First Visions (19 page)

“Aww Kate, that’s shitty. Sorry, it didn’t
work out. His loss,” Julie told her loyally.

“Thanks Julie, it’s amazing to finally be
able to have someone to confide in.” They finished up their meals
and Kate began clearing their plates.

“Any plans to leave the house this
decade?”

“Yes, not by choice though. My cousin’s
wedding is this weekend. My mother told me in no uncertain terms I
am to put on a dress, lipstick and my best smile and forget about
everything shitty about my life right now.”

“It could end up being fun! Have a few
drinks, catch the bouquet, do some dirty dancing with dudes from
the groom’s side,” Julie suggested.

“Maybe,” she hedged and twirled a strand of
her light brown hair in her fingers. Weddings could be entertaining
and maybe her family would even pretend to have amnesia for the
night and not bring up her latest scandal. It could also be amusing
to do a baby-bump check on her cousin and guess how far along she
could possibly be.

“To further cement our friendship, I’ll let
you borrow the Jimmy Choos for longer.”

“Ah, now I know the real reason you came over
here. You weren’t worried about our friendship, you just wanted to
make sure your shoes were ok,” Kate joked. “Thanks for everything
Julie.”

“No need to thank me. If you want to return
the favor, feel free to share any visions you have of Gage. I have
a sneaking suspicion something happened between him and the redhead
who was staying next door to him in the Hamptons last summer.”
Julie gave her a long hug and Kate had the urge to cry. It was such
a relief to know being honest and revealing her true self didn’t
mean she was going to lose her best friend.

“Oh god, they put us at the reject table,”
Kate mock whispered to her mother as they arrived at her cousin’s
wedding on Saturday evening.

Her charcoal colored dress was pretty
spectacular and Kate lamented over the fact that her date was her
mom. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and fitted bodice.
She swore her boobs never looked so good. Kate wasn’t a big fan of
her stomach or butt and loved how the ruching style of the chiffon
hid every flaw. The hem lifted to her knee while staying longer in
the rear. Although she felt like a goddess in the dress, she
couldn’t help but note how her cousin had stuck her in the farthest
and darkest corner of the ballroom.

“Kate, I’m sure the seating was done
arbitrarily. It must be extremely difficult to arrange the tables,”
her mother said.

Her mom could see the bright side during
Armageddon. Kate was impressed over what a knockout her mother
looked like. Maybe finding an older gentleman to sweep her mom off
her feet could take Kate’s mind off her own dismal love life.
Kate’s mom wore an eggplant colored gown with an empire waist and
cap sleeves. They both had gone to the salon earlier for manicures
and to have their hair styled. Her mother had settled on a formal
updo while Kate had decided to keep her hair down, but had the
stylist add soft waves using large rollers.

Kate examined each of their tablemates and
couldn’t help but think the slight was deliberate. “We’re not even
sitting with anyone from our family? I’m guessing this was
definitely on purpose.”

Their dining companions included two preteen
boys, a couple whose idea of formalwear consisted of jeans and a
collared shirt for the guy and a dress for the girl that looked
like a beach cover-up and an elderly couple who looked like they
rather be anywhere but there.

Collapsing into her chair, Kate took a swig
of the champagne in front of her. Her mother slapped her hand.
“You’re not supposed to drink the champagne until the toast.”

Kate rolled her eyes and noticed one of the
boys across from her giving her the stank eye. “What?” she
challenged staring back at him while knitting her eyebrows.

“You’re the weird girl that my mom says is
full of shit.” Both the boys began to snicker as if they were the
funniest assholes in the room.

“Well, my mom says you’re a mouth breather
who won’t amount to anything in life,” she retorted.

Her mother gave her a painful pinch on the
leg. “Ow!” she exclaimed as her mom gave her a look that said stop
acting like a brat. She turned back to the boy. “Ha-ha, just
kidding.” The tension level increased at the table and she knew the
rest of the guests were wondering how they ended up at this freak
show.

