Page 1 of Sea La Vie
1
Tate
“Good luck, Tate. You’ve got this,” my best friend, Jordan, says as he swats me on the backside as if we were still in high school baseball together. Jordan took pity on me, the new kid yet again for his senior year, and talked me into joining the team. He then quickly became my best friend. I jump, a little caught off guard from his contact, even though it’s far from the first time he’s done that. He ignores me and says, “Smile for me. Let me check your teeth. You don’t want anything messing up your pic—…oh, no.”
“What?” I ask through a wide smile. Jordan moves closer, and I swat his hand away from my open mouth.
“You need floss, man. That thing is wedged deep in there,” Jordan grimaces.
I pull my phone out of the pocket of my dress pants and flip the camera around to face me. Sure enough, a dark green blob is living rent free between my two front teeth. “Well, do you have any?” I ask, as I search through the drawers of my desk in a panic. I know there’s no floss in there but I’m hoping that, justonce, luck will be on my side and some will magically appear. I’m not surprised when it does not.
“I used my last piece this morning,” Jordan says, because of course he keeps floss in his desk. It’s probably right beside the three packs of beef jerky and his Mark McGuire baseball card that he swears is lucky because he found it stuck to the bottom of his shoe after passing his CPA exam. Frankly, I think it’s disgusting.
“What am I going to do?” I glance down at my watch anxiously. I have fifteen minutes to leave the accounting firm in downtown Charlotte and get to my favorite Italian restaurant on the outskirts of town. There, my soon-to-be fiancée will be waiting for me.
“I don’t know man, but you can’t propose likethat,” Jordan says in lieu of actually helping. I close my mouth and make a terrible sucking noise before checking to see if it’s still there. It is.
“I’m going to have to run home,” I mutter. “I’ll just call Liv, the photographer, and the live band I hired on my way; I’ll tell them something came up and I’ll be there as soon as I can. It should only add ten minutes max.”
“Good plan. Tell them a gurney fell out of the ambulance you were following and you had to help save their life.” Jordan nods, as if convincing himself that his grand plan is ingenious.
I cock an eyebrow. “I was thinking something more along the lines of bad traffic.”
“Always so practical.” Jordan shakes his head. “Get out of here, man. Tonight’s your night!”
Ihopetonight’s my night. My boss has been breathing down my neck lately because of a new, high profile client we took on, and I’ve spent countless nights staying up until the wee hours of the morning making sure all my T’s were crossed and I’s dotted to ensure we don’t lose them. I’ve reached my max capacity, I’mexhausted, and I could really use a win. And, if Liv says yes, I can tick off another task from my list of things that will create my perfect, predictable life.
Liv and I met when we were both sophomores in college studying accounting. She is smart and beautiful, wants to settle down, get married, and have a family; her white picket fence ideals line up perfectly with mine. She’s also set up to take over her grandfather’s accounting firm; the firm where we both currently work. Lately, she’s been stressed, admitting after a few too many glasses of wine that she cheated on more than one exam throughout college, which might be a huge reason as to why she hasn’t passed her certified public accounting exam yet. This news didn’t shock me as much as it probably should’ve; although why, I don’t quite understand.
My gray Audi chirps, echoing in the parking garage, as I hit the unlock button. In no time, I’m zipping out into traffic, grateful now more than ever for its turbo engine. “Call Liv,” I command. It rings until going to her voicemail, and I frown. She must already be at the restaurant and unable to hear her phone. I hope the live band hasn’t started up yet or she might catch on. Even though I don’t think she knows what’s going on tonight, she might. Wehavebeen together for a while, and we’ve watched almost all our friends get married—with the exception being Jordan.
On paper, Liv is my perfect girl. She’s the granddaughter ofTheMichael Jones of Jones Accounting—one of the biggest, most prominent names in the accounting industry—she’s fun to be around, and most of our goals in life line up. Although lately, something’s been off. I keep telling myself that it’s because she needs to pass her accounting exam to take over the firm.
A few minutes later, I’m impatiently hitting the elevator doors of our building when it finally dings. The doors slide back to reveal the backside of a beautiful, leggy blonde pressed upagainst…is that Mikey? The hippie owner of the yoga study Liv frequents? She’s been spending more time there recently, claiming she’s needed a reprieve from studying for the certified public accounting exam.
Mikey always smells vaguely of pot smoke and patchouli, and the handful of times I’ve seen him in person, he’s always wearing the same Peace Frogs t-shirt and leather flip-flops. On cue, his distinctive smell rolls out of the elevator and assaults my nostrils. I’m stifling a gag when the couple comes up for air long enough to realize the elevator door has opened.
“Excuse us,” the blonde giggles, and turns around. When her eyes meet mine, we both do a double take. My stomach drops and my fists clench at my sides as I take in my girlfriend and the dopey, smiling Mikey beside her, oblivious to what he’s stumbled into.
“Liv?”
Her eyes grow wide, bypassing saucers, and going straight to the size of dinner plates. “Tate! It’s not what it looks like.” I almost laugh at the cliche line.Almost. But when Mikey scratches the stubble along his jaw, I catch sight of a perfect imprint of red lips staining his left cheek and I know this is actually exactly what it looks like.
“It’s our anniversary,” I finally stammer out. A hint of recognition flashes across her panic stricken face.
“I was just heading out to the restaurant!” She squeaks, eyes looking anywhere but at me.
“WithMikey?” I look around for anything to lean against and settle on the potted plant next to the elevators, hoping it will hold my weight. My knees feel wobbly, and my vision is blurring—with rage or embarrassment, I’m not sure. Thiscannotbe happening.
“Sup, bro?” Mikey sticks out his hand. I stare daggers at it until he awkwardly tucks it back into his shorts pocket.
“Really, Liv? How long has this been going on?” I swallow thickly, my mouth suddenly so dry my tongue’s sticking to the roof of it.
Mikey immediately pipes up, clearly missing Liv’s anxious glances. “Oh it’s nothin’ serious, dude! We’ve been seeing each other casually for about six months now. Right, Liv?” Mikey quickly wipes the dopey grin off his face when he finally notices who I am. “Oh, Tate! Man, I’m so sorry. Ididknow she was seeing you, I just didn’t think we would get caught. It’s really nothin’ serious.”
Does this guy even have a brain cell left in that thick skull of his? Either he’s got some nerve, admitting he knew Liv was seeing someone, or he really is that stupid.
Liv has the audacity to look hurt by his admissions, the corners of her mouth turned down into a frown. The mouth that used to kiss me, tell me it loved me, whisper sweet nothings in my ear. I frown when I realize that none of that has actually happened in a while. Liv seems to finally remember the situation at hand and swings her head between the two of us, caught in the crossfire. I watch her as she tries to decide who she’s going to leave with.
