Page 5 of So Wrong, It's Wright
Andy's dark eyes meet mine, and he releases a tense laugh. “You know, I think you're right. Fuck it. I’ll worry about my relationship in the morning. Let's get blind drunk.”
“The answers might not be at the bottom of a bottle, but an empty bottle means you can't even remember the question. Am I right?” I say, clapping Andy on the back as he laughs a little freer this time.
“Hells yeah! It’s why godinventedalcohol,” he says, leading the charge as we head toward the bar and order whisky straight up, some fancy Japanese stuff that is the bride’s favorite, we’re told.
“To finding your peace,” I say, tilting my glass toward his as my eyes stray toward the dancefloor where Tahlia is now dancing with someone else. It’s the story of my life. Find a pretty girl, get along with her like a house on fire, then find out she prefers someone—anyone—other than me.
“To forgetting today ever happened,” Andy returns, bringing my attention back as he taps his glass against mine before he downs the contents and orders another round, telling the bartender to keep them coming.
“To forgetting it all,” I mutter, knocking the whiskey back and pushing silly ideas of wedding magic and smiling women out of my mind.
TAHLIA
“Oh god. Whose idea was it to wear a corset all day?” Ruby gasps, wriggling around as I help her loosen the ribbons on the back of her dress to give her a little more breathing space.
“You did,” I say, smiling while my fingers re-tie the bow and she’s all done. “There. Good as new.”
She heaves out of breath and places her hands on either side of her ribs as she turns to face me. “Thank you so much. I can actually take in a lungful of air now.”
“What are besties for?” I say, turning with her to lean on the railing that overlooks the grounds where we had our photos done earlier today.
“This feels like one big fairy tale,” she says, wistfully looking off into the distance with a sigh. “I never thought this could be my life. I’m married, I’m a mom.” She laughs and shakes her head. “A couple of years ago I thought being able to afford a ten-dollar bottle of wine working as a board operator was as good as it gets. I wasn't even expecting to find my Prince Charming. I was kind of resigned to just being alone and doing my thing, you know?”
“Yeah. I know. But you deserve this, Rubes. All of it. You were selling yourself short, thinking this couldn’t be your life before. And now that it is your life, I'm so incredibly happy for you. Even if I'm also a little jealous. You're living every little girl’s dream, you know.”
Ruby laughs then turns around, her back against the railing as she looks inside the reception hall through the big glass windows. It’s dark outside now, so the party going on inside looks like something projected onto a big TV screen. I can even see Ash sitting up at the bar with Andy.
Ash.
It’s funny, I didn’t take him for a big drinker, but then, I only just met him today, and I’ve already been wrong about him twice already. Maybe that says more about my ability to judge people than it says about him though. I kind of expected that once he left the dance floor, he’d do whatever he needed, then find his way back to me. But he’s been perched on that stool next to Andy for the last hour, and he hasn’t even tried to look for me. Not that he had to. As I said, I just met the guy today, but I’m also not going to lie and say that I’m not a little bit hurt over it. I thought we had a connection. But at the end of the day, he lives in Atlanta and I live here in Manhattan. No matter what romantic notions I had earlier in the night, none of it was ever going to work out due to the sheer logistics of the situation. I was seriously kidding myself thinking anything meaningful could happen.
“You and Ash seem to be getting along well,” she says, watching me watch him through the window. I tear my eyes from his back and turn away with a sigh.
“I thought so too. But I don’t know. Maybe I read the signs wrong there. Not that it matters. Logistics and all that.” I flash her a smile, then rest my elbows on the railing, my eyes attempting to make out the shadows in the dark grounds. “I don’t even know what I’m looking for, Rubes. Maybe I need someone a little more mature. And a little closer to home.”
“More mature? Ash is forty-two. What are you after? A sixty-year-old?”
“What?” My eyes go wide, and I look back at the bar. Suddenly Andy isn’t there anymore, and it’s just Ash, his broad shoulders hunched forward like he’d rather be anywhere but here. “I thought he was in his twenties like us.”
“Me too, when I first met him. But nope, forty-two. Tanner says he’s crazy shy. It’s why I was surprised to see him talking so much with you. Thought maybe it was kismet.”
I smile then rest my head on my best friend’s shoulder, missing her even though she’s right here. Back before she met Tanner, it was her and me against the world. We lived in the same apartment building on the same floor, and we had all the same troubles and held each other’s hands through it all. I don’t wish for a minute for her to give up what she has now to return to our old life, but I do miss having her all to myself and seeing her every day. Her world is changing, and mine is staying the same. I feel a little…lost.
“I think he likes your whiskey more than me,” I whisper, looking up at the sky and wishing there were more stars.
She rests her head on mine. “Your turn will come, you know,” she says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “You just haven’t met the right guy yet.”
“Don’t get me started.” I lift my head and roll my eyes. “I’m excellent at finding the toads.”
“Toads you say.” She taps her chin and smirks. “How about the worm at the bottom of a tequila bottle?”
“Oh lord. Ruby, do you remember how sick I was the last time we had tequila? Darren had to hold my hair back while I spewed in an alley and Theo had to practically carry me home.”
“It’s also the night I met Tanner,” she says with a smile. “So how about we recreate the moment and see if some of that luck can rub off on you? Consider it the official handing of the Mr. Wright baton.”
“I thought catching the bouquet was the official hand off.”
“Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to,” she says. “You in or not?”
