Holly's Wishes (8 page)

“To Jared!” everyone repeated with enthusiasm, raising their glasses toward him.

Mostly everyone. Patricia no longer had her hands on his shoulders as she’d moved to stand by her husband. As she heard the news, her expression changed from ecstatic to happy, mixed with a smidge of disappointment. “Wonderful news,” she said, obviously straining to maintain her smile, “just wonderful.”

“Well done, son,” Bob added, appearing extremely happy, and maybe a bit relieved in light of Tessa’s little outburst. “When I started at the plastics plant, I was cleaning toilets. Within ten years I was managing the whole damn place. Hard work pays off. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll be celebrating promotions with you every year.”

“Thank you,” Jared said, grinning widely. He leaned into Holly with his arm around her shoulders. “I know this job is going to bring great things for Hol and me.”

A knock at the door interrupted their celebration.

“Oh, that must be our company,” Patricia said with a nervous tone.  She glanced around the table at all the dishes and food still sitting out. “Oh,” she repeated.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Holly said, standing up. “Everything looks fine. I’ll let them in.”

Chapter 16

Holly walked over to the door as the visitors on the other side knocked one more time.

“Coming,” she called out.

Swinging the door open with a welcoming grin on her face, she found herself face to face with Ben, an older couple who looked vaguely familiar from Ava’s wedding, and a face she’d never forget—Michelle Floyd.

Michelle was tall, with long, silky black hair that curled perfectly in all the right places. She wore jeans that looked like they were painted on and a crisp white button down shirt with one button too many undone for Holly’s taste. The white of her shirt matched the white of her teeth perfectly, which appeared even brighter with her impeccably painted red lips. No matter how many times Holly tried to wear red lipstick, she was never able to pull it off. This woman, however, managed it like a pro.

 “Oh,” she said, realizing it wasn’t the most polite thing to say to guests coming to her parent’s home, but it was the only thing she could manage.

Rushing to the door, Patricia ushered them in past Holly who was frozen in her spot. “Welcome. We’re so glad you could stop over.”

Ben smiled at Holly with kind eyes as he walked by, while Michelle barely looked at her.

“Girls,” their mother began, “this is Shelley and Ed Oakes, their son Ben, and his girlfriend, um … I’m sorry, tell me your name again.”

“Michelle,” she said, with a tone making it sound as if she received the greatest insult of her life.

“Yes, his girlfriend, Michelle,” Patricia continued, either pretending not to notice her rude attitude or not care … perhaps both.

“The Oakes’ are Max’s cousins. I thought it would be nice to have them over since we’re practically family now, and Sunday is family dinner night. Isn’t it funny? All these years in Forest Hills together, and we never ran into each other. These are my girls, Tessa and Holly.”

Holly and Ben looked at each other and smiled. She wondered how long it would take their parents to figure out they went to the Soph Hop together in high school.

“We met Ben at Ava’s wedding,” Tessa offered.

“Oh, did you?” Patricia asked.

“Yes,” Holly said. She tried not to sound too thrown off. Her heart raced as he continued to smile at her. “It’s nice to see you again.” As if in a trance, she continued to gaze into his eyes for a brief moment, forgetting everyone else around her … until she felt the tug of Jared’s hand
.

“This is my boyfriend, Jared,” she introduced. “I don’t think you had a chance to meet at the wedding.”

“No,” Ben said, holding his arm out. “I don’t believe we did.”

Well, that’s because he was already three sheets to the wind,
she thought to herself. Of course, Ben already knew about Jared’s embarrassing behavior that evening. Thankfully, he was discreet enough not to mention it.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, shaking Ben’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you also, Mr. and Mrs. Oakes,” Holly added, “and hello, Michelle.”

Michelle silently nodded and stood to the side while the rest of the guests said their hellos and made small talk. Holly and Tessa discreetly cleared away the dishes, leaving just her and Jared’s half eaten meals.

“Please … sit,” Patricia finally offered when the table appeared presentable.

Clearing her throat with an obnoxious and loud sound, Michelle continued to stand as everyone else took their seats.

