Annihilate Me: Holiday Edition (16 page)

Lisa
flushed.

“I
don’t want all the messy details, Lisa.
 
Please.
 
I’m just curious if
anything significant was said that went beyond all of that noisy grunting and
groaning we heard.”

“You
heard that?”

“My
dear, they heard it in Manhattan.
 
They’re talking about it now.”

“I
might have told him that I loved him.”

“Oh,
dear.
 
Well, that was a bold
move.
 
What did he say to you.”

“He,
uh—well….”

“Spit
it out, Lisa.”

“Fine.
 
He climaxed when I said it.”

Blackwell
lifted her chin and patted her bob.
 
“Well, goodness,” she said.
 
“What an unexpected answer.
 
You told him you were in love with him, and he came to completion.
 
How primal of him.”
 
She looked Lisa in the eyes.
 
“But I still consider that a reply of
sorts.
 
It obviously was something
he wanted to hear—otherwise, if he never wanted to hear those words, he
might have gone limp right there.”

“She
has a point,” I said.

“Of
course, I have a point.
 
It’s
true.
 
When you’re the first one to
say that you love your partner and your partner isn’t ready to hear those words
in, well, let’s just say it—an intimate situation—it could lead to
coital disaster.
 
Instead, Tank saw
stars, nebulas, the universe.”

“It’s
still not a serious reply.”

“Look,
he obviously didn’t respond properly.
 
And, no, this is nothing you’ll share with your children when you’re old
and reminiscing about how the two of you first fell in love.
 
But tonight?
 
With you in that dress and looking so
pretty with those jewels?
 
Oh, he’ll
tell you how he feels.
 
I know that
boy.
 
I know what it took for him to
trust you enough to be with you last night.
 
It took every ounce of trust he has
within him.
 
He’s very careful, that
man.
 
After being cheated on by that
harpy whose name I won’t speak, he doesn’t take risks with his heart.
 
I think you’ve seen that, and I also
think that you’ve probably suffered through it.
 
What you need to know and respect is
that he also doesn’t take someone else’s heart lightly, Lisa.
 
Tank is a man.
 
Before him, you dated infants.
 
Fine, he hasn’t exactly said the words,
but you did get a response of some sort.
 
So, tonight?
 
Tonight, we try
to seal the deal and see what happens.
 
At some point, he’ll probably take you aside and say something meaningful
to you.
 
Just between you two.
 
Of course exactly what he’ll say is the
mystery.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Later
that evening, after the tree was decorated and Alex and I helped Alexa make her
snowman so it faced the ocean “before the acidity becomes too much and we no
longer even having a living ocean,” she said in despair, everyone went to their
respective bedrooms to get ready for the night.
 

It
was Christmas Eve.
 
Blackwell had
holiday music playing, the tree was lit, full and lovely, a wealth of presents
was tucked beneath it, stockings were stuffed and hanging by the fireplace, and
the anticipation was high for a grand night ahead.

Alex
and I changed privately.
 
Neither of
us wanted to know what the other one was wearing.
 
While he got ready in the bedroom, I
finished flat-ironing my hair in the bathroom and then turned to the dress that
hung on a hook on the back of the bathroom door.

I
chose to wear a floor-length V-neck velvet gown with a cutout front, and a
diamond cutout back by Stella McCartney.
 
When I slipped into it, it was slimming and stunning, a statement dress
in which I wanted to surprise one man and one man only.
 
It cost me a small fortune, but turning
in front of the mirror and seeing how the dress puddled at my feet, even in
three-inch
heels, I knew it was worth it.
 

This
will get him
, I thought.

I
kept Bernie’s techniques in mind when I finished applying my makeup.
 
I wanted a smoky eye and a pouty red
lip, which he’d shown me how to do several times.
 
The lips were nothing to pull off, but
the smoky eye?
 
That was a
challenge.
 
I gave it my best shot,
and actually was pleased with the results.
 
With my hair pulled away from my face and hanging straight down my back,
I thought the look was appropriately formal and dramatic.
 

Thank
you, Bernie!

For
jewelry, I chose to wear the Tiffany Black Onyx Floral Bracelet that was a
recent gift from Alex.
 
It was a
sparkling tapestry of platinum-set diamond leaves composed of round brilliant
diamonds, in the center of which was a sixty-carat black onyx.
 
It was a masterpiece of ridiculously
intricate design.
 

