Page 13 of Pursuit of Happiness

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During the ceremony, Meredith glanced over at Stevie who waswatching Addison and Julia at the front of the room with rapt attention. Whatwas Stevie thinking? Was she dreaming of a romantic wedding of her own or wasshe merely being polite and biding her time until the reception started?Bringing a date to a wedding had been a stupid idea. First off, the entirefirst part of the evening involved sitting in a room and being quiet. It waslike going to a movie without the snacks. No time for interaction, getting toknow each other. Second, and most important, the entire romantic weddingexperience gave the wrong impression. Who wouldn’t end up dreamy and romanticafter an entire evening spent celebrating happily ever after?

Happily ever afters were fine for people like Addison and Juliawho’d already reached the pinnacle of their careers. Addison had a lifetimeappointment to the bench, and Julia could write her ticket on the speakingcircuit after her stint as White House chief of staff was over. Meredithsighed. Her career was only just starting to take flight. Two years ago, she’dcaptured the national spotlight with her rousing speech at the DemocraticNational Convention, and since then the murmurs had started, asking when sheplanned her presidential run. All of these events had been carefully planned;in fact almost every action in her life had been carefully plotted to maximizeher chances at success.

“They look so happy.”

She turned toward Stevie. Was that a tear she spotted in thecorner of Stevie’s eye? She wouldn’t have pegged Stevie to be so sentimental,not after the fierce delivery of her testimony before the judiciary committee,but then again Stevie had managed to personalize sentencing guidelines—not aneasy feat. The realization left Meredith torn between fondness that her datehad a heart and fear that she might expect more than she had to give. “Theydo,” she whispered. “It’s a pretty grand affair.”

“It is, but I was talking about the way they look at each other,like no one else is in the room. Like none of this,” Stevie gestured at theroom, “matters. The president of the United States is in the room, but it’slike they could be standing in the middle of a condemned building with dirtfloors and still be just as happy because they’d found each other.”

Whoa. Stevie’s statement packed a ton of emotion, and Meredithshifted in her seat. Was that the kind of relationship Stevie wanted? One thatended in dreamy looks and I dos exchanged in front of all the people in yourlife? Hell, they were only on their second date. She stared at Stevie who wasrefocused back on the front of the room, and took a breath. No, she was justblowing things out of proportion. Weddings brought out the sentimental inpeople, which was probably why Addison had pushed her to bring a date so she’dhave someone to focus all her gushy feelings on after she witnessed theiroutpouring of emotion. Well, gushy wasn’t in the cards. She resolved to spendthe evening having a great time and not get bogged down in any greater meaning.In a minute, Addison and Julia would be hitched and they could get to the funpart of the date. She hoped Stevie liked to dance.

An hour later, the party was in full swing and she and Steviewere on the dance floor with Rook, Zoey, Addison, and Julia. “I can’t believeI’m dancing to an 80s cover band, three feet from the chief justice of theUnited States,” Stevie said. “No one at the office is going to believe me whenI tell them about this.”

“Especially not when you tell them the president was doing theelectric slide at the very same party.” Meredith inclined her head to whereGarrett and Julia were doing a decent job with the steps of the line dance.

“They look like great friends.”

“They are as much as any politicians can be.”

“Are you saying politicians can’t be friends?”

Meredith heard the edge beneath Stevie’s question. “Not at all,but this life can get complicated. Fast.”

As if on cue, Julia’s deputy chief of staff tapped her on theshoulder, and she and Garrett stepped to the side of the dance floor to huddle.Addison and her brother, who’d been dancing before, glided over to Meredith andStevie.

“Is something up?” Meredith asked.

Addison shrugged. “Life as usual at our house. I don’t know whatJulia’s going to do with herself in two years when social interruptions andlate night wake-up calls are no longer par for the course. In the meantime, I’mnot working, so let’s have some fun. I happen to know where there’s anexpensive bottle of Scotch squirreled away if any of you are interested.”

Meredith turned to Stevie and raised her eyebrows.

“Oh, you had me at Scotch. The expensive part—that’s just icingon the cake. Count me in.”

Meredith smiled and took Stevie’s arm and followed Addison andher brother Jack to a room off the side of the main ballroom. On the way,Addison waved Rook and Zoey over and insisted they join in. “What is this?”Meredith asked as they pushed their way in.

“This is Bride Number One’s private suite,” Addison said,pointing at her chest. “Meet Bride One.”

“Nice.”

“Thanks. This whole affair is a little over-the-top, but you onlyget married once. Right?”

“I wouldn’t know since most of my family is wedded to theircareers.” Meredith raised her glass. “But if throwing a fantastic party is anyindication, you and Julia are destined to be together forever.”

Addison smiled. “My wife is conducting a business meeting at ourwedding. I think we’ve gone beyond what’s proper. Besides, if you love someone,there’s nothing that can keep you apart.”

Meredith caught Stevie watching her as Addison spoke, but shecouldn’t get a read on her expression. Wistful? Maybe a trace of pain?Definitely not longing, and the realization robbed some of her joy, which madeabsolutely no sense considering her resolution to treat this entire evening asa casual outing. Deciding not to dwell on it, she turned to Addison. “Okay,Bride One, where’s this Scotch you were bragging about?”

“Jack, grab that bottle from the cabinet, please.”

He did as his sister asked and read the label before setting iton the table. “Twenty-five-year-old Balvenie single malt. Nice.”

“It doesn’t hurt when your wife sits at the right hand of thepresident. President Garrett had a bottle delivered to each of our suites. Whenwe finish mine, we can go plunder Bride Two’s supply. Zoey, can you grab someglasses from that shelf over there?”

Zoey handed them each a glass and then stuck hers out towardJack. Rook stepped up and placed an arm around Zoey’s waist. “Hey, babe, Ididn’t think you were big on Scotch.”

“Not normally, but I’m not about to pass up drinking pure gold.Since this is probably the only time in my life I’ll ever drink anything thisexpensive, count me in.”

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