“Right,” Ben said, standing back up, looking defeated. “I’m sorry to be rude, but I’m afraid we have to run already.”

Holly’s mother stood up again. “It’s no problem, Ben. Your mom told me earlier you’d only be stopping in for a few minutes. She said you were going to a concert or something?”

“That’s right. A band I like is playing at Farrell’s Pub,” Michelle said. Turning the corners of her lips up, she stared directly at Jared, bypassing Holly along the way. “You should come with us. You’d like them.” Tilting her head, she wrapped a strand of her hair around her finger as she continued to stare at him.

Holly glared at her.
How would she know what Jared likes?

“Thanks,” Holly said, letting Michelle know that whatever invitation she extended to her boyfriend would also include herself. “But we just got here. We haven’t even finished dinner.”

“Aw, come on, Hol,” Jared said, keeping his eyes on Michelle a moment longer than he should have before switching his attention back to his girlfriend. “It sounds fun. I don’t think your parents would mind. Would you?” He glanced over to Patricia who only shook her head. “Besides, we need to celebrate.”

Holly turned to her mother to try to get a read on the situation, but was unable to make eye contact. She sighed. “Are you sure it’s okay, Mom? Dad?”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Bob said. “You don’t need to hang out here with us old folks. Go and have fun.”

“Well, in that case,” Tessa said, getting up. “Would you two mind dropping me off at a party on your way out?”

Holly glared at Michelle again. In less than five minutes flat she’d managed to ruin her parent’s family visit. She couldn’t help but notice Ben didn’t look happy about her actions either.

Chapter 17

Holly and Jared dropped Tessa off and headed over to Farrell’s Pub, which was surprisingly crowded for a Sunday. Most of the tables were filled, and the band had already started. Country. Jared hated country music. He was a rock ’n’ roll guy through and through. Holly spotted Ben and Michelle in a corner U-shaped booth toward the back of the room.

“Sorry it took us so long, traffic was horrible,” Holly said, as she walked up to them.

Ben stood as they arrived, but Michelle stayed in her seat, sipping some sort of fancy bottled water.

“It’s no problem,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind, we ordered drinks for ourselves already.”

He signaled for the waitress to come back around as Jared slid into the booth on the other side of Michelle, leaving Holly to sit on the end, directly across from Ben.

“Michelle,” Ben started, “I forgot to mention Holly also went to high school with us. Do you remember her?”

“Holly? Hmm … no, I don’t think so,” Michelle stated, her tone making it clear she must not have been important enough to remember. She turned toward Jared and smiled. “And I know you weren’t there. I would have remembered you.”

He shook his head, eyes glued to her. “No, I didn’t grow up in Forest Hills.” 

“Too bad,” she said, curling her lips back.

Holly reached for his hand.

 “Anyway,” Michelle continued, switching back to Holly. “I mostly hung out with upper classmen or college kids. I found most of the kids in our class to be … I don’t know … ordinary.”

Holly looked at Michelle and had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She tried to shake it off.

Ben turned his head toward his girlfriend. “If I recall, you had plenty of
friends
in our class.”

Holly opened her eyes wide.
Did that mean what she thought it meant?

 “Oh sweetie, I didn’t mean it like that,” Michelle cooed, running her hand seductively across his chest. “You know I had a crush on you from the minute I saw you in English class.”

Yeah right. You didn’t even know he existed. You were too busy hooking up with the football team … and the basketball team.

“We never actually dated in high school. Or even spoke, really—” Ben started to tell the Holly, taking Michelle’s hand off his chest and placing it back in her lap.

“But, thankfully, we found each other this summer,” Michelle said, finishing his sentence.

When the waitress came by, Holly and Jared each ordered a beer and Michelle ordered another bottle of imported mineral water.

“I don’t drink alcohol,” she explained.

 “So, Jared, I heard you mention you wanted to come out tonight to celebrate?” Ben asked.

Smiling, Holly slid in closer to her boyfriend. “Jared was promoted today,” she announced, leaning into him.

“Here, here!” Ben called, lifting his bottle up. “Congratulations. What kind of work do you do?”

“As of today, I’m a Team Leader for the maintenance crew at Crestmont Memorial Hospital.”