Since
my dress was sleeveless, I needed something substantial on my right wrist,
which is where I wore it.
 
My left
hand would only bear my engagement ring—nothing else would take away from
it.
 
For earrings, I chose large
diamond studs and for a necklace, a massive teardrop diamond that hung just
above my breasts.

Finished,
I sprayed perfume on my fingertip, pressed it behind each ear so it was subtle
and not overpowering, and then I took a breath and critiqued myself in the
mirror.
 
Without Bernie or
Blackwell’s help, this was the best that I could do by myself, but because I
had learned at their hand for so many months, their influence was
everywhere.
 
Because of them and
what they’d taught me, I had the tools to pull it together and look good.

Now,
to see Alex.

When
I left the bathroom, he was standing at the foot of the bed waiting for me with
his hands in his pockets and that quirky grin of is on his face.

“Damn,”
he said when he saw me.
 
“You look
amazing.”

“Do
you think?
 
It’s not as if I had the
luxury of Bernie and Blackwell.
 
This is all on me.
 
I hope
you like it—and I hope that she approves.”

“I
love it—what’s not to love?
 
Blackwell will be proud of you.
 
You look incredible, Jennifer.
 
Sexy as hell.”
 

He
was wearing a classic black tux, beautiful shoes, and his hair was parted on
the side and slicked back with some sort of gel—his hair glistened.
 
“Could you be more handsome?” I asked.

“Probably.”

“Probably
not.”

I
went over to him and kissed him lightly on the lips so as not to get too much
lipstick on them.
 
But I did,
anyway.
 
I brushed it away with my
fingertip while he looked at my necklace.

“Are
you sure you want to wear that?” he asked.

“Doesn’t
it work?
 
I have others.
 
What did you have in mind?”

“This.”

From
his jacket pocket, he pulled out a diamond necklace and held it up for
me.
 
“I had a feeling that you’d be wearing the bracelet I bought you
recently, so I went ahead and bought you this.
 
I hope you don’t mind.
 
Like the bracelet, it’s in the Art
Deco-style.
 
What do you think?”

I
just stared at it in surprise.
 
“It’s
beautiful,” I said.
 
And it was.
 
I recognized it from one of the necklaces
featured in the windows at Tiffany on Fifth.
 
It was a Tiffany Circlet motif draped in
complex ropes of round diamonds.
 
It
must have been twenty inches long, which was perfect for the dress I was
wearing, and which complemented my bracelet far better than the teardrop
diamond necklace I’d chosen.
 

“You
didn’t have to do this.”

“But
I wanted to do this.
 
Do you like
it?
 
Would you like to wear it
tonight?
 
You don’t have to.”

“Are
you serious?”
 
I held up my bracelet
next to it and said, “Look how well they go together.
 
It’s as if they were made for each
other.
 
Thank you so much.
 
I want to smother you with kisses right
now, but then we’d be an hour late.
 
I’d have to redo everything, and you’d never get my lipstick off you.”

“Maybe
I’ll worry about that later.”

“Maybe
you will.”

“Here.
 
Turn around.
 
Let’s see how it looks.”

“I
can’t believe you bought me this.”

“It’s
one of your Christmas presents from me.”

“
One
of them?
”

“One
of them.
 
Tonight, we’re sharing
with our friends the date that we’re getting married.
 
I wanted to buy you something special
for that occasion.
 
You’re only
going to enjoy it once, you know?”

“Oh,
Alex….”

I
turned my back to him and felt his warm hands against my skin while he removed
one necklace, and replaced it with his gift to me.
 
I pressed the cold stones against my
throat and dé
collet
é, and then I turned
back to him.
 
“What do you think?”

He
appraised me for a moment before he said, “I already know what I think.
 
What’s more important is what you
think.”
 
He motioned toward the
large, antique walnut armoire that was in the corner of the room, on the front
of which was a floor-length oval mirror.
 
“Have a look.”

I
went over to it, but the bedroom lighting was too dim to have a good look.
 
So, I went into the bathroom, switched
on the lights, and was struck by how perfect the necklace was, from the
intricate craftsmanship to the sheer delicacy of the design.
 
I loved it.
 
It was a far-better match for my
bracelet.
 
Once again, he got it
right.
 
Once again, I was beyond
grateful.
 
How is this my life?
I
wondered again.
 
How did this
ever happen to me?