THE JUNIOR BRIDESMAID (30 page)

“Not unless you
can get him on the phone and somehow get him to tell me that you are who you
say you are without ruining your surprise,” he responded as if this was an
impossible task.

But I was up for
the challenge. “You’re on,” I responded with a jerk of my pointed finger. I
took out my phone and Facetimed Hugh. I checked on Richard to make sure he was
paying attention and found that his eyes were trained on my phone. Thankfully
Hugh answered the call exactly how I was hoping.

“Hey, Baby. God,
do I miss you,” he oozed. I smiled at his greeting and lifted my eyes
victoriously to gloat at Richard only to find he still looked unconvinced.
Really? My face fell and my mouth twisted. Of course, Hugh saw this and didn’t
know what to make of it. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Um, nothing’s
wrong, per say. But, uh, Honey, can I ask you a question?” I needed to coerce
Hugh and I was just going to get straight to the point.

“Sure,” he
answered, though he sounded unsure of where the conversation was going.

“Do you love me?”
I stated without a hint of emotion.

“Uh, yeah?” Hugh
answered slowly but he did so with a question. Obviously he was still
suspicious and my calling to ask this specific question was only stirring his
curiosity. “Junior, do you want to tell me what you are up to
now
or am I going to find out
later
?” he asked knowing I was up to
something.

            “No.
I’ll tell you later,” I dropped the phone and disconnected the call. I stared
back at Richard who still looked skeptical. I might just have to knock this man
out and tie him up in the corner. “There. Happy now?” I asked.

            Richard’s
eyebrows were so close together that a huge V formed in his wrinkles.
“Something is telling me that you are up to no good,” Richard responded.

            Clearly
Richard was still on the fence and since I was running out of time, I needed to
be convincing. So I did what I had to do and opened my coat to show Richard
what I was wearing underneath. “What do
you
think?” I asked sarcastically.

            “I’ll
buzz you in,” Richard quickly replied.

Since I didn’t
have my own key, Richard had to escort me to Hugh’s apartment. He used his
master key to let me in and pushed the door open so I could pass. As I stepped
inside I gave Richard a tight smile knowing he was doing something that went
against every fiber of his being. As expected, Richard didn’t return the
gesture. But as guilty as I was feeling, I couldn’t expend any more energy
worrying about compromising Richard’s standards. I had to get a move on if I
was going to surprise Hugh. Once I was a comfortable distance inside, I turned
to thank Richard who seemed to be in a hurry to leave me alone. “Thank you,
Richard,” I called after him.

Richard was
halfway down the hall when I heard his response. “Don’t mention it.”

I closed the door
and leaned back against it. I scanned the apartment from one side to the other
taking it all in. I had to admit, Hugh’s new place was really nice. He made a
lot more money than I did so he could afford a much bigger apartment. It was
spacious and relatively new. The first thing that caught my eye was all the
windows. I was surprised that it had taken Hugh this long to get blinds.

I walked around
the sparingly decorated rooms just getting the lay of the land. The kitchen had
light wood cabinets with granite countertops. The living area was a good size
but was only furnished with a couch and a TV.

Typical guy.

I turned to look
down a short hallway where I was assuming I would find the bedroom and
bathroom. The carpet under my feet was beige and the walls, every single one of
them, were cream. Blank slate. I turned to step into the kitchen. I was hoping
to find champagne glasses but given the bare necessities in the rest of the
apartment, I knew it was wishful thinking. It was unlikely Hugh purchased
champagne glasses when he didn’t have an end or coffee table. My phone started
to sing just as I opened one of the cupboards. I pulled my phone from my pocket
and my breath caught as Hugh’s beautiful face filled my screen. I took a moment
to admire his smile and then I answered the call.

            “Hey,
Babe!” I said excitedly still feeling the satisfaction that I was able to
convince Richard to let me into Hugh’s apartment.

            “Beige
or white?” He asked in response.

            “Uh,”
I stammered. I turned to walk out of the kitchen to get a better look at the
apartment assuming he was talking about his color options for blinds. “Hmm,” I
scanned the barely decorated apartment before I answered. “I would go with
white otherwise there might be too much beige with the carpet and all,” as soon
as the words left my lips I cringed.

