one: pressing engagements
He walked into the party like he was walking onto a yacht. Which was appropriate, since the party was on a yacht. In the Hamptons, to be more specific, and the attendants were every bit the high class socialite one would expect. And so, Justin was uncomfortable, to say the least.
He didn’t quite know why he felt so inept around this crowd “ surely his bank account was of equal or greater value to his counterparts. As a world-renowned music and movie star, he had certainly had more interesting experiences than they could ever dream of having. He’d loved, he’d lost, he’d learned a lot in his thirty years on earth. By any one’s standards, he should have been the least apprehensive person there. But he wasn’t. He was uncomfortable, to say the least.
“Justin! You made it!” The party’s guest of honor, Kristin, had spotted her elusive friend and was going in for a hug before he knew it.
“Hey,” he smiled, being attacked by her embrace. He inhaled sharply, comforted by her presence, and then pulled away to get a good look at her.
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I know, I’m glad I’m here too.”
“We didn’t think you would make it. Mila said you were in LA,”
His eyebrows raised a bit, surprised that Mila said anything about him. “Well last time I talked to Mila, I was in LA.” Three months ago, he thought. “I’ve moved to New York full time now.”
“Oh wow, I had no idea. That’s fantastic!” Kristin’s adorable Southern accent melted into a smile and she took him by the hand. “I’m happy to see you.”
“It’s been a while, huh.”
“That’s an understatement. I mean, what, six months now?”
“Almost.” He nodded politely to those he recognized as his friend dragged him through the boat to who-knows-where. “Where are we going, by the way?”
“To find Grant, of course. He can’t wait to see you.”
“Of course.”
“And to meet the rest of the wedding party.”
“Ah.”
“I mean, we brought you all here tonight so we could formally ask you to be in our wedding. That’s okay, right?”
“I mean… I’m not--.”
Kristin stopped in her tracks, almost causing Justin to walk into her, and spun on her heel to face him. “And it’s okay that Mila will be in the wedding, right? She said you guys were okay. Are you two okay?”
He couldn’t speak for Mila, but he wouldn’t have exactly described himself as okay. “Umm… Yeah. We’re fine.”
“Okay,” she sighed in relief, resuming her task of leading him to a private room. “Good.”
“My parents are here, by the way. They would love to see you.”
“I-I-I would love to see them,” he sputtered, trying to take in all this information at once. Sure, it had been a while since he’d been around, but there were suddenly a lot of thoughts swirling around his head, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
“Are you all right?” She could tell he was flustered. “If this is too much for you…”
She knew him well, as childhood friends tended to. He took a deep breath and smiled. “I’m freaking out a little,” he admitted, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hide it from her. “I haven’t seen Mila since the divorce went through.”
Kristin’s smile, which had comforted him since the day they’d met in 7th grade, softened to the point of pity, and she gave her friend another hug. “I’m so sorry, friend. I didn’t even realize how much this wedding stuff is probably going to suck for you.”
“No, no, no, no, you should enjoy every minute of this, Kris. I told you, I’m fine.”
“I know, but I just feel so bad for you guys. It’s so weird that you’re apart now!”
He hesitantly eyed the door that led to the most important part of the party and then looked back at his friend. “It’ll be fine,” he promised her.
Arm in arm, they entered the room to all smiles as Kristin announced his arrival. There were several faces he recognized, but most of them were strangers to him, which, again, made him antsy. And then he saw her. Mila. It was impossible not to “ when she was in a room, no one else existed, honestly. Even with everything going on between them, she still took his breath away sometimes.
Their stares locked on one another, her green and blue eyes “ one of each “ displaying an obvious sympathy for him and their situation. She stood to her full 5’4” stance, brushed a portion of her long black and brown locks behind her ear and smiled at him warmly. He gave a shy wave of his hand and nodded to everyone before heading straight for the bar.
While he waited for his margarita on the rocks, he scanned the room, smiling at those that made eye contact with him.
“Only an hour late. I’m impressed.” Mila had approached him before he knew it, and he immediately wished his drink would come sooner.
“What can I say, I like to make an entrance,” he shrugged.
“Pretty sure you don’t, but all right.”
“It’s good to see you,” he proclaimed, giving her a once-over. She appeared happy, at ease, very much unlike the woman he’d known for the past couple of years.
“You as well.” She was glad that he appeared well-groomed and rested. There had been times she worried about him, from what little she might have seen of him in public. As of late, he’d looked tired; haggard, even. But on this particular day, he looked like a 30-year-old man should. Vibrant, clean-cut… content. “You look good.”
He chuckled and looked down at her yellow polka dot dress, wondering when she became the type of girl that wore dresses on a Saturday afternoon. That had never been Mila’s style. She was more tight jeans and a tee than sundresses and sandals. “How have you been?”
“Good,” she promised, looking him squarely in the eye. He never believed her when she said as much, but it was true. “I’ve been really good, actually. How about you?”
“Since the last time we saw each other? Good, I suppose.”
