Page 35 of Falling Hard
Luke stared at me for a long time. "Liv, I know you don't have much experience with love, but when you find the right person, you just know."
Thank goodness I brought my drink with me. I downed the rest of my vodka cranberry, and it burned my throat. I pictured it turning the same deep red as my ears and cheeks.
"Fine," I said, desperate to make my escape, but Luke still held me.
"Let's dance."
I could think of a million things I'd rather do than dance with him, but my body betrayed me, nodding before my brain could protest. We danced to a few pop songs. Luke had always been a good dancer. He wasn’t self-conscious. I found myself smiling back at him. When we walked off the dance floor, my girlfriends surrounded us.
"Luke, you still have some nice moves," Mei teased.
I scanned the line at the bar. I needed another drink.
"Let's have a photo with the birthday girl and her friends," a photographer said.
I forced a smile on my face, and Luke stood beside me as the girls surrounded us.
"This is exactly the same photo we took during college graduation," Demetria yelled over the music.
Perfect. A glossy new photo to replace the one on my desk. Maybe for some, people could be replaced as easily as images in a frame. Well, at least I had one last memento of us before Hurricane Samleni made landfall.
"Say cheese!"
Luke hungaround for a little while after the photograph was taken and then announced, "I have to go check on Solenne."
Isn't he sweet?
After kissing all our cheeks (again!) Luke fought his way out of the crowd. My heart felt like it was shattering as I watched him get farther and farther away from me, knowing he was going to her.
"Shit, Liv, I'm sorry," Alex began.
I lifted a hand to stop her. "It's okay."
All their doubtful looks said that no one believed me. They knew me too well.
Luke was gone by then, and I made my way to the bathroom.
Thankfully, it was empty. The music outside pounded through the walls, the bass vibrating the tile under my feet. Laughter and voices leaked in from the hallway, reminding me I wasn't in the mood to be here right now. I slipped into a stall, locked the door, and dropped onto the toilet seat. Hugging myself, I lowered my head to avoid the harsh bathroom light. My shoulders shook as I tried to muffle the sobs, but they came anyway, thick and uneven. Each tear felt hot against my skin, sliding down my cheeks like they had weight, like they carried everything I couldn’t say. My chest ached, not in some poetic way, but in a deep, raw throb that made it hard to breathe. This was the kind of pain that didn’t just hurt, it drained me. I clasped my hands in my lap as if holding myself together could stop any more tears from falling.
12
CARDS ON THE TABLE
The day dragged.Luke's engagement made my life unbearable. I kept my mask intact for most people. Only my girlfriends and sister knew the extent of how this union tormented me. Makeup covered the bags under my eyes from sleepless nights. Coffee explained my jitters. I was falling apart.
My office door opened. I didn't even bother scolding Jacqueline for entering without knocking. "What's up?"
When I got no answer, I looked up. The face that met me was one of pity, and alarm bells rang in my head. "What?"
Jacqueline sighed. "Solenne and Luke booked a castle in New Jersey."
"Impossible," I said. But she only nodded.
"Luke is a New York snob. He would never be caught dead in Jersey, yet for her ..."
Lowering the pen in my hand, I processed things. "He loves her so much, he'd marry her anywhere?"
"Olivia, maybe it's time to move on."
