Elly In Bloom (24 page)

Suddenly the door to the studio burst open. Keith was there, with a bat in his hand, a vein in his forehead throbbing intensely.

“WHO’S THERE?” he screamed. “Come OUT before I come in!”

Elly turned around. Keith’s obvious adrenaline rush turned into confusion.

“Elly?” He dropped the bat and ran toward her. “What happened? Are you hurt? Was someone here?” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Did that hippie upstairs do this to you?”

Elly shook her head. A lie alighted on her tongue, for the purpose of making the situation better, but she found herself too exhausted to even consider it.

“I did this. It was me. All of it. It’s my fault.”

Keith walked her to an overturned chair, righted it and sat her down.

“Sit down. Why would you do this to your beautiful shop?”

“Lucia,” she said.

“Is she your other personality?” Keith asked nervously.

Elly smiled in spite of herself. “No. Lucia, previously unbeknownst to me, is the name of the woman who slept with my husband. Lucia is the name of the woman who stole Aaron from me, the name of the woman who I found straddling my husband in our bed. And Lucia is who all this was for.” She paused to catch her breath. “Somehow, I’ve been hired to do my ex-husband’s wedding.”

Keith sat down beside her and picked up the crumpled consultation form.

“Wow. That’s a lot to process.”

Elly nodded and continued. “I always told myself she was just a fling. Just sex. A young, gorgeous art student who he decided to screw around with, that he stupidly let lust overtake him. I liked to believe that he regretted what he had done. Losing me.”

Keith cautiously put his hand on her back. “I’m sure he did.”

Elly took a deep breath and wiped away a tear. “No, no, I don’t think so. He is marrying her. Making her his wife. Obviously, he loves her and I’ve been deluding myself all this time. I’ve held onto him for so long, and even though I never let myself know it, I’ve been waiting for him, all these years. And now he is here, here in my place.”

She put her hand over her heart.

“I’ve been safe here. This is my world. And now, she is here. And HE is here. In my place.”

Keith picked a piece of glass out of her hair. “Is that why you destroyed it?”

Elly looked around. “Maybe. I’m so angry I can barely breathe.”

Keith looked at the floor. “Just tell me again when you plan to destroy your store, that way I won’t run over thinking you are being robbed.”

Elly leaned against him, tears welling up yet again. He smelled like warm bread.

“It’s nice to know there are people who care. You’re a good friend to me. Besides, it was very heroic.”

“Elly, maybe the timing is wrong….” he started to say, but was interrupted by the door to the studio flinging open.

Kim stood before them, with jeans unzipped and a fisherman’s sweater unbuttoned over a tank top.

“Elly?” she asked. She took in the devastation. She approached carefully and slowly, as though Elly was a wild animal that could attack at any moment. “Sweetie.” She knelt and wrapped her arms around Elly. “I talked to Snarky Teenager on the phone. She told me what happened.”

Elly choked back a sob. What was it about being held that re-released her emotion, full tilt? She was so relieved that Kim was there. She wanted to curl up and die. Keith stood, seeing that he wasn’t needed anymore.

“I think that I’ll take off and let you guys talk. Elly, if you need anything, please come over. I’m just on the other side of this wall.”

Elly reached out her hand past Kim’s shoulder. Keith took it gently in his. “Thank you Keith. One could not ask for a better neighbor.”

Keith looked embarrassed. “Next sandwich is on me.”

Even though Elly was crying, she managed to look excited. “Free sandwich for a broken heart? I’ll take you up on that.”

“It’s a plan,” said Keith, and walked out of the store, stopping to grab his baseball bat on the way out.

Kim lifted Elly’s face to look at her. “Oh, my sweet friend.” She wiped a tear off Elly’s face with her pinky. Then she turned bewildered and looked around the store. “Hell hath no fury…”

Elly moaned. “I can’t believe I did this to my store.”

Kim stood up carefully. “Well, I can’t bend over very far, but I’m sure that you and I can get this mostly cleaned up in an hour or so.” She tiptoed over the broken glass. “Did you have to throw the table? I mean, wasn’t it enough to throw everything else?”

Elly sighed. “I guess not.”

“I noticed that nothing hit the cooler.”

“I’m devastated, not stupid,” she countered. “That cooler was expensive!”

Kim tilted her head sympathetically. “Let’s clean up and then find you some wine.”

Elly looked at her best friend with intense gratitude. “Thank God I have you,” she said and reached for the broom, to clean up the mess she created.

Later that evening, Elly held out her wine glass. “More please, more please! Por favor!”

Kim wagged her finger at her. “No more for you. Depressed and drunk is a very bad combination. Also, if Isaac comes over, he will try a full-on attack. Linen pants, guitars AND candles.”

Elly moaned. “Isaac. What am I going to tell him about this? The last thing he needs is to hear about my ex-husband. One minute I’m the sexy florist next door…” Kim rolled her eyes at this. “And then I tell him about Aaron and then I’m the crazy woman with tons of emotional baggage and lots of feelings.”

“So you’re just going to pretend that this isn’t happening?” Kim asked incredulously.

“I’m not going to pretend. I’m just not going to share this with him. He’s not the kind of guy that I could unload this on. At least, he’s not yet. We just aren’t at that point where this would be acceptable date conversation.”

“Understandable.” Kim paused. “How are you doing?”

Elly looked up at the stars. She and Kim were sitting on her roof deck, bundled up in sweatshirts and blankets. Kim sipped her tea as Elly finished a cracker topped with feta.

