Page 83 of It's Complicated

I’d usually hate the fuss, but today I’m happy I’ll be looking my best for the reunion with Jace. So I do as I’m told. I shower, towel-dry my hair, put on a pair of not-too-threadbare yoga pants, and throw on an old sweater. I grab my cellophane-covered dress from the closet, put my new Sergio Rossi shoes in a tote, and slip into a pair of old sneakers for the journey. Mynew pumps are gorgeous, but I’m not sure how long my feet will handle the high heels before killing me.

I won’t drive to the wedding. Aiden and Kirsten chose a convenient location for the ceremony: the Palmer House Hilton Hotel. But even if it’s only a fifteen-minute drive from my place, I booked a cab. I could’ve taken the metro, but I didn’t want to have to drag my gown down and up a million flights of stairs among a bunch of strangers.

The driver is already waiting for me outside my house. I wave at him and cross the street to get into the yellow cab. I drape the gown across my lap, close the door, and nod to the driver, signaling I’m ready to go.

“Where to, miss?”

“The Palmer House Hilton Hotel, thank you.”

Ten minutes later, Jace’s building comes into view. My heart jolts in my chest as I zone in on his windows with sniper precision. Is he there now? Or has he already left? The hotel is so close to Jace’s place, he could walk. Since he’s been such a fan of long walks lately.

I still don’t know where he disappeared to for the last week. My best guess has been at his family’s lake house, but I can’t be sure. I was half tempted to drive up there and check, but Aiden talked me out of it. He told me to give the guy some space.

Well, he’s had enough space now—time to dock back on Planet Earth. I wonder what he’ll do when he sees me. Ignore me? Pretend nothing has happened? Something else?

And what am I going to do when I seehim? What should my best strategy be?

I tap the leather seats at a red light, pondering. I sure don’t want to have our talk in front of other wedding guests, so I should definitely try to corner him on his own. Before the ceremony? Probably it’d be better after, at the banquet… but I don’t know if I can wait that long.

As the driver pulls up in the center of The Loop, I thank him, pay, and shimmy out of the back seat, trying not to wrinkle my dress.

The moment I set foot on the curb, I wonder if Jace has already arrived. Should I try to find him? Text Aiden for intel?

Similarly to the bride, the groom should have a private suite for him and the groomsmen to get ready. I could join them and ask Jace to talk. I belong more on the groom’s side, anyway.

Then I stare down at my old, baggy clothes and suddenly panic. I’m definitely going to run into him now while I look like the before version of a makeover in a rom-com.

I’d better find that bridal suite right away. I hurry into the hotel but stop again after my first step in, gaping in awe at the lobby. The large room has a magnificent high domed ceiling decorated in gold and with frescos of ancient mythology. Golden chandeliers adorn the marble walls. And the room ends in a grand marble staircase, where, atop the box newel posts, two majestic bronze winged angels oversee the entire space.

This place looks like the Sistine Chapel.

“Impressive, huh?” Erin, one of my fellow bridesmaids, asks, pausing next to me to admire the room.

The question shakes me out of my haze, and, shockingly, I’m happy to see a fellow member of the bridal party.

I can’t wait around the lobby like a sitting, un-pampered duck.

“Erin, hi,” I say. “Do you know where we’re supposed to go?”

“Yeah, Kirsten texted me a second ago.” My phone vibrates in my pocket and for once I don’t jump up thinking it’ll be Jace. In fact, it is Kirsten sending me the same info. “The bridal suite is in Room 405. Shall we go?”

“Sure.”

I repocket my phone and follow Erin to the elevators.

“Is the groom’s suite near Kirsten’s?”

“No,” Erin chirps. “Aiden and the boys should be in the opposite wing of the hotel. So as not to risk the groom and bride seeing each other before the ceremony.”

I sigh inwardly, so no risk of the best man and the bridesmaid bumping into each other either. As per my new normal, I’m gripped by contrasting emotions: relief and disappointment.

Erin and I are the only two persons in the elevator, and I get lost in thought staring at the little numbers lighting up for each new floor we climb.

“You look worried.” Erin peeps at me from the corner of her eye.

I shake my head. “No, I’m fine. Just tired. I had a long week.”

What feels like the longest week of my life.

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