Page 43 of How to Ruin Your Ex's Wedding
“You have to fire him, of course.”
“Okay, I know. But how? Why?”
“What do you mean how, why? Because it’s Pax and not Matthew Hanhauser, that’s why.”
“That’s because thereis noMatthew Hanhauser.”
“Unbelievable.”
“I know.”
“Okay,” she says. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, let’s say that I do fire him, what do I tell Hunter or Liza? I’ve been thinking on this all day and I have yet to come up with anything remotely suitable.” I look back toward the house to make sure I’m still alone and Hunter can’t overhear me.
“You don’t need suitable. Stop being so formal about it. Just tell them you don’t like him.”
“But they love him.”
“Well, sucks to be them.”
I laugh at her. “I can’t do that. Hunter is so excited to have this guy, becausehe’s the best. And I already feel—”
“This guy, meaning Matthew?”
I sigh and take a large sip of my wine. “Yes.”
“You already feel what?” she asks.
“Like the decision has been taken away from me anyway. Not that it matters, Liza hired him, Hunter agreed, and Pax knew exactly what he was doing.”
“So, obviously it’s been him the entire time, right?”
“Yep.” I make a popping sound with the “p.” I’d told her about how annoying Matthew was at our cake tasting. Which is way more believable now that I know that it was Pax. “You want to know the weird thing?”
“There’s more?” Crystal giggles.
“Before I knew he was really Pax, we had this moment where I felt like this Matthew guy really got me and was on my side, for lack of a better explanation.”
“What happened?”
“I just, I knew that it wasn’t the place I wanted to get married. But I hadn’t said anything yet. And he knew. He came up to me and basically told me it wasn’t the right place. That it didn’tfitme.”
“Well, that’s not so weird. Pax knows you.”
“I know. But I felt this connection with Matthew over it. And to know that it’s really Pax doesn’t change that, does it? I mean, let’s face it, does Pax really know me?”
“Almost as well as I do, I’d say.”
“I guess.” I tip an empty glass to my lips, surprised to discover I’ve finished the entire glass already. “Hang on, I’m going inside to get more wine.” I refill my glass and wait until I’m back situated on the balcony before continuing, “Is it weird that I felt . . . I don’t really know how to describe it . . . I felt accepted or justified when he knew it wasn’t the right place for me. I mean, Hunter and Liza tend to just bulldoze along, making plans without really consulting me—”
“I thought you didn’t really care though,” Crystal interrupts.
“I don’t. Not really.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
I have a love/hate relationship with “drinking Crystal” because she’s not afraid to call me on my shit. Which I need, but it’s not a part of our normal daily discourse. Which I would hate.
