There are two things Cade hates about social events: small talk and getting pawned off to a number of women in sequined dresses. It gets worse on weddings. God, he hated weddings. It's not the lovey-dovey atmosphere that sets him off.
Well, not entirely.
There's his mother that constantly leaning to his ear, pointing out a few things the wedding planner hadn't done right and that he should steer clear from the barely there error. Tonight, he listened to her about the centerpiece. It was tacky, although he hardly knew the difference between flowers except the colors.
Cade almost groaned when another woman got waved over by his mother. "That's all for tonight, mom. I'm exhausted."
"But you haven't met Carol yet. Her mother and I knew each other from way back. They're good people.
He shakes his head, his gaze idly making a sweep through the sea of guests. His younger sister, Ichinandra is in the crowd somewhere. Probably never left the bride's side as the maid of honor.
His first two hours at the reception was bearable and escalated into his nightmare a few hours later. And surprising himself, his eyes kept searching for one particular face with that one particular smile that could light up an entire room of people.
Finally, his eyes rested on the sapphire gradient-color dress as radiant as her smile. She had her beautiful brown hair in an elegant updo. Effortlessly, she would've outshined the bride. Kathie Jane glittered from across the room. She has people literally drawn in with every breath she took. There was no denying that this was her "scene." She likes people. People adores her.
His gaze lingered as she plucks champagne off a passing tray and traded it with her empty flute. She turns back to her friends – a mixture of women and (mostly) men. Probably admirers waiting for an opening. The men are understandably blameless.
Kathie Jane Lewis is mesmerizing even from a distance.
Cade watches her excusing herself from the crowd. She wiggled her fingers at them before to the furthest table. One in the dark corner. Then he saw it. The chip on her shiny, silver armor. She stares down to her phone, probably thinking she was out of speculative gazes, and let the bright smile slip away.
"She reminds me so much of her mother when we were younger. Bubbly and beautiful with strings of men waiting on the sideline because they're taken. Kathie Jane will soon be in the market for another relationship though, sweetie," her mother whispered delightfully.
Cade's head snapped to hers.
"By any chance, is this why you're turning down every single date I set you up?" Her voice risen with hope.
He could only shake his head and frown.
His mother knew better than to push him.
Cade's eyes flitted back to Kathie. She was enjoying herself. But then he looked a lot longer and saw something familiar in her eyes. The sense of being alone in the middle of the crowd. She looked... lost.
For some reason, he realized Kathie Jane has this second nature of choosing to look okay in other people's eyes because she can. And she refuses to maker her troubles worry others.
His sister came back to their table, a lot more cheerful and chattier than earlier tonight. It also meant more candidates for a future sister in-law. He has to be honest, his parents' desperate attempt for grandchildren is hopeless. He had confidential flings in his early 20s with equally confidential women who don't look for relationship. Getting married is the last thing in his mind.
Cade stood up, garnering curious gazes from his mother and sister.
"You're not going home, are you?" Chandra raises her eyebrows.
His mother had her hands braced in her waist and a motherly frown on her face.
"I'm not," he deadpans and wordlessly looked over to Kathie.
His mother's frown dissolved. "Oh."
"Why didn't you say so?" Chandra grinned.
There were pleased expressions on their faces.
He rolled his eyes. "Don't smile. I'm just going to talk to her. Not ask her to marry me."
"Sure. Whatever you say," Chandra says in a sing song voice.
Cade sighed then headed toward Kathie's table anyway. He wasn't sure why, but he finds himself making his way to her – slowly but unreluctantly.
Surprise registered in her face when his shadow loomed over her.
"I never pegged you as a wallflower." He hears himself say.
Kathie's soft, brown eyes flicked to the dance floor and reverted to him in understanding. "Oh. I'm just resting my feet. I was just looking for a dance partner, actually." The smile she gave her was bright, the mask sliding back on.
Cade nods, his hands going to his hands because he suddenly doesn't know what to do with them. He was never a conversationalist, yet surprising himself, he opened his mouth. "Do you want to dance?"
Before he could regret his dumbest attempt for a conversation, her smile goes a lot brighter. And her eyes sparkled.
They... sparkled.
All of a sudden, he felt rewarded. But then his gut twisted when her answer got delayed for a full second. "It's fine if you—"
"Let's go." Kathie bounces to her feet, taking a hold of his hand before he could back out. "You're not allowed to change your mind." She led them onto the dance floor, and it had only occurred to him that he never liked dancing.
Kathie puts her hands on his shoulders and looks up to him with something that made him want to push aside his dislike toward the "dancing." So, his hands slowly found their way around her waist.
Annnd, then they were dancing.
"Are you this nice on weddings?"
"No."
She lets out a soft laugh. "Your brothers are not lying. Your mother really is hauling you into these parties to match you up. Any luck?"
"There's only doom," he deadpans.
She giggles. And he came to wonder whether it was her quick-to-laugh personality that encouraged him to walk the distance between his table and hers.
"It's not that bad. I understand the repulsion toward grave commitments like marriage."
"You having commitment issues would be the world's greatest surprise."
She shakes her head smilingly. "It's not that. I've been playing "wedding" ever since I was a kid. I think everybody thinks about settling down someday. Especially having a fairytale wedding like this one. Who doesn't want to have their feet swept off anyway?"
Cade doesn't know what to say to that, so kept quiet.
"But we all must admit, as we grow older, we all get a little scared of commitments. It's like a cake, really," she continues, her eyes expressing a story themselves.
"Weddings are like icing. It's sweet and so nice to look at. It also covers up the entire cake and you wouldn't know what it tastes like until you cut it and take a bite. And if the cake is too dry, undercooked in the middle or burned altogether, you have to swallow because that's what commitment is."
His brow shot up. "Are you a love guru in your previous life?"
"We'll never know. I can be a matchmaker in this recent life though." She wags her eyebrows at him.
He almost groaned. "No more shoving women at my face."
"I'm not shoving women. I'm just helping you out. I saw Margot Fletcher tonight. Have you?"
He gave her a look.
"But I think you guys would be compatible. You're both smart and into finance."
"No. I need a break from all these matchmakings."
Her smile softened. "It's that bad?"
He shrugged.
"Well, I'm giving you a break. For now. I'll get in touch with her in case you're not fed up with this whole thing anymore."
Cade sighed.
She stares for a moment. Then something flits past her face that she tamped down immediately. It was gone before he could analyze it. But whatever it was, it has something to do with how she suddenly leaned her cheek on his shoulder as if seeking for comfort.
"Thank you, Cadey," she whispers.
His hand lodged on the small of her back. "For what?"
"For being nice to me tonight." Her voice was small, almost sad. For someone who had been smiling all night, she sounded like the saddest person there is.
Hey, guys! How cool are these? 👇👇 Also, just a heads up, I'm doing a little tweaking on the first chapters of the book so if you get notified that some chapters had been republished, don't mind me. It's just a little revising.
What do you think?
Tell me what you love about Kathie.
Do you like Cade? What do you like about him?
Shout out to fancyreader98 for making me these awesome aesthetics. She's amazing!