Page 53 of Charming
When I walked in the door from Cabo, Katie pounced on me immediately. She’d been frantically trying to reach me after the news story broke thanks to my lovely stepmother. My phone was still dead and I’d never had a chance to warn her that I was on my way home or to talk to her about what happened. She clearly wasn’t expecting me to walk in the door two days early and even though she was full of questions, she took one look at my face and knew that whatever happened it hadn’t ended well and in that moment, I just needed her.
I experienced a sick sense of déjà vu when I was on the floor in Katie’s arms once more as I cried all over her shirt. Eventually I was coherent enough to give her every single detail about what happened from the moment she left Mexico. I even told her about the sex. Needless to say, she was one happy girl. Correction, she was one jealous happy girl. She also wanted to kill Hunter with her bare hands. I believe it was something along the lines of chopping off his balls and feeding them to the hungry pigeons all over New York City. Or something along those lines. I was too delirious with tears when she was going on about it, but I appreciated the sentiment.
“I don’t know if I want to hear whatever it is that you came up with.”
“Aw, come on,” she pushes.
“Fine,” I sigh. “Lay it on me.”
“No really, it’s a good one. We should probably even make a new commandment with it.”
“I’m scared already.”
“We should go on another vacation!” She declares like it’s the best idea in the world. “No seriously,” she says when she sees the look on my face. “It can be our thing. We can become husband collectors. We can go around to different places like London, Greece, and Italy and marry someone in each place. When a friend is broken-hearted thou best friend shall take her on vacation and get her married immediately. See? A commandment.”
Sadly, if I want to go all over the place and marry people and collect husbands I can. After a week of not hearing from Asher, and because I needed to consult my attorney anyway about the shit that was thrown in my lap from Angelica, I finally gave my lawyer, an old family friend, a call. He gave me great advice for my work situation, but during our discussion I mentioned my marriage in Cabo and how I was waiting for divorce papers from Asher. I had to mention it because like it or not, my quickie marriage was relevant when dealing with my mental stability because of the accusations Angelica brought up to the press and our board of directors. I said something along the lines of not knowing how long is too long before I should worry about the fact I hadn’t yet received divorce papers from Asher in the mail. I had been reluctantly checking each day. I wasn’t sure if I was going to feel great sadness or relief when they arrived.
Imagine my shock when I found out my marriage to Asher was considered only a commitment ceremony in the eyes of the law. There was nothing legal about it whatsoever. In order to be considered legally married in Cabo San Lucas, they require individuals to have four witnesses present at the ceremony, to obtain a blood test a few days prior to the ceremony, for a judge to preside over the ceremony and a couple of other things. Needless to say, our little wedding inside of a church was nothing more than pomp and circumstance because there wasn’t a thing about it that was legal. Therefore, divorce papers were never going to arrive because there was no need for them. We weren’t really married. I didn’t think my heart could hurt worse, but I was wrong. Not only did I feel like I lost my last connection to Asher, but I added feeling stupid on top of that.
Considering this information, I should probably have removed the ring on my left ring finger, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to do so just yet. While it may not have meant anything legally in the eyes of Cabo or in the U.S., it meant something to me, and I’m not ready to part with it.
Shaking the thoughts from my mind, I return my focus to Katie and our conversation. She’s done what she set out to accomplish, I laugh. “Only if we can go to Scotland and see if James Fraser lives there,” I tell her. She’s the only one who understands myOutlanderobsession. “Maybe I can grab him for my collection.”
“Deal!” she agrees.
“Come on,” I tell her, “we’re going to be late.”
“Aw fine,” she says as she applies one more layer of lip gloss.
The two of us are meeting up with a couple of other friends at a bar for drinks. Katie is dragging me out and I don’t really want to go. I have one hell of a board meeting that’s going to be hell tomorrow, so I’d rather be at home and gear myself up for that, but Katie won’t allow it. I agreed, but told her no more than an hour or so.
When we walk inside of the wine bar, Vanessa and Riley wave to us. They’re already seated at a table. We take a seat and the waitress is there in seconds. Ordering a glass of Riesling, I smile at our friends and it quickly turns into a frown when I notice the apprehension on their faces. I know that everything that happened with Asher was tabloid fodder, but Katie told me she had already communicated what’s what, but clearly something is bothering them.
“We can leave if you want to,” Vanessa says.
Katie gives her a strange look, “We just got here. Why would we want to leave?”
“You didn’t see them?” Riley asks looking uncomfortable.
Katie and I exchange a look and Katie asks, “What the hell are you talking about?”
Vanessa leans forward, “Ella, keep your eyes on me. Katie you can look, but Jeremy and Jackie are here.”
Staring at Vanessa and Riley’s wide eyes, I see Katie’s head swivel out of the corner of my eyes. I don’t move, not because I’m surprised or shocked, but because I feel nothing. Not anger. Not sadness. Not regret. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Where there used to be feelings for Jeremy there is now one big barren hole.
“Oh no he isn’t,” Katie hisses.
Looking at Katie I raise my brows in question, “What?”
“He’s coming over here.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. He actually left Jackie sitting there, and is coming to our table.”
No sooner are the words out of her mouth than I feel a tap on the back of my shoulder. Turning, after first noticing the various pissed off looks on my friends’ faces, I look at Jeremy for the first time since I walked away from him on our wedding day. He gives me the lopsided smile I used to adore, but once again I marvel that I don’t feel one single ounce of anything for him. It’s gone. Loving Asher made me realize that I never felt love for Jeremy. My father is always alive in my heart and I don’t need to hang onto a person or an item that was connected to him to keep him here. He’ll always be a part of me.
“Hi, Ella.” Jeremy says hesitantly, his eyes looking from me to all the women I’m with.
