Scot on the Rocks (19 page)

“Deal,” I said.

“Actually, that’s why I thought it would be a good idea to come here. Just put a little space between us and see what happens.”

“And?” I asked. I noticed that she had barely called Marcus, but at the time I thought it was just because he was on call.

“I’m more confused than ever,” she said.

I nodded.

“Do you think that you’d be able to forgive someone?” she asked me, and I honestly didn’t know. I told her so. “Well, if given the chance, would you have forgiven Douglas?” she asked.

“Probably,” I said. “But then I bet he would have done it to me again. In hindsight, I think that that’s just the sort of guy that he is, you know?”

Vanessa nodded back to me, but I could tell that she didn’t know. Of course Vanessa didn’t know. She would never be stupid enough to be with someone for that long who wasn’t a stand-up guy. To be with someone who you knew would do you wrong, but to be insecure enough to wait until it happened. To think that that’s what you deserve, that you can’t do any better, and then to not even have the luxury of being shocked when it
does
happen to you.

“Let’s just put it this way,” I explained to her, “when Douglas told me about it, I was angry, upset, and everything else you could imagine. But I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised that he’d done it. And there’s something wrong with that.”

And there was. Only I was just realizing it now. “With Marcus,” I continued, “I’m pretty shocked. It just seems so out of character for him. Like a response to something, as opposed to a regular behavior. Like a little kid acting out almost. Not like I’m making excuses, though.”

“I know, I know you’re not. And I kind of agree,” she said. “That’s what makes it so hard. I feel like I can’t turn my back on him, but I’m just so hurt. It’s just so hard to get past. And the fact of the matter is that I can’t decide whether I want to get past it or not. So, that’s where I’m at. Don’t tell Jack, okay?”

“Not a problem. Where is Jack?”

“Jack? I thought that your boyfriend’s name was Douglas?” Ava said, looking decidedly unbridal, emerging from one of the bathroom stalls. She was pulling her dress back down with one hand, while balancing a martini glass and a cigarette in the other. She stumbled a bit on the way out in a way that made me think that this was not her first drink of the night. Nothing says class like a bride with a drink and a cigarette. Classy with a capital
K.
The only thing that would have looked better would have been if she were holding a beer bottle instead of the martini.

“It is! It is,” I assured her. “I just sometimes like to call him Jack.”

“Oh,” she said, apparently unfazed. Or too drunk to actually be fazed. “Well, Vanessa, I’m so sorry that your husband wasn’t able to make it.”

Vanessa didn’t say a word, apparently trying to decide whether or not Ava had heard our conversation. I couldn’t tell, either, but I could smell the alcohol on Ava’s breath from where I was standing.

“
There
you are!” a tiny little blond girl in a nondescript black strapless cocktail dress cried out, rushing into the powder room. She began alternately puffing up and then patting down Ava’s dress, and then did the same with Ava’s hair. “I’ve been looking for you
everywhere!
” she said, laughing nervously in our direction. “These brides, I tell you,” she said, still with the nervous laughter, “you take your eye off of them for one little teensy tiny minute and look at what happens!” She was trying so hard to act as if all this was normal that it reminded me of the summer that my parents almost got divorced. The more my mother manically assured me that everything was okay, the more I got the feeling that I’d be spending weekends with Dad and weekdays with Mom.

Ava broke from the blonde’s grasp and took a long drag from her cigarette, like a heroin addict getting her fix. The ashes were coming dangerously close to her gown. The tiny blonde held her hands out to catch them.

“Oh, my God,” the blonde said in a panic, “Bev is going to kill me!” Beverly Lawrence — the name explained it all. I actually began to feel sorry for this little lackey of hers. Beverly Lawrence was the ultimate Hollywood public relations power player. She was as famous as her A-list clients in her own right. She even taught a class on it at UCLA. Beverly’s reputation for being tough on her minions was the stuff of urban legends. Rumor has it that the last assistant who let her down couldn’t even get a job selling (gasp!) retail once Beverly was done spreading the word about her in New York.

“Ava’s really shy and gets panic attacks from too many people,” the blonde said. “Please don’t tell anyone that you saw this. It would really hurt her image with the kids,” she said, with her eyes pleading and her arms lifting Ava up.

“Our lips are sealed,” I said as the blonde began to spray Evian water on Ava’s face. It seemed to do the trick because Ava was able to walk out of the ladies’ room almost completely on her own.

