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Thatzaphit me so hard Iforgot Iwas at work, forgot Iwas waiting for the bride and groom to make their entrance, nearly forgot we were in apublic place as the electric shocks coursed through me. Iraised my hand to wave back, my right foot lifting to take astep forward to walk up to him and say hi and then dropped down immediately when Isaw someone else beside him, awoman.
Awoman who seemed to have dropped there from an award ceremony, her thick blonde hair draped to the side, wearing adusty blue off-the-shoulder gown that matched her big, round eyes. Awoman who rested her hand on Zach’sshoulder, whispering something in his ear.
What the fuck?was my initial and, in my opinion, most appropriate reaction to her closeness to him and the intimate way she touched him, like she’dknown him for years. In the weeks that followed hisWe’re not fucking other peopledemand, we had developed some sort of friendship where he’dstay awhile after having sex. At any of these occasions, he could’ve told me he wanted to date someone. Iwouldn’thave minded.
Maybe alittle. But still, I’drather have known than to have to find out like this. Not fucking cool. Not for her and not for me, especially since we weren’tusing protection.
Collecting myself, Itore my eyes from the two of them and averted my gaze from him to the entrance of the room where Darius was scheduled to appear any moment. Ihad questions that needed to be answered, but not here, not in my office. No one’spresence ever made me trip over myself and mess up my reputation, and Irefused to let Zach be the one who made me slip up.
The sting that simmered in my chest hadn’tlessened in intensity even when Inoted Zach was still waving at me from my peripheral vision. In fact, it probably hurt more when he gave up, though Ididn’thave time to dwell on it.
The band hit the opening tune of the Wedding March, and the rest of the ceremony continued without any glitches. The routine Iapplied for every wedding kicked in, and Icircled the couple, catching every second of it. Their vows, as they slipped the rings on each other’sfingers and the best part, their first kiss as amarried couple.
The newlyweds walked happily out of the room, smiling at their guests and having confetti thrown at them from each side and me trailing them close behind. As Ifollowed them to the exit, Imade the mistake of swiveling my head in Zach’sdirection. Ididn’tknow what Iexpected to see, but Idefinitely wasn’texpecting to feel this wretchedness at his confused and desolate gaze that he had trained on me.
Nope, not now, Iscolded myself and closed the gap between me and Jenni and Darius.
Just when Ithought my problems had ended there, Irealized they had only begun at the cocktail hour, the part where Iphotographed the guests. The knot in my stomach prevented me from ambling freely through the venue and from approaching the elegantly dressed men and women to pose them for their photos. The expectation of seeing Zach and his date rained on my mood, and Ipaced around bracing myself for the moment they entered the room.
But, again, this was my job. After afew Zach-less minutes, Iforced myself to resume my casual tone and upbeat smiles as Istarted taking pictures of the young flower girls.
“You two are the cutest!” Squatting on the floor, Iencouraged them to stay in place while giving their delighted parents athumbs-up.
Ibrought the camera up to my eye again and squinted the other, fine-tuning the focus on the jittery girls. As my finger reached the shutter button to take the photo, awide shadow blocked some of my light. Itilted my head up to ask whoever stood there to move, but my smile wavered when Isaw the large shadow was Zach.
“One second, sweetie,” Iinstructed the little brown-haired girl, begging her with my eyes not to move when it seemed like all she wanted was to run to her mom.
My fingers flexed on the camera while Ipasted on the fakest smile you’dever seen. “Do you mind? I’mtrying to work here.”
“No need to state the obvious.” He returned my smile, and even though mine was fake, his wasn’tby any account. He found the whole situation entertaining. “Can we talk?”
The redhead girl lost her patience and wandered off to hug her dad’sleg. Ilooked at the parents apologetically and hissed, “Not now.”
“Later then?” He hunkered down next to me.
“When I’moff work.” Iswatted his hand away when he extended it toward my knee.
“Okaaay.” Deciding it was better to let me be, he leaned on his knees, got up, and wandered away.
The girls, awelcome distraction from my evolving annoyance with Zach, were lured back with treats to finish the set of photos Ihad planned for them. Later there were toasts and the couple’sphotoshoot outside before we returned to the venue.
Ihadn’tseen Zach during that hour and into the first dance. Istarted thinking he might have gone home, spared me the awkwardness and the touch of sadness at being forced to take photos of him and his date and watch them dance together. We weren’tromantically involved and he wasn’tcheating, but hiding the truth rang just as ugly as lying.
Yeah, that was what bothered me. The lying, not him being with another woman.
Now who’slying?
“Tulip.” Zach startled me by tapping my shoulder. Ijumped, the camera dropping from my hands to dangle on the strap around my neck.
“Is the busy photographer available for one dance?”
Ischooled my expression to hide the shock from his request. After spending weeks with him Igot the impression he was agenuinely nice person, not the kind of man who’darrive at awedding with adate then ask the woman he was casually sleeping with to dance with him.
“The busy photographer is, as you can see, busy.” Iturned back to the dance floor, signaling him to leave. The heat from his body remained, comforting and annoying at the same time. “I’mnot here to mingle, Zach.”
“Ashort one?” Again, he reached for my arm, and Isnatched it away.
“We agreed to two things.” Iturned back to him, lowering my voice. “We wouldn’tinterfere with each other’sjobs, and nothing in public. You’re fucking up both.”
