AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I chuckled at that. “I think I remember… that was Mr. Poponik, right?”
She grinned malevolently and it was like we were right back in high school, with me mooning over her and her continuing on without so much as a notice.
I didn’t resent her for it though, as much as I wished something might have happened between us. I understood that she was a career woman, and relentlessly determined. Maybe one day something could possibly work out between us, maybe it wouldn’t. Either way, I appreciated just being in her presence.
“Yup. He was mad at me because I called him on his inaccurate description of the takeover of Hawaii and I wouldn’t let it go for weeks.”
“He always was a stubborn old man.”
“He really should not have been working in education. Do you remember when he broke that ruler because he was so mad at Scott for something stupid or another?”
“Yeah, I heard about it. You know he wished that he could hit his students with it instead of just breaking them.”
She laughed again and goodness, I wanted her to make that sound forever. But before the conversation could continue further, soft music began to play. I twisted in my seat and saw that the bride and her father were making their way to the wide dance floor in the center of the banquet hall. Ah, the first dance.
“Aw, sweet enough to give me cavities,” Amber remarked, not maliciously, but definitely with some snark in her tone.
Annika and her father embraced, moving together in an obviously very rehearsed, and yet touching, father daughter dance. But as lovely as it was, I found my eyes snapping right back to Amber. I knew her relationship with her parents was pretty nonexistent considering her dad died her last year of high school and her mother had run off to be eloped with some business man from Paris, but I thought I saw the faintest hint of wistfulness to her gaze. I let her have her moment, keeping my thoughts to myself until the father-daughter dance concluded, and more people were heading to the dance floor.
“I’m surprised they don’t have something with the groom and bride,” Amber said, her eyebrows going up. After years together, she knew Annika as well as anyone.
“Oh, they do,” I answered. “They’re just saving it as a surprise for mid-reception after she’s able to change.”
“Of course, they are. Never expect Annika to half-ass anything, ever.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” I watched more and more people joining the dance floor, having fun with a more modern song. Before I could lose my courage and back down, I glanced to Amber again. “Hey, you wanna dance?”
She gave me one of her patented looks while she drained her glass. I watched the column of her throat bob as she swallowed, then gave me a firm shake of her head. “Sorry, I don’t dance publicly as a rule.”
Amber
“Oh yeah, baby, come to Mama!”
I picked up five jumbo pieces of shrimp with the tongs that were set out and carefully placed them on my mountain of food. As a rule, I always loaded up on seafood and meat first before going onto more carby fillers, and believe me, my plate was decked out with all sorts of goodies.
There were stuffed oyster shells, raw oysters, clams, crab legs, shrimp, scallops, really the only thing missing was lobster, but even Annika’s family wasn’t that upper echelon wealthy.
Humming happily to myself, I took my overloaded plate and grabbed a glass full of water then headed right back to my spot at my table. I was fairly pleased that I was mostly alone at my seat. Apparently, the couple next to me hadn’t shown up -judging by the fact that there were three seats with their surname, I was willing to bet their kid was sick- and the other couple seemed content to cut it up on the dance floor like they were in a competition. It left me plenty of room to lean back and enjoy my people watching.
Usually I was so focused on work or my next business move that I didn’t get to sit around and scope out all the lovely clothes and styles that were surrounding me. Annika’s people were just wealthy enough to throw a great party and come dressed up in some truly impressive get ups, but not so much that I felt awkward and unwelcome in their presence. It was a nice balance after hanging around some movie folks who thought that they were God’s gift to the earth. And wow, was the food delicious. I didn’t think that anything could-
“Oh my gosh! Is that Ambie-Bambie?”
I froze in mid-chew of the crab in my mouth, looking away from the dance floor to see one of the bridesmaids coming towards me. Except it wasn’t just any bridesmaid. It couldn’t have been Karen or Michelle or anyone I liked. No, it was Shelly MacEntyre, and we did not get along.
