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Chapter Twenty-One
The mind can go from being completely rational to spiraling out of control and imagining all sorts of scenarios. Those were the extremes I’d gone to over the last few days. Not that I shared the issue with anyone. This time period was about Sasha and Brian and all of the festivities leading up to their wedding day. But I worried Mark would take a step back since the previous weekend had been the anniversary of his fiancée’s death.
The fact I hadn’t heard from him in days was doing nothing to quell my fears. It was Thursday morning. Four days since the anniversary. Five days since I’d last spoken with him. My fingers hovered over the icon on my phone’s screen, ready to dial. Or maybe I should text. Darn. Or maybe I should stop stressing about it. Which led me back to the idea of simply calling him because the only way to stop my anxiety was to hear his voice and ensure we were still fine.
Finally, during my lunch hour when I couldn’t wait any longer, I closed my office door and dialed his number. My heart lodged in my throat while the phone rang. Once, twice, three times. Just as I expected it to go to voicemail, finally a click and “Hello.”
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Hey. Um, is everything all right? Tristan okay?”
It was like that now? I had to be calling for a problem? “He’s fine. How are you?” Why haven’t you called me, my subconscious screamed.
“Okay, but I’m sort of in the middle of some stuff here. Can I call you back? Maybe tomorrow? Or I’ll see you on Saturday at the wedding.”
I fought the hurt. “Yeah. I guess.” I could hear voices in the background and wondered if they belonged to Sarah’s family.
“Jules, I just need time here. I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’ll see you Saturday though and we’ll talk then. Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.” I mean what else could I say.
The sound of the disconnect left me cold. Although I didn’t want to believe he wasn’t ready to move on from Sarah and the memories, it might be time for me come to terms with that reality. In fact, he may always need more time.
* * *
Mark hadn’t called.And I had a wedding to prepare for, so I didn’t have the time if he had. At least, that’s what I told myself because I certainly wasn’t going to spend time obsessing over what him needing time meant. Right.
In any event, I was here for my friends today. I certainly wouldn’t let things with Mark ruin that.
When I looked in the reflection of my hotel room mirror, I smiled. At least I felt good about myself today. It was the first time in a long while. I’d gone to the salon together with Sasha, Kenzie, Catherine, and Haylee. I’d had my hair done and even a manicure. Then we’d all had our makeup professionally applied. I felt pretty in my red dress. When we’d gone shopping last weekend, Sasha had insisted the color would make me feel cheerful as well as complement my brunette locks. I had to agree. It also felt good to step out of the color black for a change.
It was cold as hell at the February beach wedding in North Carolina. But my two best friends marrying at sunset in an intimate ceremony at Sasha’s favorite spot was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever witnessed. The love Sasha and Brian expressed for one another brought tears to my eyes.
I noticed the moment Mark arrived. Although he stood over with Josh and Haylee on one side of the couple while I was with Kenzie and Colby on the other side, he did give me a smile. The nerdy-hot kind that made my stomach do somersaults.
But he didn’t make a move to go with us back to the reception hall. And forty minutes later, he still hadn’t shown up at the party. By then, I was ready to stab ‘hope’ along with her friend ‘time’ with my fork if either of them were mentioned again.
I forced a smile and took a seat next to Kenzie. She excitedly told me about her backup singing gig which started touring in March. Considering I’d practically seen Brian’s little sister grow up, I enjoyed catching up with her. Better to do that than pathetically scan the room for Mark.
Matter of fact, I made a decision. Mark could seek me out instead of me stalking the entrance waiting on him. I threw a cocktail back—only one for now because I had a toast to give later, resolving to enjoy myself despite my emotional turmoil.
As everyone took their seats for dinner, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning, I gave a smile to the handsome groom.
“Hey, you ready to do your toast?” Brian queried.
At least he made it easy to focus back on the here and now. “You bet. The question really is: are you ready?”
Brian chuckled. “Absolutely.”
I got up out of my chair and followed him to the front where—gulp—they had a stage. Someone handed me a microphone.
Then my goofball of a boss did something unexpected. He turned to me and got serious. “Juliette, you’re like the older sister I never had. I hope you know that.”
It took a full three seconds for his words to seep in and for me to swat him. “Hey, I’m younger than you. And don’t you know better than to rile up the person about to make the speech?”
He laughed but then kissed my cheek. “I was only kidding—about the older part. Thank you for agreeing to do this. It means a lot.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s an honor. Besides, it was kind of a group effort.”