The happy couple was introduced and Kate
could barely manage a slow clap for their entrance. She told her
mom it was a bad idea for her to come when she was in such a sour
mood. At least she got out of attending the ceremony earlier in the
afternoon by claiming she was suffering from a horrible bout of
menstrual cramps. Her mom didn’t buy it, but let it slide since she
figured no one would notice if Kate wasn’t at the church. The
reception had been non-negotiable.

After she had reconciled with Julie, Kate
foolishly thought she could get past everything including her
heartbreak. She assumed Jared might try to make further amends and
reach out to her again. However, she had not received one single
call or text from Jared all week. Dick. Nikki must have threatened
to cut off his balls if he had any further communication with her.
Put this on top of Cori still being missing and she wanted nothing
less than witnessing a wedding, such an ostentatious display of
love.

The only bright spot of the week besides
Julie’s visit had been the conversation with her dad last night. He
took her up on her offer to spend time together over the Labor Day
holiday. His friend owned a property along the shore and he was
going to check to see if they could stay there for the weekend. It
would be just the two of them. He decided it would be too soon for
her to meet his lady friend. Maybe the weekend would give them a
chance to sort out a few of their differences.

After about an hour of toasts and first
dances, her mother permitted her to finally finish off the rest of
her champagne and request another glass from the waiter. Her mom
urged her to go mingle with their family members, but she decided
to stick with the good time bunch at her table. Due to the high
number of odd looks she had received since their arrival, she could
only imagine the comments from her family in regards to her latest
media blitz. They would probably accuse her of perpetuating the
whole thing to one-up her cousin on her wedding day.

Although she wanted to lay low, she smiled at
her Aunt Lucy when she came over to the table. Her aunt was dressed
in a simple black dress with a hem resting an inch below her knees.
She was five years her mother’s junior and was by far Kate’s
favorite aunt. After a hug to say hello, she inquired, “What are
you doing hiding back here? Come out and dance with me! The
Cha
Cha Slide
is bound to come on any minute.”

“I’m trying to keep a low profile, you know
after the whole news story thing,” Kate replied.

“You say that, but your dress says otherwise.
Let’s get out on the dance floor! I could even act as your wingman
and rustle you up a few cute guys,” she said with a wink. Her aunt
had a perpetual string of boyfriends and Kate didn’t doubt she
would be able to have her hooked up with someone within the
hour.

Kate laughed. “Alright, I should probably go
and give my congrats to Jessica and Abe too.”

Kate tried not to let her paranoia kick in as
she walked across the ballroom and felt the stares. Walking up to
the head table, she gave a gracious smile to her cousin. Jessica
had settled on a princess style dress which seemed to swallow her
tiny figure. It took all her willpower to not let her eyes wander
down her dress and check to see if it fit snugly around the tummy
area. “Congratulations Jess! I’m so happy for you!”

“Thank you, glad you could make it,” she said
formally and turned back to talk to her newly minted husband.

Kate stood there awkwardly for a minute until
it was painfully obvious that she was being dismissed. She felt her
Aunt Lucy grasp her from behind and steer towards the dance floor.
Kate whispered, “Does everyone have to act like I have the plague?
Is it that horrendous I’m a psychic helping out on an abduction
case? It’s not like I was plastered all over the front page for
running a meth lab.”

“It’ll blow over, hon. Plus, not everyone has
a negative reaction. I personally think it’s amazing you have these
abilities. You probably don’t feel like getting into it now, but
let’s plan lunch sometime soon and you can tell me all about
it.”

Kate nodded and they arrived at the dance
floor. Deciding to simply have a good time, she began to dance with
her aunt. Her mother joined them a couple of dances later and they
had a few belly laughs while displaying their silliest dance moves.
By the time dinner was served, Kate found herself in much better
spirits. They returned to the table and she began to dig into the
roast chicken she had ordered. Her pimply face friend from across
the table said snidely, “Your ringtone is gay, you should change
it.”