“It’s a good thing your appetite hasn’t suffered in all this,” Kim commented.

“No, it didn’t the first time around either.” There was a long silence as the cool air whistled around them. Elly could make out the buildings in downtown St. Louis, their tiny windows filled with light.

“How did you not know?” Kim finally asked. The silence settled around them, heavy with meaning.

Elly pulled her blanket over her toes. “Do you know I’ve been asking myself all night? Did I know? On some sub-conscious level, did I know that this was Aaron’s wedding?” She thought for a second. “I have to say that I really didn’t. I very rarely know the name of the groom. I never asked. I knew that Sunny’s daughter was named Lucia. But I never knew the name of the woman who slept with Aaron, so how would I have made the connection?” Elly looked into the dusky sky above her. “Kim, I’ve never been quite honest about how I left Georgia. I’ve let people think that it was a quick resolve.”

She moved Cadbury’s heavy paw from her leg. He sighed deeply, drool pooling on Kim’s lap. “The truth is, there was
no
resolve. I never knew her name because I left before I could learn it. Aaron and I have not spoken since that day I found them together,” Elly choked back a sob, “in MY bed. I left him the house – I wanted no part of it. I mailed the divorce papers from a Post Office Box. I never looked back.” Kim leaned over and rubbed her shoulders as she shook. “He took EVERYTHING from me. And I let him. I let him take my friends, my house, my…dreams.” She paused. “We were trying for a baby. He said he wanted to have a baby with ME while he was sleeping with her. Who does that? I never knew I was weak. I thought that I was a strong person, until he took my life away from me. And I made it easy for him to walk out the door with it. I let him take it all, because I loved him too much to stop him. And I would have given even more.” Elly gasped for air.

Kim pulled her against her side. “Slow down, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m listening.”

Elly wiped her eyes, embarrassed. “Kim, I’ve been waiting for this. Aaron was always there, inside of my dark places, waiting. Every day and every minute. He’s every unfulfilled thought, lurking in the back of my mind. All this time, I figured he would find me. It wouldn’t have been hard. I thought I would open the door one day, Aaron would be there and he would beg me to come back. Then I could slam the door in his face.”

Kim looked skeptical. “Would you do that?”

Elly shook her head. “No. I would probably have gone back with him,” she said, pointing at herself. “Weak, remember? Well, at least I would have, until Isaac came along.” Elly smiled. “He was the one who came knocking on my door. I stopped waiting for Aaron the first time I kissed Isaac. It figures that once I’m finally getting back to good, Aaron finds me.” Her hands flopped up in exasperation. “Okay, seriously?! I got hired to do their
wedding
?!”

She sank back against the couch exhausted. “This would only happen to me.”

Kim rubbed her eyes. “That much is true. You are a magnet for weird situations. What are you going to do? You’re going to decline the wedding, right?”

Elly closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the pillow. “Probably. It makes the most sense. I can’t think about that yet. I’m going to need a good 24 hours to just understand how this came to be.”

Kim leaned forward. “You cannot do this wedding Elly. You can’t. You don’t even allow yourself to think his NAME. How are you going to react to seeing him get married?”

“I know it. I just feel so bad for Sunny.”

“Do you think Sunny knows?”

“No. She can’t. Would you tell your mother that you met your fiancé by having an affair with your married art tutor? No, I’m sure Sunny thinks they met at a museum or something.” Elly kept her eyes closed. “I’m exhausted. I think I need to go to bed. I can’t believe I have a WEDDING tomorrow. At least it’s at the Pavilion. It should be pretty simple.”

Kim nudged Cadbury off her lap, to which he gave an annoyed moan. “Yes, yes, I know, you were comfortable. Don’t you also have to go see Isaac’s band play?”

Elly let out a huge groan, followed by an involuntary wine burp. “Oh, no! His
stupid
band! Everest Oppressed? Seriously, what does that even
mean
?” Elly attempted to stand and fell back into the couch.

“Er, let me help you inside, Elly.”

Elly looked at Kim, pushing herself up laboriously from the couch. “Kim – what would I do without you?”

“Die, probably,” retorted Kim. She waddled over and kissed Elly on the forehead. “Let’s go to bed. You’ve had a horrible day. Is it okay if I stay the night in the guest room?”

Elly sighed, but was secretly comforted that there would be someone with her in the apartment tonight. Together they descended the stairs into Elly’s apartment and turned out her lights.

In her bedroom, Elly pulled off her pants and slipped into bed, Cadbury flopping against her side in the darkness. There were a couple of minutes of silence as Elly prayed, alternately angry and pleading, all for mercy, for grace. Out of the silence, mingling with her own clipped whispers, she heard soft murmurs through the wall, drowsy and loving, as Kim talked to Sean on her phone.
That is what Aaron took from me
, she thought.
Someone to whisper with.
Her covers lay cool on her body, but Elly suddenly felt like she was suffocating. She threw the duvet off her, turning over on her stomach and facing the wall. She let a single tear run down her face.

“I thought I was done crying for you.” she breathed, the last thought before she slipped into empty drifting.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

Elly’s alarm went off at 9, and then again at 10. She hit the snooze button, burying herself deeper in the covers with each passing hour. Finally, at 11 am, she awoke with a start to a loud banging on the door. She moaned and threw herself out of bed. Her head was pounding, her eyes dry and tired. Cautiously, she looked out the peephole. Snarky Teenager stood in front of the door, hand on her slim hip. Elly pulled open the door.

“Good morning” she muttered.

Snarky Teenager looked down at her. “Why aren’t you wearing pants?”