“Maintenance crew. That’s like, what, janitorial?” Michelle asked, wrinkling her nose in disdain.

“No,” Jared said. That question used to bother him, but he’d been asked it so many times now, he automatically responded with his standard answer. “I’m in operations. We work on special projects, plus make sure all the hospital equipment is up to code and functioning properly.”

It may not have bothered him, but it bothered Holly. Not the question itself, but the way Michelle had asked it. Just because she was some high-powered executive didn’t give her the right to peer down her snooty nose at everyone else. What did Ben see in her anyway?

 “Can’t have a hospital with shoddy equipment, that’s for sure,” Ben stated. “They’re lucky to have you leading their team.”

“I’m not leading the
entire
team,” Jared explained. “Right now, I’ll have a group of about ten workers reporting to me.”

 “One day you might be,” Holly told him, snuggling against his side.

“I see. Well, that does indeed sound like something to celebrate,” Michelle said, losing a bit of her condescending tone. Twirling her hair again, she shifted her body a little closer to Jared’s.

Chapter 18

 “Just water, please,” Holly requested, when the waitress came by for the third time. Two beers on a mostly empty stomach had been one and a half too many for her.

“Another for me,” Jared said, starting to sound a little tipsy.

“Don’t you have to work the early shift tomorrow?” she asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“It’s cool, Hol. I’ll be fine by morning,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the waitress.

“Change mine to a cola, please,” Holly said with a sigh. “Guess I’ll need the caffeine to keep me awake to drive home.”

“I’ll have another.” Michelle pointed to her empty bottle of Perrier.

“Cola sounds good for me, too, please,” Ben said.

 “Isn’t this band fabulous?” Michelle asked as she swayed in place to the beat.

“It’s awesome,” Jared said, his eyes darting down her shirt more than they should be.

The waitress returned with the drinks. “Cheers,” Michelle said, clinking her glass to Jared’s bottle, while ignoring the rest of the table.

“Michelle?” Ben said, pointing to his watch. “It’s getting late, and I’ve got to get up early for work tomorrow.”

“Oh, sweetie, we haven’t even danced yet. Come on, we have to at least dance.”

“I’m not really in a dancing mood.”

‘How about you?” she asked, looking at Jared.

He smiled, eyes still on her chest, and nodded.

Sighing, Ben stood up to let them out.

He slid back in next to Holly where they watched as Michelle began gyrating against Jared who seemed oblivious and did his own odd chicken type dance.

“I’m sorry,” Ben muttered to Holly.

She laughed under her breath. “This is a typical night out for me. You?”

“Pretty much,” he said somberly.

After two songs, Ben walked up to Michelle, grabbed her elbow, and led her off the dance floor and back to the table. “We need to go.”

Jared stumbled back behind them.

 “Oh, sweetie,” she said, kissing Ben on the cheek. “Can’t we stay a little longer? It’s so rare we get to go out like this, and Jared looks like he could use another beer.”

She motioned for the waitress, and pointed to both their drinks, indicating they’d like refills, without bothering to ask if Ben or Holly wanted anything.

Hanging his head, Ben groaned. “Last one. Then I’m leaving—with or without you.”

As Jared and Michelle sat back down, Holly noticed another button on her shirt had come undone, exposing even more of her cleavage. Twenty more minutes and she might actually wind up topless. Of course, this was Michelle Floyd. Apparently nothing really changed over the years.

Ben stood for a moment, trying to decide where he should sit, before sliding in next to Holly. Somehow, having him beside her made the situation seem not quite so bad. She could tell he was annoyed, as was she. Why did they keep putting up with this?

“Looks like you’re the designated driver tonight,” Ben said as the waitress brought Jared’s beer.

Holly sighed. This was the first time they’d been out to a bar since Ava’s wedding. She’d thought his binge drinking and flirting days were over. Apparently not.

“Cheers to us,” she said to him, holding up her empty glass. It was a poor attempt to mock what was going on with their significant others.

“All hands on the table, kids,” Ben called to Michelle and Jared.

“Oh, Benny,” she replied with a playful grin, “we’re just talking.”