“Alas,” Vanessa said as they left, turning to me, “the emperor is wearing no clothes.”

“She’s an emp-
ress,
” I corrected, reapplying the lipstick Damian had given me.

“No, I’m talking about the children’s story,
The Emperor’s New Clothes.
”

“You know, I never really understood that story. What kind of story are they telling to kids that ends with some pedophile running around town naked?”

“I think that you’re missing the point of the story, Brooke.”

M
aybe Vanessa is right. Maybe nothing is perfect. Maybe nothing is what it seems. Relationships certainly aren’t perfect. They’re never even close.

Douglas wasn’t perfect. Everything had to be his way or the highway, and even that wasn’t good enough for him in the end. So, why was I still chasing him? Why was I spending all this time trying to get him back?

Trip certainly wasn’t perfect. He had been so busy constantly trying to outdo me that he never really took the time to get to know me.

And Danny’s idea of a fun night at home was torturing small animals. Not to mention the major mother issues going on there that it still hurts my brain to think about.

So, then, I suppose marriage can’t be perfect. I mean, marriage is just one big relationship, so how can it possibly be perfect?

Jack grabbed my hand and took me out onto the dance floor the second I got back to the table. We danced and he was dangerously close. I could smell his aftershave and felt it go down my spine. I didn’t pull away. The band played an old song that I didn’t know and Jack sang along to it in my ear. My arms wrapped around him, I turned my faux engagement ring around my finger.

This time, I was determined not to spoil the mood. I just took it all in. The couples danced around the dance floor like tiny little tops, perfectly aligned, spinning around but never bumping into one another. The men, all dapper in black tuxedos and white dinner jackets, the women, splashes of vibrant color in reds and pinks and yellows and golds. As we spun around, the sweet smell of the lilies and roses hit me.

The moment was perfect. Maybe Jack was a little perfect, too.

“I’m having such a good time with you,” I whispered into his ear.

“So, does that mean that I’m doing a good job trying to be more good-looking?”

“Wow,” I said, taken aback. “How long have you been waiting to throw that one back in my face?”

“A long time,” he said with a smirk.

“Yeah?” I said, trying to sound sexy.

“Yeah, most of the reception, I’d say,” he said, pinching my waist. I giggled like a little girl. “And, don’t think that it was easy to work that into conversation.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” I said. “I happen to think that you are
very
good-looking.”

“Is this the part where you say ‘in a platonic way?’” he asked and my mouth fell to the floor. “That one I’ve been waiting to use since Barneys,” he said. I laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just that I’m not really accustomed to a man listening all that closely to anything that I say,” I said, looking out onto the dance floor.

“I listen to everything that you say,” he said, turning my face to his with his finger, suddenly very close to me again.

“You do, don’t you?” I asked as he leaned into me. He shook his head yes slowly as he leaned in a little more. I couldn’t believe it. We were going to kiss. I was going to kiss Jack. Or, Jack was going to kiss me! Either way, it was happening right this very minute — we were going to kiss!

I closed my eyes and lifted my head to his, but was abruptly brought back to reality by a familiar voice.

“May I cut in?” Mrs. Martin asked. Our faces simultaneously turned away from each other to look at her. “Douglas, dear, do you think that your fiancée would mind if I borrowed you for a dance?”

Mind? Yes, of course I mind! Don’t I look like I mind? Couldn’t she see that we were just about to kiss? Granted, she thinks that we are engaged and thus do that sort of thing all the time (or one should hope!), but the fact remains that we
are
not and we
do
not! I most certainly mind!

“Why, of course not!” Jack said, in his perfect Scottish accent. “Thank you very much for asking! Brooke, you remember Mrs. Martin from cocktail hour, don’t you?”

“I most certainly do,” I said.

“May I say, Brooke, you’ve got a real keeper here,” she said.

“Yes, she does,” Jack said, looking over his shoulder to me as he took Mrs. Martin’s hand to dance.

“Don’t you just love the accent?” she added in a stage whisper.

“Who wouldn’t?” I stage whispered back as Mr. Martin took my hand.

“So, how did you two lovely young people meet?” Mr. Martin asked me as we began to dance. His hands were rough to the touch, like someone who has had to work hard his whole life, but his nails were neatly manicured, like a lady who lunches.

“We work at the same law firm,” I said.

