Incidental Happenstance (28 page)

            “No, sorry Lex,” Tia interrupted. The club was the last place she wanted to be today, especially if Jace was looking for her. Plus, her parents would be there, and she had to figure out how she was going to explain to them that she was going to be spending the summer in Europe with a guy she’d just met. She needed some time to wrap her own head around the whole thing first. “I’m not coming to the picnic.”

            “Aw, Tia…”

            “I didn’t sleep at all last night. I’m completely wiped.”

            “Holy crap!” she shouted. “No sleep at all? Sounds positively wonderful!”

            “Oh man, it really was,” Tia crooned. “But it gets even better—oh shit, I can hardly believe it!” She paused, trying to comprehend it herself, and took a deep breath before continuing. “You’re never going to guess what he asked me,” she said conspiratorially.

            “Tell me!”

            “I know this is going to ruin your day, but you still can’t tell anyone about us.”

            “Please don’t tell me that—I’m close to bursting already, and I’ve only been here for an hour!” She hesitated, and then asked, “Wait a minute--why can’t I tell? What did he ask you?”

            Tia dropped her voice to an excited whimper, “You can’t tell because I’m going to see him again!”

            Tia had to hold the phone away from her ear as Lexi screamed. “OH MY GOD! Seriously? When? Isn’t he headed for Cleveland, or something?”

            “Yeah, he’s on his way there right now. Oh God,Lex. I still can’t believe I’m saying this. I can’t believe I’m living this!” She took another deep breath before continuing and pushed her fingers through her hair, willing her heart to beat a normal rhythm and failing miserably. “He asked me to go on the summer tour with him!” she nearly squealed.

            “No fucking way! In Europe? That’s the one in Europe, isn’t it?”

            “Yep. Fifteen countries in ten weeks. And I get to spend it all with Dylan!”

            “You are the luckiest bitch on the planet,” she breathed. “I mean, except for…” her voice dropped off.

            “I know, right? I’ll always love Nick; he’ll always be a part of me. I never in a million years dreamed that I’d meet anyone so soon, or that I could ever feel this way again about anybody. But Dylan is so…oh God, I don’t even know a word strong enough to explain it!”

            “I’m so happy for you Honey! The whole summer touring Europe—with InHap? Wow! But I’m miserable for me you know—this is killing me! I thought for sure that I could start telling people today—wait—are you telling me that I can’t say anything for three whole months? I don’t know if I can stand it!”

            “You can stand it. Especially if you want to join me for ten incredible days of the tour—Dylan suggested I invite you so we could hang out and so I wouldn’t miss home too much.”

            “No way!” she exclaimed. “Seriously? He wants me to come?”

            “Seriously. He’s even picking up the tab. First class and everything!” She held the phone away from her ear as Lexi squealed excitedly at the news.

            “Holy
shit
that is one fine man you’ve got yourself there! When can I come? Which country?”

            “We’re spending a full week in England, and then going to Amsterdam for three days. Dylan lived in London for a few years when he was first starting out, and they’ve got a big following there.  He’s got some old friends, too, that he’s going to get to see while we’re there. They’ve got a bunch of publicity stuff to do too, you know, like interviews, radio and TV spots, that kind of thing, so they’ll be pretty busy. You could meet us there and we could shop, sightsee…”

            Tia could hear Lexi losing it on the line, and just knew that she was about to burst, probably dancing around the lawn. “I’m going to London,” she was singing into the phone.

            “Calm down before someone hears you!” Tia warned, but she couldn’t help but laugh. Lexi started singing her chant more softly, “I’m going to London!”

             “OK, now get your head back on straight and get serious for a minute.” She waited for Lexi’s breathing to settle down before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot, Lex, and I still really don’t want anyone to know about Dylan and me yet. I obviously can’t just disappear for three months without an explanation, but I think I’m just going to tell people I’m studying over there for the summer or something—I haven’t come up with my story yet, but I’m working on it.  I’m sure I will be studying somewhere along the way—the useums there, the architecture…I just don’t want any weird attention because I’m dating someone famous, and… ” She stopped herself and gripped the steering wheel tight enough to make her knuckles go white. “Holy shit, I can’t believe I just said that. I’m dating Dylan Miller!”

            “I know! How incredible is that?”

            “Incredibly incredible!” she said, singing. “I still think it might be a dream. Although I do still have the marks from last night…”

            “Oh yes, please, get back to those details, will you already? I’m dying here!”

            “First give me your word that you can keep quiet about this—even while I’m gone.”

            Lexi sucked in a loud breath. “It’s going to suck eggs, but I promise. You’re studying, that’s all,” she repeated with a pout.

             “Who knows how the summer is going to go? We may decide we’re not as compatible as we think we are; and there’s still New Zealand coming up in the fall. He’ll be 10,000 miles away for months, and I’ll be back at work. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and until I do, I don’t want to say anything. I have no problem saying I’m seeing someone, I just don’t want to tell anyone exactly who it is right now, OK?”

            “Fine, Fine,” Lexi complied, “But tell me this--were you compatible last night?” she asked with an evil grin in her voice.

            Tia’s tone changed immediately. “Oh yeah,” she gloated. “Extremely compatible.”

            Lexi squealed into the phone again. “You know I’m jumping up and down right now, right? I can’t contain myself! But I swear I’ll keep your secret. It may kill me, but I’ll do it. And I get to come meet you in London? When?”

            “Jessa’s going to email me the itinerary. I’ll have dates for you by tomorrow.”

            “And details! How many times do I have to ask for them? Spill!”

            Tia grinned. “Let’s just say it was incredibly awesome, in the truest sense of the word. He is so incredibly hot—especially naked—and his talents are many.” She giggled, and couldn’t help but to blurt out the bad joke. “He definitely played me like a finely tuned instrument.”