            And
sure as shit, Hugh picked up on my apparent clairvoyant insight immediately.
“How do you know that the carpet is beige?” he asked with suspicion in his
voice.

            “What?
I don’t! Of course I didn’t know the carpet is beige. I mean, I know
now
that you just told me but, um, no.
How would I know that? I am all the way down here in Virginia,” I exhaled a
burst of air almost spitting, insinuating that his suggestion was absurd. I
knew it made matters worse but I couldn’t help the pent up nerves that had
accumulated. I quickly continued hoping he wouldn’t notice. “I was just saying
it might be a lot of beige with all those windows.”

Had someone asked
me if I could lodge two of my ‘fuck me’ boots in my mouth simultaneously, I
would have said no. Yet here I was with both lodged all the way back to my
tonsils.

            “A
lot of windows,” he repeated flatly. Holy crap I was a bad liar.

            So
I tried to cover up the hot mess I created as best I could. “Hugh, you said
that it’s too bright in the apartment and the woman across the way was watching
you. I assumed it was because there was a lot of windows,” I shrugged as if he
could see me.

            “Oh,”
he seemed to be taking my excuse at face value. “Good guess. The carpet is
beige and there are a lot of windows.”

            “Oh!
Well, what do ya know?” I sort of accepted his compliment. “So are you going to
go with white then?”

            “Hmm,”
he answered sounding a little unconvinced. I was beginning to think I had shot
myself in the booted foot. “I guess so. But they are
really, really
white. Almost too white. They’re almost…blinding,”
he confessed. “No pun intended.” Obviously he was still staring at them and his
evasive response was because he was still trying to decide. Maybe my verbal
blunder had gone unnoticed.

            Then
it began to occur to me that I was going to have to live with Hugh’s choice.
Maybe it was time to weigh in on the window coverings decision. “Don’t they
have the wood ones where you are?”

            “Junior,
there are three options here. Beige, black or glaring white. That’s it. There’s
no wood. These are…aluminum, maybe?” Then I heard that snapping sound that
aluminum blinds make when they are manhandled. “At least I think these are
aluminum. Maybe they’re really thin plastic.”

            Leave
it up to a guy. He was probably in a dollar store picking out blinds. There was
no way that I was going to let Hugh decorate what was supposed to be
our
apartment with blinding white
blinds. So I did what I thought was best at the moment. “Hugh. Blinds are
supposed to diffuse the light not burn holes in your retinas. Turn away from
the crunchy reflective blinds and go to the linens department. Buy some plain
sheets and a couple of curtain rods,” I cleared my throat before I added to my
lie. “When I come home next week I will take you to a store that has more than
three options of blinds. The sheets should suffice for now.”

            I
heard Hugh sigh loudly. “Thank you, Junior. You just made my life so much
easier,” I could hear the relief in his voice. Obviously the task of picking
out blinds was more taxing than the idea had first presented. “I’ve been
waiting for you to come home so we could pick stuff out together,” he admitted.

Aw! He was the
sweetest man ever!

“Now I have to
head over to the gym and get myself signed up. And, since I have no one waiting
at home for me I might as well get in a good work out as well. I wish you were
here,” he whispered. “Call you later, Babe,” Hugh hung up the phone and left me
with my mouth hanging open.

            Damn.
I was hoping he would come straight home after his errand. Trying to look at
the bright side, I placed my phone on the counter and started to examine Hugh’s
apartment with a finer toothcomb. The lighting fixture that hung in the middle
of the kitchen was blah. It looked like it came from the same dollar store
where he was searching for blinds. It had one job to do and that was light the
room. And, that was all it did. It wasn’t cool, pretty, attractive or inviting.
That would need to be changed. I opened the cabinets trying to get a lay of the
land. Four plates, four bowls, four mugs, four glasses.

No champagne
flutes.

No surprise.

I moved to the
refrigerator and placed the bottle of champagne on the empty top shelf.
Actually the entire refrigerator was fairly vacant. What the hell was he doing?
Was he waiting for me to buy food as well? There was a half empty container of
milk, orange juice, cream cheese and a loaf of bread. I closed the door to the
fridge and went straight for my coat. I threw it on and hurried to the elevator
to go see my new buddy, Richard. When I stepped off the elevator Richard took
one look at me and turned red. I guess I shouldn’t have flashed my half naked
body at him so soon.

