Page 68 of Electric Blue Love
“Okay,” I laughed, and he shot me a wink and a smile as he pulled me inside the ballroom.
The affair was elaborate and over the top like nothing I’d seen before. The room stretched out in all directions. Instead of the usual reception setup of round tables for guests and the bride and groom sitting stiffly at a head table at the front of the room, couches and chairs were placed in groups all around. A band was set up in one corner. Not a DJ - a full band who sounded good enough to be on the radio. Maybe they were. I took it all in feeling more like I was in a posh night club than a hotel ballroom as Todd pulled me toward one of the many bars set up around the room.
“This is incredible,” I said and let the soft music relax me.
Todd looked around with a dismissive glance. Was he really so unaffected by the money and class of a party like this? I wanted to ask if the previous four had been like this, but instead I accepted the champagne glass he handed me and sipped carefully.
The bride was easy to spot, despite her lack of white and veil. She stood in the center of the room wearing a red dress that dipped low in the front, a middle-aged man I knew immediately was Todd’s father thanks to the matching build and stature stood hoveringly to the side. They clung to one another in that newlywed fashion. Maybe this marriage would be different – maybe it would last. I hoped so for Todd’s sake.
“You want to dance?” Todd motioned with his head to where a few couples had gathered in front of the band.
Fear made my eyes go wide. I didn’t know how to dance the way people here were dancing. Unless it was shuffling side to side and swaying my hips I was useless on a dance floor. “You know how to dance like that?”
“Sure.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
I shook my head. I’d thought I had a clear picture of just how different Todd and my life had been growing up, but this night was taking it to a whole new level. I felt a sudden relief that we’d classified our relationship to the friend zone because not only did I not feel comfortable surrounded by this much money, I didn’t think I ever would. And I was okay with that. Money was a means to an end for me, not something to be paraded around. I didn’t judge them for their over the top spending, but I couldn’t imagine a time it would feel normal either.
“Alright, well, let’s get the social obligations over with and we can hang in the corner by the bar. I don’t see my uncle yet, but he’ll be here.”
I followed behind Todd, his warm hand cupping mine, as he made his way through the crowd to the happy couple. They stood in the middle of a circle of sharply dressed men in suits and beautiful women. Todd’s father, Mr. Sterling, tilted his head back and laughed as we approached the group and he looked so much like his son I had a sudden image of what Todd might be like in twenty years. The thought that Todd might end up with a slew of ex-wives and a child that resented him for it, made me depressed.
My thoughts were cut short when a voice cut through all the others, striking me with force and voltage so powerful I stopped, rooted to the spot.
No, no, no.
Todd, unaware that I’d stopped, continued pulling me behind him and the sudden momentum had me off balance and tripping. I gasped as I rammed into his shoulder, gaining the attention of the group in front of us. All eyes were on us, but I felthisbore into me. I was vaguely aware of Todd introducing me to his father and the new wife. I shook their hands and mumbled my greetings, but the hurt and confusion I felt from the man to my left overpowered it all.
“And this is – I’m sorry, I forgot your name,” Todd said, and I finally forced my eyes to Court.
“Court,” he responded in a rough voice and reached his hand out to me like we’d never met. I took his hand, the jolt of his touch nearly breaking me.
“I thought your name was Theodore?” Court asked Todd like he was trying to catch up to what was going on as well.
“I go by Todd. Something my dad never adjusted to,” he said simply.
I was still lost in a million possibilities and scenarios and feeling like I was going to throw up when another man joined us. I felt Court’s demeanor change immediately and when I looked up, the hard lines of his perfect, beautiful jaw were clenched so tightly I nearly didn’t recognize him. I followed his hard gaze to the man who had joined us.
“Uncle Cal,” Todd said, his face beaming with pride. He looked to me with stars in his eyes. “I’d like you to meet my uncle Dr. Callahan Sterling.”
The man gave me a friendly smile and pulled Todd into an affectionate hug. I struggled to return the smile. I could feel the hatred radiating off Court.
“You must be the lovely young woman my nephew has told me so much about.”
“B-bianca,” I said with a quivering voice and extended a hand. He shook it once, a genuine warmth to his smile.
I pulled my hand back first and stole a look at Court whose eyes were wild as he looked from me to Dr. Sterling. He looked so young and fragile and utterly confused as he tried to make out what was happening. I didn’t want to be right, but it fell together like a math problem I’d been studying for hours. The man I’d hoped would be a hero to my family, to my mother, was the person responsible for all the walls Court built around himself. The person who had left him to the mercy of the system.
The doctor spoke as my mind raced through all the implications of this discovery, and I forced my attention back to him.
“I am so very sorry to hear about your mother’s diagnosis. I work with a lot of people living with Parkinson’s. I’m sure Todd has told you, but I’d be happy to look over her case and meet with her if she’s interested. We’re doing some clinical trials now that have been encouraging with preventing dementia and some of the more progressive symptoms.” He spoke quietly so as not to be heard by the people next to us, but Court hovered at my side and I knew he was hanging on every word.
“Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
I forced myself to meet Court’s eyes. Pain and hopelessness etched in stone. My heart broke for him, for the boy who’d spent his whole life not feeling good enough, and for myself because how did this change things? Was this man as good as Todd said or as bad as Court thought? Was it possible to be both?
Court finally stepped forward, placing a hand at my back protectively but I felt the intensity in the angle and tone of his voice. “Dr. Callahan Sterling?”