“An office romance?” Mrs. Martin said over her shoulder, spinning Jack around so that she could look at me. “My, my! Our daughter is always telling us that it’s inappropriate to date someone in your office nowadays. That it’s somewhat taboo.”

“Funny you should mention that, Mrs. Martin,” Jack said, taking back the lead. “That’s the reason that Brooke and I didn’t get together at first.”

“You don’t say?” Mrs. Martin asked, intrigued.

“Our firm had a silly little policy about interoffice dating,” Jack said.

“It makes sense if you think about it,” I said. “The office gossip mill could kill any good relationship, and if it doesn’t last, then you have to see that person every day.” Mrs. Martin shook her head in agreement as if she had heard this same line of reasoning before from her daughter. “And, of course, it’s hard enough to be taken seriously as a woman.” Mrs. Martin continued to nod.

“Yes, dear, I see your point,” Mrs. Martin said, “but finding true love is worth the risk, isn’t it?” I looked over to Jack and found him looking at me. I tried to formulate a response, but couldn’t help but think that I agreed. All this time, I’d been wasting my time pining away for a cad like Douglas when I had a wonderful guy right here in front of me. What on earth had I been thinking?

“Well, with all due respect, Brooke,” Mr. Martin said, “I always thought that working together was a stupid reason not to date someone.” I looked over at Jack in his kilt and smiled. He was smiling, too.

It didn’t matter
what
I had been thinking in the past. Now I had my head screwed on straight. I was going to go after what I wanted — what I deserved — from now on and nothing was going to stand in my way.

“I’m beginning to think the same thing myself, Mr. Martin,” I said.

“Beginning to think so?” Mr. Martin replied. “You mean you
thought
so. You two are engaged already!” He and Mrs. Martin both laughed.

“Yes, thought so,” I said, laughing along with the Martins. “I just meant that I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Jack and I locked eyes. The song ended and we all stood and applauded for the band. They cued up another number and Mrs. Martin grabbed Jack’s arms to dance another dance.

“So, Douglas,” Mrs. Martin said to Jack, “perhaps you can show me a traditional Scottish dance?”

“Yes, I would love to do that sometime!” he said.

“There’s no time like the present, Douglas. Show me some moves,” she said, grabbing his arms and moving them around as if they were going to start up some sort of spontaneous break-dancing wave or something. I could see Jack over Mr. Martin’s shoulders and I gave him a hopeful smile. After all, he’s a smart guy. He can improvise.

He began to do some salsa. Salsa? Maybe he can’t improvise. Gosh, what does this guy do when he’s in court? Thank goodness big firm litigators never really ever go to court, or this guy would really be in trouble. (Jack: “Your honor, I object.” Judge: “Over-ruled.” Jack: “Your honor,
por qué?
” Judge: “Sit down before I hold you in contempt.”)

“No, Scottish moves, silly! Don’t you Scots have any traditional dances?” she asked, laughing. I’ve laughed that laugh before. I could tell that in her head she was thinking,
Those crazy Scots!

“Ah, yes, but I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t know them very well,” Jack said, taking a handkerchief out of his breast pocket to dab at his brow.

“You don’t have to be shy with me!” she persisted.

“I’m just afraid that I wouldn’t be able to teach them very well, is all. Scottish dances are very complicated, you see.”

“But I’m a great dancer! Try me!” she said, and I tried to formulate a getaway plan. Perhaps now would be a good time to feign illness? Or pretend we just saw some wedding guests that we simply
had
to say hello to across the floor? Would the Martins buy it if I pretended that we’d just spotted Matt Damon and we absolutely
had
to go over and say hi since we were friends from high school? Or would Mrs. Martin know that Matt Damon was slightly older than me? Oh, my God, is that really Matt Damon?

Or, failing everything else, should I just simply grab Jack and run all the way back to New York? That wasn’t sounding like such a bad idea right about now. After we said “hello” to Matt Damon, that is.

What? I wouldn’t want to be rude.

“It’s just that I don’t want to butcher any of the moves,” he said.

“It’s not exactly like any of us are going to know the difference, now then,” she said laughing.

I could see the lightbulb go off in Jack’s head. I began looking around for the emergency exits. Clearly, this constituted an emergency situation.

Jack began to smile.

God, no. Please, no.

“Good point, Mrs. Martin,” he said.

