Page 37 of Filthy Commitments
Part Three
Jett
The reception wasn’t the place I wanted to be. Something about that wedding was working on me like a burr under a saddle. Guilt, remorse, anger, and even a tad bit of self-loathing was inside of me, creating a shit-storm.
Asia looked like a doll in a dark blue dress and matching heels. The neckline was scooped on the knee length dress that was reminiscent of the style women wore in the fifties. She wore a strand of pearls that hung around her beautiful neck, almost like a choker. Her dark, silky hair was curled loosely. Everyone noticed her, even though she was going for a demure look. That woman had no idea of how beautiful she truly was. The beauty went all the way through her. She wore a sweet smile as she went to get us some of the wedding cake that was cut after the meal of roasted chicken.
I watched Asia as she went behind the elaborate wedding cake to pick up pieces that had already been sliced. She emerged from the other side with three plates. Cocking my head to one side, I wondered why she had three pieces of cake. Then I watched her make her way to the table where the newly married couple and their wedding party were seated. Amazingly enough, she went to Madison and gave her one of the pieces. The two exchanged smiles and I could see Madison was thanking her. Then Asia came to me. We’d been seated at a table with six people I didn’t know.
That’s one of the reasons I hated to go alone to weddings. Whoever was in charge of the seating arrangements always seemed to love to make people who didn’t know one another sit together. It was a vain attempt at widening one’s circle of friends, I supposed. Whatever the reason, I hated it. I hated making small talk and when you’re sitting with a bunch of strangers it’s impossible to do anything else. Asia took her seat next to me and stabbed my piece of cake with the little plastic fork it was served with. She held the bite to my lips and I took it as I looked at her. Then I took her fork and did the same to her. Seemed we were going to feed each other.
“Pretty good.” She picked up the fresh glass of Champagne that had been served to us all after she left the table to go after the cake.
“I noticed you took a piece to Madison.” I gave her another bite. “Are you thinking of trying to become her friend or something?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She fed me another piece of the dry chocolate cake. That was another thing about weddings that I hated. The cake’s always dry.
Did they make the things a month in advance or what?
“No more for me, thanks.” I pushed my plate away and picked up my glass.
Asia grinned and leaned in to whisper, “It’s pretty terrible.”
“Dry as the Sahara.”
She pushed her plate away too and smiled at me. “The band will start playing soon. They’re getting on stage now. You really don’t expect me to dance with Sebastien and you with Madison, do you?”
“I was feeling touchy in the car. I don’t know what made me say that. I’m feeling touchy now too. I’m not sure why that is, but that’s how I’m feeling.” I leaned back in my chair and draped my arm around the back of hers.
She leaned back and looked at me. “Would you like to leave? Our room is just upstairs.”
We’d gotten a room in the hotel to stay in for the night, instead of going back home. And I did want to leave, but I knew that would be rude. “We have to stay, Asia.”
She nodded and looked around the large room that was decorated in golden hues. “Everything is so pretty. I wonder how long it took to plan this whole thing out.”
“A year,” came a woman’s reply.
Asia looked at the woman who was seated at our table. “Goodness, that’s a long time.”
The older woman with blue tint to her black hair nodded. “It is. But that’s about the timeframe most weddings take to plan. Did you two not have a traditional wedding?”
“We got married in Vegas.” Asia put her hand on my leg as she told the lie. “We just couldn’t wait. Isn’t that right, honey?”
“Yeah.” I wasn’t in a chatty mood.
The fact was, the lie was beginning to get stuck in my craw, whatever a craw is. It felt like it might be somewhere between my heart and my soul. Asia seemed to be just fine with it, though. She kept on chatting away with the woman she didn’t know and shouldn’t have been wasting her time on, “We met in a nightclub in Los Angeles.”
“You did?” The woman rested her chin on her entwined fingers. “I met my husband on a cruise to Alaska. He and I met at one of the buffets and ended up sitting together. We just kept meeting up the whole week and then started dating once the cruise was over. I lived in the Midwest and he lived on the east coast. It was a long dating period. Two whole years. Then I moved to be with him and he asked me to marry him after we’d lived together for a year. It took a year to plan our wedding. It was so beautiful. Do you ever regret the fact you missed out on that?”
Asia shook her head. “Not one bit.” She patted my leg. “I love how fast everything happened for us. It was like it was meant to be and there was no stopping the train that was our love as it sped down the tracks.” I rolled my eyes as someone on stage began to talk. It silenced the chatting that was annoying me. The lie felt like it was getting bigger, growing into a beast that would eventually kill us both.
The first song was played and the bride and groom danced as we all watched. Then the next song came on and others joined them on the dance floor. My eyes caught Sebastien as he walked up behind Asia. “May I have this dance?”
Asia looked at me for the answer. For reasons, I can’t explain, it pissed me off. Why didn’t she just tell him no, on her own? Why was she looking at me as if asking if she could dance with the little shit? And why did I growl, “Go dance with the man, Asia.”
Her brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”
Sebastien ran his hand over her shoulder, down her arm and took her hand in his. The hand that had my rings on it. The hand that belonged to me. “He’ll be fine. Madison is on her way to take him to dance, as well.”