“You suppose?”
“It’s all relative, isn’t it?”
“When is the last time we saw each other?” she wondered, sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs.
He looked down at the bar, obviously disappointed by the fact that she didn’t remember. “The day before our divorce went through.”
“That’s right,” she recalled, thinking of that dreadful day where he literally begged, on his hands and knees, for another chance. She never knew Justin to do anything of the sort. He didn’t beg or cry or even ask, half the time, for anything of anyone. But that day, she only saw a shell of the man she had married. No wonder she didn’t remember that day. She wanted to forget everything about it. “March twenty-second.”
“Worst day of my life.”
“I never wanted to hurt you, Justin. You know that.”
“I know that now,” he admitted quietly, watching his drink being served.
“Can I get you anything,” the bartender directed to Mila with a smile.
“She’ll have a Bellini with an extra shot of Schnapps.”
“Absolutely, sir.”
Mila watched in irritation as the server disappeared and he turned back to her. “Justin, you can’t do that.”
He looked at her curiously and then back at his own drink. “What, I can’t order you a drink?”
“No. Not anymore.”
“Oh come on, you know that’s what you wanted.”
“Your ego is unbelievable,” she shook her head.
“You can’t possibly be upset that I know you better than you know yourself.”
“Even if that were true…”
“I’m sorry,” he relented, his hands raised in defeat. “I guess I’m still stuck in the old days.”
“They’re over, Justin.”
“I’m slowly but surely getting that, Mi. Bear with me.”
She stared at him sorrowfully, unsure of how to say what she needed to say without causing a scene. He’d become so temperamental lately, she wasn’t sure whether her news would just bother him or end up breaking him. But she knew she had to tell him before he found it out from someone else.
He could see the anguish on her face, and he figured it best to just rip the band-aid off so that they could get on with the evening. “So why did you come over here?” he wondered quietly. “I know it wasn’t just to make small talk.” His dark blue eyes begged for mercy.
“I won’t sugarcoat it, Justin. I’m engaged.”
He swallowed hard and blinked several times as he digested her proclamation. “You’re engaged.”
She nodded. “To James.”
“Clearly.”
“I did want to be clear.”
He was silent for a long time, only staring down at his hands, rested on the bar top. He went through a series of questions in his head before eventually croaking one out. “Why?”
“Because I believe that I deserve to be happy,” she stated concisely, her big, bright eyes darting downward. “I did love you, Justin. And… some part of me probably always will. But I can’t pretend that I’m in mourning when I’m not. I’ve moved on.”
“How do you move on so quickly? Like it’s nothing?”
“You’re not really asking me this, are you?”
“No, I am. Because the ink has barely dried on the papers--.”
“That was two months ago, Jus.”
“It was only eight months ago that you decided you wanted a divorce. How are you engaged to someone else so fast?” he frowned. “I mean…we spent nine years together, Mi. You couldn’t possibly…”
“I fell in love with him,” she answered simply. That, she was clear on.
“In eight months, you managed to fall hard enough to be marrying someone else.”
She knew it sounded suspicious, as though just maybe her relationship had started before the divorce did. But no… “I know what I want when I want it,” she shrugged a bit coldly.
“Oh, but you’re so good, and everyone else is so bad,” he sarcastically painted a bitter picture of their divorce. “And now you’re engaged to James fuckin’ Franco. Then, to top it off, you tell me at our friends’ engagement party? Who does that?”
“Look, I didn’t come over here to start a fight,” she sighed shakily. “I just wanted to let you know.”
“Well thank you, Mila. I am up to speed on your life and I’ll put it on my To Do list.”
“Justin…”
“I am invited to the wedding, right?”
“There is no wedding.”
“You’re gonna elope? Again?” He and Mila’s wedding “ or lack thereof “ way back in 2002, was a quiet affair. So quiet, not even their parents had been invited or informed until after the nuptials had taken place. “I know you’re marrying a college student, but I’m pretty sure you can afford a wedding with all those Family Guy checks.”
She flashed a hint of a fake smile before her face went solemn again. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“No you’re not.”
“I am,” she insisted earnestly. “But like I said, I can’t sit around waiting for you to get your life in order so that I don’t feel bad about mine.”
“My life is fine.”
“You’re lonely. I know that. And I feel bad about that, even though I shouldn’t.”
“You should,” he retorted eagerly. “You left me.”
“Justin, you and I both know that you left me long before I walked out the door. So spare me the diatribe about how I ruined your life.” She got up, ignoring the fact that the Bellini she would’ve ordered was on its way. “I wanted to give you a heads up, so I did. That’s all I have.” She gently rubbed his head for a moment before leaving him to his drink.
At this point, uncomfortable was an understatement, to say the least.
Story Notes:
So. I'm back! I'm doing this. For real. Not sure what "this" is yet, but hey. Here we go!
Check out the cast of characters here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/tbocast.jpg/
Check out the cast of characters here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/tbocast.jpg/
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