the bumper lodged in my torso."
"The scar..." I trail off.
"Is from the bumper," he finishes.
Amongst the many things I can be thinking, there is one that stands out. A question that is definitely not appropriate in this moment and shouldn't be asked right now.
But it wont leave me alone.
"Jade, just ask."
Right, I forgot about the open-book feature of my face. Not a moment to lose then, if I stall too long I'll lose the courage to ask. "Your parents... you said they were..."
Seems like I don't have the courage to ask after all.
But I've said enough to steer him in the right direction. He nods and says, "yeah, they were in a car accident as well, its how they passed." Then he frowns and adds, "this doesn't change anything you know. You don't have to dance around me in fear of saying something wrong, I'm not going to fall apart. I told you because you're you, so react in whatever way your head wants to."
"Can't, I've got way too many questions."
"Then ask them. Stupidest ones first."
I was going to ask him if he's okay, how he feels, what's up with him etc. but since he specifically requested the dumb ones first, well, he has no idea what he's in for.
"Okay, first, do you ever pretend to be a warrior with that wound?"
"That's ridiculous, of course not." When I narrow my eyes, he stifles a laugh and quietly adds, "okay yeah, maybe once."
"Second, what did Alice say when she saw?"
At this Atty is completely confused. Which confuses me because if he's wondering why I'm asking about Alice's reaction then I'm wondering if Atty's version of hooking up involves clothes.
"Alice? She never saw it. We hooked up over a year before the crash."
Okay now I'm actually confused. I furrow my eyebrows and shake my head. "She said she's your ex girlfriend-"
"We hooked up once. 2 years ago."
I see, so Alice Manet is a little bit crazy. Interesting. Am I a little happy about that? No, of course not, that would be wrong.
Atty chuckles and folds his arm. "That smile of yours looks really creepy." He leans over slightly and cups my cheek, mock whispering, "some would even say deranged."
I playfully shove his hand away and am about to ask question number three when a brigade of waiters begin to march by, each pushing carts of steaming food and crystal goblets of wine.
"That must be dinner. Which means the ball's almost over," Atty remarks, eyes trained on the food.
What? Almost done?! But my scheme!
"We gotta get back Atty. Come on, vamos." I grab his hand and begin dragging us back in as fast as possible. Which is not very fast since Atty is a lot heavier than he looks.
Thankfully everyone is still dancing and milling around, dinner isn't set up yet. Good. I glance around the crowd, looking for the shiny bald head of my target.
When I finally spot it, near the bronze sculptures of exotic animals, I begin guiding the two of us there.
Time to get to work.
/\/\**/\/\**/\/\
This chapter is a little bit longer than usual but I hope you enjoyed it!
Please let me know what you think :)
Chp pic: sort of what Atty's suit looks like, except with yellow tie and pocket square to match Jade.