Awakening (24 page)

“Hello Sis! Emily. Nice to see you both,” Ryan speaks first.

“Ryan!!” The other woman, Nicky, I presume, throws herself at him and wraps her arms around him. “It’s been so long. How are you? Emily was just catching me up on—

things.”

“Whoa there, Nic.” Ryan peels his sister off. “There is someone I would like you to meet. This is Nora. Nora, this is Nicky, my sister. Emily, I believe you two already know each other.”

Emily’s stare is cold and hard. Yep. She hates me. Now I know I’m right about her intentions with Ryan. I just didn’t know how close she was to his family.

I reach my hand out to Nicky. “So nice to finally meet you. Ryan has told me a lot about you.” We shake hands. “Emily, nice to see you again.”

Oh, that icy stare. I feel cold shivers run up and down my spine.

Nicky shakes my hand, “So nice to meet you, Nora. Ryan, we should catch up later.” She pulls Emily away from us. “Come on Emily, let’s go to the backyard.”

Nicky drags Emily out of the room. It’s then that I realize that the entire room is silent and has been watching our little drama unfold. Nice!

“Well, son.” Ryan’s dad walks up and slaps him on the back. “This is exactly why you need to communicate with us more often. Had we known you jumped ship, we could have stopped that from happening.”

Humiliation burns up my neck onto my checks.

“Thanks, Dad. That really helps.” Ryan glares at his dad, his voice rich with sarcasm.

“I’m just saying,” Richard says as he walks away from us to join his other guests.

Ryan’s eyes dart back to mine. My heart is racing, and the air in this room is too thick to breathe.

“Ryan, where is the restroom?” I ask in the most casual way possible.

“Oh. I’ll show you,” He says, tightly, and leads me out of the room and down the hall.

“I am so sorry!” he whispers when we get in the hall.

“I am so not having this conversation right now. But it does explain a lot.”

“What? Jesus, Nora, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ryan’s face contorts in front of me.

“Now you’re pissed at me? Is that how this is going to go down?” I feel the anger welling up.

Ryan’s head moves around the hall as if he is looking for something or trying to work something out. He finally looks back to me.

“Follow me. Don’t argue with me, don’t say a word.” He turns and walks through a doorway I didn’t see that leads into a sitting room with a spiral staircase in the middle of it. Ryan heads upstairs and I follow him. The distractions of my surroundings are calming my nerves. The top of the staircase enters a huge master suite bedroom. There is a large bathroom off to the right and a large bed with plush pillows straight ahead.

Ryan sits on the bed and looks at me.

“Okay. That was awkward. I totally get it. I’m sorry.” He breathes out deeply and waits.

There are so many thoughts in my head, I can barely put together a sentence.

“Where are we?” My question surprises me more than Ryan. His eyebrows shoot up and then he smiles.

“We’re in my parent’s bedroom,” he says, patiently.

“Holy cow. A two story bedroom?” I turn around slowly to take in the room. The view from behind me is almost as impressive as downstairs. “Holy shit. Look at that!”

Ryan starts laughing from the bed. “Really, Young? I thought you were pissed at me.”

“Oh, I am. But my God, I’ve never seen anything like this before.” I continue to look at the ocean and think about what happened downstairs.

“Okay,” I say, turning back to face him. “Here is what I think. I think you are back in California for some unresolved family issue. You hate it here, but for whatever reason, you’re here. You’re working in corporate law with your uncle to pay off these student loans. Although there has to be some back story there, because people who can afford houses like these don’t usually make their kids get loans. But, whatever,” I pause, waiting for Ryan to respond.

He just stares at me.

“You came back, but while you were away, the family thought if only you found the love of your life here and, better yet, in the family law firm, then your life would be perfect and your parents would be so proud. So, the family tries to hook you up with Emily. It doesn’t take. But you never come right out and say, ‘sorry, babe, you’re just not my type.’ But she senses that you were flirting with Katie, I think that was her name, so she stakes her claim on you, just in case.”

Ryan stands up, “Wait a min—”

I raise my finger, “Just a moment, Cole. Not quite done here. You meet me and we start up. You blow off Katie. And, let’s face it, you forget about ole Emily there until she shows up here.”

“How in the hell?” Ryan starts.

“But I’m right, right?”

“Close enough for me,” Ryan says, looking impressed.

“Well, I guess everyone knows that you blew her off for me, now. Jeez.” This is not how I thought this day would go.

Ryan walks up to me and puts his arm around me. “I’m sorry. My family has a lot of ideas about how and what I should be doing with my life, and whom I should be doing it with. Emily is a nightmare.”

I rest my head on his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me. I remember her well. Is there anything or anyone else I should be prepared for?”

“Naw. Just be afraid if Hannah shows up. Then you should run for the hills.” He kisses me on the neck.

“Hannah? We’ll talk about her later. Come on. Let’s get back to the party. I think we’ve caused enough drama already.”