Ignoring him, she reached for her purse and
pulled out her phone. She had received a text from Jared about
twenty minutes earlier.
Can I come over? I need to talk to
you.

She sent him a quick message back.
No can
do, I’m at my cousin’s wedding at Cedar Brooks. What’s going
on?
She waited for his reply and wondered if anything had
happened with Cori. Hopefully, it was good news. She grew annoyed
when he did not reply right away. She had no idea why she would be
remotely surprised that he would leave her hanging.

Her mom finished her entrée and headed back
out to dance. Kate debated whether to join her, but figured she
should maybe wait a few minutes to hear back from Jared in case it
was important. After polishing off the rest of her dinner and
another glass of champagne, she realized it was unlikely she would
be hearing back from Jared anytime soon. Tucking her cell phone
away in her purse, she rose to leave. She heard it chime just as
she was about to walk away.

Her jaw dropped as she read his reply.
I’m
outside.
He was outside? Like outside the wedding? Kate was
beyond confused and turned to her favorite prepubescent pest. “Can
you tell my mom I had to step out for a couple of minutes?”

“Blow me, loser,” he said and gave her the
middle finger. Kate could see a bright future in juvie stretch
before him.

After wandering out of the ballroom, she
exited the double doors of the reception hall. A few random chain
smokers stood outside, but no one she recognized. She wondered if
she had misconstrued the message. Why would he want to talk to her
here of all places? Before she turned to walk in, she noticed a
lone figure off to the side of the building standing next to a
pillar.

Kate was surprised she hadn’t spotted him
sooner. He looked completely out of place among the formally
dressed guests. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black
t-shirt with a random logo printed in the center. His hair had a
sexy mussed up style going for it, but Kate doubted he had
purposely styled it that way. His eyes looked troubled as he
watched her move towards him. With his hands stuck in his pockets
and his shoulders tense, Kate guessed he wasn’t there to convey
good news. Dread began to build as she noted the tension coming off
him in waves.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Is Cori ok?”
Her voice rose to a panicked pitch as she rushed over to stand in
front of him.

Jared visibly relaxed at her question. “Yes,
sorry for scaring you. I want to let you know there has been a new
development. We’ve received a ton of tips since releasing your
sketch. Most lead to dead ends, but we’ve actually had about half a
dozen concentrated in this area of Irvine. We’re thinking it’s not
coincidental and he must be from there.”

Kate nodded at this piece of information.
Irvine was about half an hour away and the location fit in with the
time frame of how long she suspected Cori was in the trunk. It also
had several high crime areas which were known for heavy drug use
and prostitution. One of the worst disses in middle school was
saying someone saw your mama working the corner in Irvine.

“No one in the family recognized the man in
the sketch? I just can’t shake this feeling that he’s met them
before.”

Jared shook his head emphatically. “No, I was
hoping the same thing. I had Nikki and her parents look at your
sketch again and again to see if he appeared familiar to them. They
weren’t able to identify him.”

“At least you have a lead on where he could
be living. I haven’t seen anything else, but that doesn’t mean
anything. I had a lot on my mind this week and it could have kept
me from connecting with her.”

He didn’t say anything, but continued to
stare at her. Even in her heels, he still stood several inches
above her and she tried to look past him instead of gazing up into
his face. As much as she could fool herself into thinking she could
get over him in a short amount of time, glimpsing him in the flesh
again confirmed that her emotions had not changed. It also
convinced her of his previous sentiment that they could not be
friends.

She grew uncomfortable as the silence
stretched on and blurted, “You didn’t have to come out here to tell
me that. You could’ve just left a message or sent me a text.”

“I probably should go,” he said in response
and looked away from her. The amount of stubble since the last time
she saw him seemed to double on his chin. It looked sexy on him and
she was envious at the thought of Nikki getting to feel it against
her face as they kissed.

“Is something else wrong?” she prompted as
her patience began to wear thin. Didn’t he know how painful it was
for her to stand there with him and not fall apart?