For the love of God, no! I was pretty sure I had told him that I was going for the whole “quiet - complacent - ex - girlfriend” thing, not the whole “loud - flashy - ex - girlfriend - with - the - hottie - in - a - skirt” thing. Certainly that excluded said hottie in a skirt dancing a ridiculous Scottish dance, didn’t it?

“So, go on, then,” Mrs. Martin goaded. “Show me what you’ve got.”

And he did. He showed her exactly what he had. And it was not pretty. Depending on your point of view, that is.

Jack began doing a Scottish dance. Well, his rendition of a traditional Scottish dance, anyway. It was a crazy mix of the hora that they do at Jewish weddings and the Irish dancing that Lord of the Dance does. He began very slowly, very gingerly, and was clearly making up the steps as he went along. I wondered if Mrs. Martin could tell.

“That’s right, Douglas!” Mrs. Martin called out. “Make your mum proud!” (I guess she
couldn’t
tell.)

He continued dancing, and a few of the other guests began to watch. Within minutes, Mr. and Mrs. Martin were actually following along. I was having none of this, though. I slowly backed away from the dance floor and made my way to our table. By the time I’d edged away from the scene of the crime, even more wedding guests were watching Jack — cheering him on — following every move he made.

“Funny, I’ve never seen that dance before,” the Scottish waiter said to me as I reached the edge of the dance floor. Oh, my God. We’re busted. We are stone-cold busted. He’s going to tell everyone that Jack/Douglas is not really Scottish! Everyone will know that I made my best friend dress up as my most recent ex for my other ex’s wedding and it won’t even matter that Jack wore a kilt, or that we almost kissed on the dance floor, or that I’ve finally come to my senses! I will be humiliated and never able to show my face in L.A. again! The whole west coast, really, if you think about it. Who would have thought that after all of this careful planning and plotting, in the end, I would get busted by the Scottish waiter? Damn the gods of coincidence. Damn these large banquet halls and their hiring of random Europeans all the time. Damn! Damn! Damn!

“He must be from Perth,” the waiter said, shrugged, and walked away.

Damn.

I looked up and Jack was still doing his rendition of a traditional Scottish dance, now in full force and with most of the dance floor dancing along with him. Those who were too timid to try their luck dancing stood on the side of the dance floor, clapping along.

“Is that supposed to be a traditional Scottish dance?” Vanessa asked me, as she nibbled on a dinner roll. Our salads were being set onto the table.

“I don’t know. I can’t bear to look,” I told her, turning my back to the dance floor and taking a swig of white wine from a glass that was sitting on our table. I hoped it belonged to someone we knew, although at this point, I didn’t really care.

“Do the Scots even have a traditional Scottish dance?” Vanessa asked me.

“How the hell should I know?” I asked. “I think that we have established that I did not do the requisite research for this weekend. You think you’ve got an outline with colored tabs and some color-coded index cards with the name of a hometown and a kilt, and you’re set. But you’re not.”

“Yes, I think that it’s supposed to be a Scottish dance,” Vanessa said, mesmerized by what she was seeing on the dance floor, unable to take her eyes away. “Only it looks like a cross between the hora and an Irish jig.” Vanessa was intently staring, head tilted slightly to the right as she puzzled over what was before her eyes.

“I’m just warning you now, if he starts lifting people up in chairs, I’m walking out,” I said, closing my eyes against the scene.

“Oh, my God. Do not turn around,” Vanessa said, her head snapping upright. My God! Did that man start lifting people in chairs already?

“What?” I asked, starting to turn around. Vanessa grabbed my arm.

“Do not turn around until I’ve had a second to come up with a plan,” Vanessa said, suddenly very serious.

“What on earth are you talking about?” I asked. “What is Jack doing now?”

“It’s not Jack,” she said.

“So, then
what
is the big deal?” I asked.

“It’s not Jack. It’s Douglas.”

“What?” I asked. I stood up and turned around very slowly. There he was, walking to us, as if he didn’t have a care in the world — the cad of all cads, the cheater of all cheaters — Douglas. Walking toward us, as if in slow motion. I sat there, completely helpless, like when you know you are about to be in a car accident, but it’s too late to do anything about it but simply brace yourself and hope that you don’t get too hurt.

I stared at him coming to us, closer and closer, looking absolutely gorgeous as always — like James Bond, only more handsome. Eyes flickering with that devilish look, mouth contorted into his David Addison smirk, with just the perfect amount of stubble on his face. I could just tell that if you got close enough to him, he probably smelled great, too.