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I could already hear the chatter of guests before I got to the large atrium where they hosted the party. It was a massive room that was the size of a house. High ceilings with skylights, glossy floors, and a wet bar made the room luxurious and perfect for hosting many guests. And I knew there would be many tonight.
There were a lot of important people in my parents' lives. Through the years of building their business, they'd made a lot of lifelong friends and business partners. They'd also made a lot of connections from the two churches they'd gone to. That, plus the large family that my dad had and the two sisters that my mom had, parties thrown here were never small. Mom and Dad said they could never choose who not to invite, so they just invited everyone.
Lining the far wall of the room that had the wet bar, there were two long tables that had black tablecloths over them. On top of the tables was an array of foods that they'd had catered, since my mom definitely couldn't cook for over fifty people.
Guests were already mingling and catching up with each other since the last time my parents had thrown a party, and I scanned the room for the people I had come here for.
It was their fortieth anniversary tonight, and romantic music played over the speakers, perfect for the theme of the night. Spotting them talking to another couple, I led Tiffany in their direction. We weaved between guests that were too in their own world to step just slightly, one way to make it easier for us to get through, but I couldn't be upset about that. In the corner of the room, I spotted Belle and smiled…that was until I saw the stressed out look on her face and the way her eyebrows were knitted together. She was upset. Angry even, as she spoke to Zach, whose back was turned to me.
What they could be arguing about at this party that couldn't wait until later was beyond me, but I would find out later. Especially if he was making her that angry. For now, though, I looked away and focused on getting to my parents.
"There's our boy!" Mom said loudly when we were still ten feet away from them. My skin flushed as multiple eyes turned our way. I closed the gap between me and my mom, pulling her small frame in for a hug. I saw them often enough, but she always acted like I only came over once a year. Or maybe even once a decade. "I missed you so much, Landon!" She pulled me down by my neck to place way too many kisses on my cheek. But I let her do it anyway. Every time she saw me.
"Missed you too, Mom." I stood up straight, letting Mom look over my outfit as I gave my dad a hug as well. That one was much shorter than the first hug. "And you, Dad."
"Knew you did." Dad shrugged, smirking at me. Then he nodded to the girl behind me. "Who's this?"
I turned, motioning for Tiffany to join me at my side. "This is Tiffany. We've been seeing each other for about two months now."
Tiffany stuck her hand out to shake, and my mom looked at it for a second too long before taking Tiff's hand. I cocked my head to the side slightly, unsure of what the hesitation was from.
"Yes, Tiffany. That name sounds familiar," Mom started, turning to Dad. Tiffany shook his hand as well, and then dropped her hand to her side. "Didn't you two go to college together?"
I nodded, and Tiffany beamed at Mom recognizing who she was.
"Yes! I recently moved to the island and bumped into Landon at Grumpy Coffee Co. And the rest is history!" Tiffany was enthusiastic, if not a little annoying, with how she spoke to my parents, and Mom only nodded.
"That's nice," Mom commented, looking over at Dad who just nodded. Then she turned her eyes on me and smiled tightly. "Find us later, dear? We have more guests to welcome."
"Of course," I answered, and they walked away.
The whole interaction was super weird. Usually, my mother was warm and open to anyone she met. Just now? She acted like Tiffany had the plague and she couldn't get away fast enough. I wrote off the interaction to Mom feeling weird about me bringing over a girl without telling her, but I would have to ask her about it later anyway. Thankfully, Tiffany didn't seem put off by any of it.
We moved to the food table, grabbing plates and loading them with appetizers. Everything looked amazing, so my plate was piled high by the end of it.
"Let's see who else we know here," I tell Tiff, hoping to find some other friends to chat with. I can't keep my eyes from flickering over to where Belle is standing in the same spot as before, still arguing with Zach.
"Belle and Zach are over there," Tiffany mentions, and I look around as if I hadn't just been looking at her. Tiffany points, and I nod, using it as an excuse to walk over to them.
As soon as I'm in earshot of their conversation, I stop, listening to the words pouring from Zach's mouth. The whole time, I'm focused on the tears that seem to be welling up in Belle's eyes.
"Stop being a baby about it. You're not eating this junk food, Belle. You don't have any wiggle room in those pants, anyway." His tone is enough to set my veins on fire, the sound condescending and belittling. But his words sent me over the edge.
I set my plate down on the table a few feet away and quickly approached Zach.
"You're really going to cry in front of all these people just because I told you to watch your figure?"
"Hey, man," I said, trying to stay calm. I put a hand to his chest, forcing him to take a step back from Belle, who he had been looming over as an intimidation tactic. "Don't talk to her like that."
Zach took a step back and turned to me, hate in his eyes. "Get your hand off me, Landon. And don't try to tell me how to talk to my girlfriend."
I removed my hand, but didn't step away from him. In fact, I stepped between him and Belle.
"You're insane if you think I'm going to walk away and let you keep degrading Belle like that."
"What do you care? All I was saying was that she should skip all the fattening foods over there. She's missed the gym too often lately, and it's starting to show. If I want to tell my girlfriend how to keep her figure trim for me, I will. I won't have a fat girlfriend."
My vision was blackening, and all I could think about was how terrible this guy was and how terrible he was for Belle. So before I could take a breath and temper myself, I swung a fist at his stupidly pretty face, knocking him right on the cheek. Gasps rang out around me, but I didn't see anyone but Zach, who had dared to talk down to my girl.
