The Truth About Ever After (8 page)

“Come
on, Kiki,” he said, thrusting his hands into his pockets. “I was really hoping
we could avoid the whole soul-searching conversation about my deferred dreams.
Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure,
Matty
,” I said quietly. But I reached over and
squeezed his arm so that he would know I was there for him. “
Wanna
hear about my classes?”

By
the time we reached the restaurant, I had told Matt all about my classes and
professors, as well as the work I was doing for the Student Activities Board
and the Students Against Drunk Driving organization. As Matt held the
restaurant door open for me, I caught sight of Eric’s face. He was wearing a
bemused expression, and I was pretty sure I saw him roll his eyes.

“Kiki!”

I
smiled as I caught sight of a large group of friends sitting at a cluster of
tables by the window. “Come on,” I said to Matt, pulling him over to the gang.
I introduced the boys to my friends and felt a bit pleased that they were all
very welcoming, warm even.
That’s how you
should behave when you meet someone new, Eric Thompson
, I thought to
myself.

In
no time at all, I was able to forget all about Eric. Matt was pleasant and
seemed happy to talk to my friends. It was a good group of people, some of my
sorority sisters, a few friends from my classes. I found I was having fun
before our drinks even arrived.

After
we ate dinner, discussion turned to plans for the rest of the evening.
Apparently one of the potential parties had already gotten busted, but in a
college town like this it was easy to find a replacement.

“I’m
just
gonna
hit the bathroom
first,” I said, jumping up from my seat. “Be back in a second.”

In
the ladies’ room I peered at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t help but wonder
why Eric hadn’t reacted to me at all. I mean, I thought I looked pretty cute in
my jean skirt and corduroy jacket. I leaned
closer,
baring my teeth to make sure I hadn’t smeared lipstick or anything.

Whatever
, I said to myself, trying to bolster my
own confidence. Maybe he was just shy. Maybe if he got to know me a little
better he might like me more. I reapplied my lipstick and pinched my cheeks to
give them some color. I would just have to try again, that’s all.

Walking
out of the bathroom, I turned to head back to the table when I caught sight of
Matt standing near the front door. He was talking to Eric and they both had
their backs to me. I decided to put my try-harder plan into action and headed
in their direction instead.

“Can’t
we do something else?”

I
paused where I stood, a few feet from them. That was Eric’s voice…

“I
told you I wanted to hang out with my friend tonight,” Matt was saying. Were
they talking about me? “You said that was cool.”

“Yeah,
that was before I met her,” Eric said. “God, Matt, when you told me all the
kids at Country Day were snobs, I thought you were exaggerating.”

“Kiki
is not a snob,” Matt said. “She might seem a little over the top—”

“Over
the top?” Eric said, laughing. “She’s the biggest ditz I’ve ever met.
Seriously, Matt.
How did you even end up friends with her?”

I
had heard enough. I spun on my heel and headed back to the table. Most of the
group was now standing, gathering up jackets and purses. I joined them, picking
up my purse and slinging it over my shoulder.

“You
okay, Kiki?”
Kara, my closest sorority sister, asked.
“Your face is like, really red.”

“Is
it?” I asked, breathing fast. “It must be cold in here.”

I
walked with my friends back to the entryway. Eric was standing there, looking
sullen, but Matt smiled at me as we approached. “Ready to party?” he asked.

“Are
you?” I asked, my voice quiet. I hoped he actually wanted to be here. I would
hate it if he felt like he just needed to tolerate my company for old times’
sake.

“Sure,”
he said. “Just so long as I can get a beer. They do serve beer at these things,
right?”

In
spite of my rapidly beating heart, I felt my spirits lift a little. I
remembered his defense of me:
Kiki’s not
a snob
. Matt was my friend, no matter what his brother thought.

I
linked my arm through his, determined to enjoy what little time I had with him.
“But of course,” I said. I pushed past Eric as we walked through the door,
refusing to even look at him. I would not make a scene or make Matt
uncomfortable by letting him know what I had heard. My mother had taught me
long ago what to do when people made those kinds of assumptions about us. It
wasn’t like it was rare
;
not since the money started
coming in.

I
raised my head high and plastered a smile on my face. I would go to this party,
enjoy myself, and never think about Eric Thompson ever again.

Chapter Seven

“Well,
that trip went way too fast,”
Eric
sighed, picking up
my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “Can’t believe it’s back to the real
word already.”

“I
know,” I sighed. “I wish we could have just stayed. We could be out on that
sailboat right now.”

Eric
took my hand and led me through the crowds at the arrival area and outside,
where a car was waiting for us. “Good trip, Mr. Thompson?” the driver asked,
taking the bags from Eric.

“Very
good, thank you,” Eric said. He opened the door for me and I settled into the
comfortable back seat.

“At
least it’s not too cold out yet,” I said, peering out the tinted windows at the
blue sky. “Imagine if we were coming back next month and there was snow.”

“Ugh,”
Eric said, leaning back in his seat as the driver moved us out into traffic.
“That would have been worse, you’re right.”

“It
was a good week, wasn’t it?” I asked. I was feeling very pleased with myself.
After months of planning, I felt I had delivered the perfect wedding for Jen
and Matt. And I’d had a blast in the days that followed. I hoped the others had,
too. I felt my face fall a little. “Do you think I overdid it? You don’t think
I made the others crazy, do you?”

“No,
Kiks
,” Eric said patiently. “Everyone had a really
nice time. You planned fun stuff for us to do. Besides, don’t you think Annie
of all people would have told you to back off if she felt overwhelmed by any of
it?”

