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“Were you and your brother close before this?”
“No. He always treated me like a rival, and I never understood why. He’s two years older, and I know he must have resented it when I took his place as the baby of the family, but I was never any competition. He was always the golden boy, the one who could do no wrong.” His voice dropped, and he muttered, “God, why am I going to this wedding?”
“To prove to all of them that what happened didn’t break you.”
“I guess so.”
He turned his head to look out the window. After a few moments, I asked, “What did you see in Jack?”
“He was my best friend. We were roommates our freshman year of college, and he was gorgeous, popular, charismatic, and brilliant. I couldn’t believe it when he not only wanted to spend time with me, but treated me like I was something special. It was the first time in my life anyone had done that, so it’s no wonder I fell for him as hard as I did. We didn’t get engaged until we were thirty, but I was in love with him for years. Meanwhile, he jumped from relationship to relationship.”
I asked, “And you just sat back and watched? That must have hurt.”
“It did, but when I tried to turn our relationship into something more, he shot me down. He said he only thought of me as a friend, despite the fact that we slept together from time to time.”
“Wait, what?”
“He took my virginity on my twenty-second birthday, which I think was more of a pity thing than anything else. And every now and then, when he was between relationships, we’d hook up. I tried to tell myself that was enough. I was worried about wrecking the most important relationship of my life, so I didn’t push for a commitment. Then, when we were both thirty, I thought my dream was finally coming true. He told me he loved me, and we got engaged.”
“You didn’t date first?”
“No. We’d known each other for twelve years at that point, so I suppose dating seemed unnecessary.” After a pause, he continued, “I don’t know when it all changed for him, when he decided Warren was actually what he wanted and not me. Or maybe he always wanted my brother but settled for second best. Warren was married for eight years and filed for divorce four months before Jack broke up with me. Maybe when that happened, Jack saw the opportunity to get what he really wanted.”
“When did Jack and Warren meet?”
“Three months after I met him. Jack’s parents were living in France at the time, so I brought him home with me for Thanksgiving. My parents adored him from the start, so we took him with us on vacation over winter break, and he was part of the family from that point forward. They acted like my friendship with Jack was the one thing I’d done right in my life.”
“Okay, you need to explain that last part to me,” I said. “You’ve mentioned your parents act like they’re disappointed in you, but how in the hell can anyone be disappointed in a Harvard-educated doctor?”
“Here’s the thing—they’re all Harvard-educated doctors, so that’s nothing special to them. More specifically, they’re all neurosurgeons. You could call that the family business. There’s actually a technique used in brain surgery called the Bennett procedure, which was pioneered by my grandfather. That’s a huge point of pride for my family. But partway through my first year of medical school, I admitted to myself I didn’t want to be a surgeon and switched to pediatrics.”
“That’s still excellent,” I said.
“It’s a failure in my parents’ eyes. One of many. And I only got into Harvard because I was a legacy.”
“What’s that?”
“It means I was granted admission because my parents and grandfather are alumni. I certainly didn’t get in because I was an outstanding scholar or athlete, like my brother and sister,” he said. “In addition to both of them graduating summa cum laude, Camille was a tennis champion, and Warren was a distinguished member of Harvard’s crew team. Me? Not so much. Now do you see why I’m such a disappointment to my family?”
“But those aren’t normal expectations! Don’t they understand that? So, they’re a big pack of freakish overachievers. So what? That doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. It just means they all need to calm the fuck down and realize life isn’t a contest!”
Wes started laughing. Then he put his arm around my shoulders and said, “You’re a breath of fresh air.”
“And your entire family needs to fuck off. So does Jack. I’m still trying to process the way he strung you along for over a decade.”
“He didn’t string me along.”
“Sure he did,” I insisted. “He took your virginity, then acted like that meant nothing and kept dating other people right in front of you! That’s not okay.”
