OTHELLO
I feellike I’m under a microscope. Carina and her crew are looking at me as if I’m about to perform magic tricks. Danielle, Carina’s best friend, and her cousin, Jaylah, are the only faces I recognize. The other two are strangers, and neither of them bothers hiding the way they look me up and down. And trust, the looks from these four women bouncing between Carina and me, searching for any trace of animosity, desire, or regret, are impossible to ignore.
They know. Carina must have told them.
We’d dated for a year, and keeping our relationship private had always been more important to me than it was to her. So while the world never knew we were together, her family and closest friends did.
Carina was becoming a big star back when we were together, and I wasn't interested in becoming a headline every time we went out to dinner. But Carina wanted dinners without having to go through back entrances. Pictures of me with her on redcarpets. Photos on Instagram. The freedom to take trips that didn’t need to be hush-hush.
My personality needed the opposite.
As these girls I don’t know look at me, unease sets in. I can practically hear the questions forming behind their eyes, and I see the entire week playing out. The past I shared with Carina being exposed. The questions, the speculation, talking behind my back.Why did I come? Is Othello still in love with her? Does he hate Gavin? Is he here for revenge?
I shouldn’t give a damn about any of that shit, but would I be able to handle the speculation and judgment for seven whole days? What version of our break-up had Carina told them? If I had to guess, it was one where she came out looking a lot better than I did.
Would these uppity rich folks be eyeballing me, waiting to see if I crack? Anxious to see if I will do something stupid, or something far more horrendous like sabotaging my cousin’s wedding, because I’m a bitter man scorned? That’s not what I’m here for. But of course that’s what they would see. In fact, that’s how Carina’s girls are looking at me right now.
A bead of sweat forms on my brow. And the anxiety that crept up on me this morning in the Uber is back with a vengeance. The one I’d shoved down with tequila and Marley’s laughter.
That maddening feeling of irritation was back, slithering up my spine.
“We thought you’d be here hours ago,” Carina scolds. “We had a meet-and-greet right after check-in.”
“We stopped to get something to eat,” I tell her evenly. “But I’m here now.Safely.” I put emphasis on the word safely, because clearly Carina doesn’t give two shits about that.
“Safely.Yes, you are here, safely. Glad you made it,Ozzy.” Her gaze flicks to my side, finally noticing Marley, who isswaying like she is seconds from ruining the pristine marble floors with vomit.
Carina looks Marley up and down, her brow lifting in curiosity. And then, as if Marley can’t speak for herself, Carina turns to me.
“Who is this? I didn’t know you were bringing a plus-one.”
A plus-one?
I wasn’t. I mean, I didn’t. I’m about to correct her and tell her she has it all wrong. Marley isn’t my date. She’s just a woman I’ve spent half the day with, who, somehow, I’ve developed a feeling for that I can’t explain.
The truth almost spills from my lips, but before I can say anything, my senses prickle. My hand is wrapped around Marley’s. I don’t even remember reaching for it. And before I can stop myself, before I can weigh the consequences, I say it.
“This is my girlfriend, Marley. Marley, meet Carina, the one marrying my cousin.”
Marley turns so fast I swear I hear her neck crack. Her eyes glance up at me, a subtle hint of surprise and betrayal swimming in their depths.
I squeeze her hand, my heart hammering against my chest.
Then she looks back at Carina, stretching her lips into a smile that is strained and all teeth.
Carina’s gaze sweeps between the two of us.
“Your girlfriend?” she asks, her words slightly offended and steady, as if she needs to be sure she heard correctly. “I had no idea you were bringing a date.” She stretches out the worddatelike it’s laced with poison. “We haven’t set up any of the venues for an extra person.”
“It’s okay,” Marley stammers, her free hand placed on my chest. “I can sit on his lap.”
Laughter bubbles up from the two girls I don’t know, but Carina’s body goes rigid, her expression twisting in the way it does when she’s disgusted or upset.
“It was a joke,” Marley adds. She sways. Hiccups. And I find myself wrapping an arm around her shoulder to steady her and pull her closer.
“You okay?” I ask her. It’s a loaded question. But the concern is real. And so is the guilt I feel in my gut when I realize I’ve gotten Marley stuck in the middle of a lie.
“I’m not feeling too good,” Marley answers.