“Um, hey,
Richard?” I called him in a way that hopefully conveyed that I hadn’t noticed
him blushing. “I wanted to order some food. Any suggestions where I should
call? I’ve never lived on the West Side. I sure could use some suggestions,” my
voice pitched higher hoping he wouldn’t blow me off.

“Mr. Rowen seems
to enjoy Van’s. It’s an American Bistro a couple of blocks over,” he stated
matter-of-factly.

“Oh! Great!
Thanks, Richard. I mean, thank you for your suggestion. Would you happen to
have a phone number for that establishment?” I pressed uncomfortably.

“Just tell me what
you would like and I will call it in for you, Miss,” Richard still hadn’t
looked at me. I was guessing it would be that way for a while.

“Okay. I guess if
you could get two Club Sandwiches and French Fries that would work,” having
never seen the menu to Van’s I was guessing this order was fairly universal and
easy to fill.

“Yes, Miss,”
Richard scribbled down the order. “I’ll have them send it over at once,” he
nodded still averting his eyes.

“You know? It’s
not what you think, Richard,” I stated out of nowhere. “I have been in love
with him my entire life.”

I watched as
Richard’s mouth twisted. His facial expression contorted and it appeared as
though Richard was trying to contain a smirk. I immediately knew the
conversation was about to enter territory that Richard found uncomfortable. “Me
and the Mrs. have been married for 48 years. We were childhood sweethearts,” he
shared. Finally Richard’s eyes briefly hit mine. He smiled a lopsided smile and
looked back at his notepad.

I smirked in
response and nodded once understanding what that expression combined with his
confession just told me. “So, I guess mine is the
second
half naked body you’ve ever seen?” I continued to slowly nod
already knowing the answer.

Richard didn’t
answer my rhetorical question. “I’ll ring you when the food arrives, Miss
Delilah.”

I swallowed loudly
before I turned to go back upstairs. “Okay. Um, thanks,” I stammered. What else
could I say?

Chapter 25

            The
food arrived. The champagne was poured. The table was set. I pressed my lips
together scanning the room I had so carefully staged. Everything looked
perfect. Now. There was only one thing left to do. Wait for Hugh. I looked back
at the couch and an image took root in my mind. Wouldn’t it be awesome if I
surprised him in a sexy pose on the couch? I squealed my excitement and
scampered to it with a gleam in my eye. I splayed my body across the length of
the couch crossing my black, ‘fuck me’ boots, which were essential in any
attempt at seduction. Bending my left knee, I slid my left leg up so it dipped
in front of my right thigh. I stretched my right arm over my head draping it
over the one side of the couch. I remained frozen in that position, willing
Hugh to walk through the door any second.

After about forty
minutes, my neck muscles were straining, my hand that dangled over the side was
numb and my calves were cramping from being immobile for so long.

Where the heck was
he?

I jerkily
unknotted my body and rolled up to standing. A wave of dizziness washed over me
from the prolonged state of inertia. It had been over an hour since Hugh said
he was going to the gym and he still wasn’t home. I couldn’t call him again. He
would definitely know something was up. The champagne had been opened, poured
and consumed twice. I wasn’t sure if champagne went ‘flat’ like soda and there
was no way I was letting it go to waste. So, I was long four glasses of
champagne, getting quite tipsy and there was still no sign of Hugh.

Another hour
passed and the wind was officially out of my sails. I now sat in a slouched
position on the couch in my sexy new undergarment with my boots long gone, my
feet stretched out, my legs spread wide, my belly full and my chin tucked into
my chest.

So much for a sexy
pose. I looked like a beached whale caught in fishnet stockings.

My eyes meandered
over to the table where two more flutes of champagne fizzled and the other half
of the club sandwich I had already consumed was quickly going stale. I was
fairly certain the smudge on my nightie was mayonnaise although it could have
been drool from when I had nodded off for about fifteen food comatose minutes. But
even more upsetting than the mystery stain was that I still hadn’t seen Hugh.
Just as I was about to burst into tears, I heard the key in the lock. There was
no time to react. Hugh swung the door open and froze at the sight of me. There
I was on his couch looking like a drunken, disheveled, not-so-hot mess. And of
course Hugh’s reaction was to do a full on shoulder jerking chuckle.