Page 48 of Collateral Damage
“Goodbye,” is all Cooper says before swinging around on his heels and heading to his office.
“Well, that was weird,” Perry remarks, hitting the button for the elevator again, since that first one is long gone.
“Tell me about it,” I gripe. King Media belongs in another time, a past life, and being back there feels like opening an old wound.
The elevator opens again, and this time it’s blissfully empty, but it isn’t until I’ve completely left the building that I can finally relax.
Twenty-One
Cooper
Past - Age 22
“What about Christmas?” Amelia beams at the happy couple. “New York City is so beautiful during the holidays.”
All of five minutes after they get engaged, and our mothers are already planning the wedding. That’s just great. A long engagement would’ve been nice, but I guess we’re ripping the Band-Aid off now.
“ThisChristmas?” Sybil releases an uncomfortable laugh. “That’s a little fast, isn’t it?”
“When you know, you know,” her father booms. “In our day, people didn’t need years to plan a wedding.”
“This isn’t your day; it’s ours,” Ethan says, squeezing his fiancée’s hand, and I thank God Ethan is a logical man.
My brother and I are about to be at Harvard, and graduate school will take two years. That’s the perfect length of time for their engagement. Sybil will have time to plan exactly what she wants.
“We’re getting married after I finish grad school,” Ethan confirms. “Sybil wants to have the wedding on Nantucket the summer after graduation.”
Sybil as a bride comes to mind, her auburn hair down in loose waves white a white veil covering her face. My brother, removing that veil to kiss her. Our favorite place in the world becomes the backdrop to their new life together.
It’s perfect, but it fucking hurts.
“At the new house?” Her mother frowns. “That could be a ways out.”
Sybil shakes her head. “No, of course we want it at the King’s place. That’s how I’ve always imagined it.”
The nostalgia alone will have everyone in tears.
“I’m thinking on the lawn at the edge of the bluff overlooking the ocean,” she continues. “We’ll get married at sunset and have a nighttime reception outside with big white tents and flowers everywhere.”
“Hydrangeas, of course,” Ethan says. “Your favorite.”
She looks at him, her smile faltering. She loves hydrangeas as they remind her of her favorite place, but they’re not her favorite flower.
“Yes, hydrangeas,” she says. “And other flowers?—”
“Magnolias,” I can’t stop myself from adding.
Everyone turns toward me, but I stare at Sybil, waiting for her to respond.
Her cheeks flush. “Uh, yes, magnolias.” Then she clears her throat. “With graduate school, we want to wait for the wedding so we can plan every last detail.”
She leans over to press a small kiss to Ethan’s cheek, and her eyes flit to me again. It’s only the second time she’s looked my way since he slid that ring on her finger. I have a feeling she’ll be looking at me less and less.
“Maybe we could do the wedding early next summer?” Amelia presses. “Why wait two years?”
“I don’t want to be long distance with my husband. It’s like you guys forget Ethan and I won’t be in the same city.”
The room falls silent, and I get the sense that we’re missing something big here. I gaze around, looking for clues. The boys and I are on the couch, the parents spread throughout the armchairs, the newly engaged couple on the loveseat. We’re supposed to be celebrating, not bickering over wedding dates.