I
giggled. He had a point. “I like hanging out with Jen’s friends. They’re such
cool girls.” I felt a familiar pang of melancholy. Eric must have sensed it,
because he took my hand.

“You’re
a cool girl, too,” he said.

“We
should have them all over for dinner,” I said. “To welcome Jen and Matt home.”

“That
would be nice,” Eric agreed.

I wonder if Ginny would be able to get a
sitter on short notice
,
I thought to myself.
Maybe not.
Maybe she’d have to
bring the kids along.
That could be good
.
I was convinced that the more time Eric spent with kids, the more likely he was
to see that it was exactly what we were missing.

“I
think a dinner will be just the thing,” I said, more to myself than to Eric,
who had turned his attention to the sports section of his paper. “Maybe
just
the thing.”

***

“You’re
here!” I squealed the moment I caught sight of Jen standing in the reception
area of our office. “I can’t believe it!”

“Kiki,
I told you I’d be back today,” she said patiently, setting her briefcase down
on the reception desk. “Hello, Barb,” she said, smiling at our receptionist.
“How have you been?”

“Welcome
back, Mrs. Thompson,” Barbara said. “You’re looking very well.”

“She
looks totally fantastic!” I squealed. Barbara was nice and all, but she was a
little too reserved for my taste. She hadn’t seen Jen in almost two weeks! Any
normal girl would jump up and hug her. Speaking of which…

I
rushed forward and pulled Jen into a tight hug. “I missed you!”

“I
missed you, too,
Kiks
,” she said, squeezing me back.

“I
want to hear all about the honeymoon,” I said. “Seriously, tell me
everything
.”

“Kiki,”
Jen said, in her you-need-to-calm-down voice. “We have work to do. Let’s talk
at lunch, okay?”

I
sighed. Just when I thought Jen had chilled out a little, she was back to her
old serious ways. “Fine,” I said. “But we
are
doing lunch. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

I
headed back to my little office and sank into my seat. Powering up my computer,
I pulled out my phone to text Eric.
Jen’s
back! Love you!
Xoxo
K.

When
we first started dating, Eric had been annoyed by my constant texting. Now he
said he was used to it, and even admitted to liking it a bit. “It’s nice to
know you’re thinking about me,” he had said. And sure enough, within minutes he
had texted me back.
Have fun catching up.
Love you, too, E.

Thinking
how cute my husband was, I smiled to myself and pulled my legs up under me in
my comfy desk chair. I loved my little office. It was a world away from where I
had worked before. Back at Daddy’s company, I’d run the service management division.
One perk of the otherwise boring job was my office—a large room in a
high-rise building with sweeping views of the city. From my wall of windows I
could see half of Detroit, all the way to the river and Canada beyond.
Everything there was shiny and chrome, expensive and sophisticated. It was nice
and all, but not really me. I always felt like the entire set-up was lifeless,
being suspended so high above the city below without really being connected to
it.

This
office, on the other hand, was filled with personality. Jen and I had rented
the space three years ago when we started our firm. I had fallen in love with
it from the moment we walked in, and that love had only grown the longer we
worked there. It was a small space, tiny really, consisting only of two small
offices, a reception area, a storage room, and a minuscule conference room,
which doubled as a break room when we weren’t using it to meet with clients.

When
we’d first moved in, everything was a depressing shade of institutional grey.
Jen and I, with help from Eric and Matt, had spent a fun weekend painting the
entire place a light spring green—after everyone else vetoed my
suggestion of dusky pink. Since the building was old and creaky, and we didn’t
have money to invest in sprucing up the somewhat battered hardwood floors, we
had decided to go with a shabby chic motif. Our furniture was a mismatch of
white chairs and tables salvaged from thrift stores, which we had sanded and
scuffed up a little to give the right feel. Jen and I had spent hours looking
for all the right accessories—gilded mirrors, beaded lamp shades, antique
urns to fill with plants, and sepia-toned nature prints for the walls. It was
perfect
.

Once
my computer had booted up, I opened my calendar to see what was going on this
week. I was relieved to see we didn’t have any events; just prep work for
things coming up. That would mean that I would have plenty of time to get my
Baby Plan in action.

I
had come up with the Baby Plan on the way home from the airport Sunday. I
figured that Eric just needed a little convincing to get him the rest of the
way on-board. It wasn’t that I wanted to nag him, or trick him, or anything
mean like that. I just knew he hadn’t put as much thought into the baby thing.
He was a guy, and from my experience they didn’t spend as much time fantasizing
about the future. But once he saw how great things could be with a baby…

I
opened my Internet browser and got busy. Within a few minutes I was immersed in
the world of parenting blogs, hoping to find a few articles or testimonials to
send Eric. I kept getting sidetracked by the pictures, though. Babies were
so
cute.

“Kiki?”

I
looked up to see Jen standing in the doorway, holding a small vase of pink tea roses.
She was smiling broadly at me. “Are these from you?”

“Welcome
back,” I said, returning her smile.

She
set the flowers down at the edge of my desk and came around to hug me. “You’re
very sweet, you know that?”

“Nothing
but the best for my new sister-in-law,” I said.

“
Whatcha
doing?” she asked, peering at my screen.

“Uh,
nothing,” I said, feeling like a little kid caught doing something they weren’t
supposed to. From her vantage point behind my desk she could clearly see my
Internet browser, opened to a webpage called
Mommy Dearest
.

“I
was just doing research for the Baldwin shower,” I said, inspiration striking.
“You know, trying to get some ideas flowing.”

She
raised her eyebrow slightly, and I just knew she didn’t believe me. Oh well, it
wasn’t like she was my boss or anything. And this gave me the chance to put
phase two of the Baby Plan into action.