            “OOHHH! God, I’m so jealous! I don’t even know what to say!” Her voice dropped. “Shit. Ryan’s heading my way, probably to see why I’m making such an ass of myself in front of all his country club friends. I’m serious, I’m close to bursting! Are you sure you won’t come for just a little while? We could find a quiet corner to talk.”

            “All I want to do today is go home and get some sleep. Maybe take a hot bath. Plus, I need some time to absorb all this. It’s been one hellova weekend, and I’ve got a ton to do over the next couple weeks, including finishing out the school year, which is always a pain in the ass. I can’t even believe that I’m going to be back in my classroom tomorrow—I have no idea how I’m going to be able to concentrate on work after the weekend I just had! Then I don’t even know how to begin packing for a ten week trip. Not today, Lex, sorry. Want to come over for dinner tomorrow? It’ll be simple, but I can throw something together.”

            “I’ll be there, definitely—and don’t worry about cooking; I’ll pick up some Chinese on my way. Now I better go before Ryan gets to me and reads it all on my face—I’m so excited right now!”

            Tia barely remembered the ride home. She was on autopilot, weaving through heavier than usual Memorial Day traffic while her mind raced a mile a minute, much faster than the traffic allowed her car to go. Europe! For the whole summer! With Dylan! Her mind kept going back and forth between elation and disbelief. By the time she pulled into her driveway, all she could think about was a cup of tea, a hot bath, and her bed. She would rest up today, and start planning her summer tomorrow with Lexi’s help. She reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed her overnight bag and the enormous vase of flowers. She’d only taken three steps toward the door when the voice stopped her.

            “It’s about time! Where were you?” the voice asked accusingly.

            She turned to see Jace slamming his car door and strolling toward her. In his hand he held a cheap grocery store bouquet of daisies and carnations.
Oh crap
, she thought. She didn’t want to have to deal with this right now—or ever, for that matter. She turned and set her bag and Dylan’s bouquet on the stoop next to her door and turned back to him, hands on her hips.

            “Jace, what are you doing here?” she asked, trying not to sound too irritated.

            His eyes widened and darted around as if he couldn’t believe her question, then he opened his mouth and snapped it back shut before speaking. His eyebrows were raised in question. “I came,” he said slowly as if to emphasize every word so that she would understand, “to pick you up for our date! You were so adamant that all our dinners together didn’t count for anything, and that I never officially asked you out for a real date…” The look of surprised disbelief seemed glued to his face. She looked back at him incredulously, not following a word he was saying.

            He shrugged. “The picnic? At the club?” He was still shrugging, waving his hands, palms up, waiting for her to get it.

            Tia looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Jace. We didn’t have a date today.” He still looked stricken. “I think I’d know.”

            “I called last night and left you message? I said I’d pick you up at one, and now it’s” he moved the cheap flowers to the other hand to look at his watch. “Almost three o’clock. I’ve been sitting here waiting for nearly two hours!” He crossed his hands over his chest, nearly crushing the bouquet, as though waiting for her to give him an explanation.

            Tia shook her head in disbelief, and had to put her short temper in check before she responded. She was tired, elated, nervous, and the last thing she wanted to do was to deal with this bullshit. Who did he think he was? Just because he was somgh-powered attorney with money, he thought that everyone should jump at his whims? She couldn’t help but think that Dylan had at least a hundred times the money and influence Jace had, and he would never stoop to this level. She was pissed, and she didn’t really know the guy that stood in her driveway right now. He certainly wasn’t the Jace that she knew from the club; full of himself, for sure, but at least a halfway decent guy. She had no idea what he was capable of, but the anger in his eyes was very real, so she held herself in check. Sort of.

            “Wait a minute,” she said. “Are you telling me that you asked me out on my answering machine, told me what time you’d be here, and just expected that I’d be sitting here waiting for you?” The ‘aha’ look on his face only served to further fuel her anger. He was looking at her like she was a child, finally comprehending something she’d been told a dozen times. She turned his own tactic back on him. “You have a lot to learn about women, Jace. Asking someone out is a question, hence the ‘asking’ part.” She made air quotes with her fingers around the word. “There can be two answers to that question—yes, and no. My answer would have been no even if I had gotten the message.” His mouth fell open, but the anger still flared in his eyes. She continued. “I have no intention of going to the picnic today, and I am not interested in dating you, now or in the future.” She spoke the words clearly, hoping he’d get the hint and walk away. Instead, his eyes turned to the bag and flowers on the stoop, and his nostrils flared.

            “Wait a minute. You didn’t even
get
the message, isn’t that what you just said? Is it because you were too busy whoring it up with some guy you just met two days ago? Are those flowers from him? Is that the bag you carried your slutty lingerie in?” His face turned even more hostile as the realization sunk in. “Holy shit, you’re just getting home, aren’t you?” He spat the questions at her like venom, and his eyes widened in disbelief. 

            His words hit her like a slap, not because they hurt, but because there was so much menace behind them. She backed up toward her door and fumbled in her pocket for the keys.

            She looked him square in the eye and tried to relay a confidence that she didn’t feel. “Listen, Jace. This conversation is over. It is absolutely none of your business who I see, what I do, or when I get home. Like I told you the other night on the phone, you have never been anything more than an acquaintance to me, and I still can’t believe that you would think there was anything between us, especially since you’ve had a girlfriend for the past year.” Her cell phone rang in her pocket, and she snatched it. Dylan’s name showed up on the display. “I’d like you to leave now, and I would like to forget that this ever happened. Do not call me, do not come to my house, and do not think for a minute that I am not completely serious.”