With that, we head back downstairs.

~~~

Turns out the party isn’t just a family gathering but a huge event. Over 100 people show up, according to Nicky, who seems to be able to recall the number of attendees to any number of parties, and rates them accordingly.

Nicky went to high school with Emily, and supposedly is the reason she is here at the party, not Ryan. According to Nicky, Emily has always had a thing for Ryan, and they dated briefly in college. Apparently Hannah, Ryan’s last girlfriend, stole Ryan away from Emily when they were in college. So Emily seems to have unfinished business with him.

Ryan denies that they dated in college and swears that they have never had any kind of relationship at all. He swears that even at work he avoids her, and she drives him crazy. Of course, I have avoided chatting with Emily, so have not gotten her take on any of this. I’m brave, but I’m not stupid.

The party seems to be winding down. Some of the guests have left and the caterers are starting their clean up. There are small groups all over the house and backyard and a large contingent of people have left to go for a walk on the beach.

I’m sitting with Nicky, Mrs. Cole, and a few of the other ladies who have lost track of their husbands. It’s a pleasant group. Emily walks in and sits down with us.

“What a party, Mrs. Cole. You guys sure know how to throw them!” Emily says, brightly.

My heart starts beating loudly.

“Well, thank you, Emily. It was so nice that you could drive down to see Nicky. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I need to make sure the clean-up crew leaves my dishes and takes theirs.” She rises and heads back to the kitchen.

“So!” Nicky says loudly. “Emily, Nora, you guys know each other?”

Three of the other ladies get up and mumble good
-
bye as they head to the backyard. That leaves five of us.

“Oh, yeah. We worked together on the firm’s annual meeting,” I say. “Nice to see you again, Emily. I thought that event went well. Didn’t you?”

Emily looks at me and smiles a truly fake smile. I wonder if she does that in court. If so, I would know right away that I was winning a case against her.

“Yes. Nice to see you, too. I thought—” Emily starts.

Just then, the front door bursts open. “You whoooo! I know I’m late, but better late than never!” A striking young woman walks in the door. She has black, waist length hair and a nose ring. She is tall and extremely well built, with huge arm muscles. She’s wearing a sleeveless, tight black shirt, a short ruffled skirt with black leggings, and thigh high boots. She’s carrying a bouquet of wildflowers and a bottle of wine.

Never before have I seen a human being with such presence! We all stand at once when she enters the room.

“Hannah? Is that you?” Nicky stammers.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Of course it’s me, Nic!” She holds out her arms, waiting for them to be filled.

“Oh, my God. Why are you here?” Nicky rushes to her and hugs her.

“What? Just because your brother can’t figure out his life, doesn’t mean I can’t come over for the annual party,” Hannah says while hugging Nicky.

I glance over at Emily and notice she has a murderous look on her face. She is bright red and looks like she might combust on the spot.

Hannah takes us all in and smiles. “I see that the party is already over, and the guys are all walking the beach while you’re here recovering.”

This woman is so confident. I can see why she caught Ryan’s attention. I wonder why they split up.

“Okay, okay. Everyone, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is everyone,” Nicky says, excitedly. “I’ll go get mom.”

“Hello, everyone. I’m Ryan’s ex-girlfriend. Cast off a while ago, but still kicking. Been around the family too long not to stop by for the annual gig. Nice to meet you all.” She pauses and scans the room. “Emily. It’s nice to see a familiar face.”

Holy Cow! She just announced to the room that Ryan left her! How can she be so honest with everyone? Would I show up here next year and walk in with a bottle of wine and say, ‘Hi y’all, Ryan’s ex here. Glad to see you?’ No way.

I am in awe of this woman. I’m so thankful in this moment that Ryan mentioned her. I can just sit back and enjoy the fun between Emily and Hannah. But he did say I should run for the hills if she showed up, right?

“Oh, Hannah. It’s so nice to see you again.” Emily’s face is still slightly red, but she has that fake smile again. “I’d like you to meet Ryan’s new girlfriend. Nora, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is Nora.”

Emily gestures to me. Holy shit. I did not see that coming. Hannah’s eyes widen in surprise for a second, and then she, too, recovers.

Oh, crap. Crap crap crap. “Hello, Hannah. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a little about you.” I hold out my hand and take a deep breath in.

“Yes, indeed. Nice to meet you.” Hannah takes my hand and shakes it. I hold her eyes steady, exhaling.

Damn that Emily. So much for sitting back and enjoying the show.

“Oh, Hannah. What a nice surprise to see you.” Mrs. Cole comes in and Hannah’s attention turns to her.

The other women in the room have their jaws open. I can’t remember either of their names, but this is a story they will tell for years to come. One of them catches my eye and smiles. Her eyes seem to say, ‘hang in there’. The other one is just blatantly staring at all of us.

“Oh, Beverly, I’ve missed you so much.” Hannah reaches across her and wraps her in a bear hug.

Emily looks like she could spit fire. This entire day, I haven’t heard any of the guests call Mrs. Cole by her first name.

“Oh my, Hannah. We’ve missed you, too,” Mrs. Cole says from deep within the hug.

When they pull apart, Hannah picks up the wild flowers and the wine. “Here, these are for you. I know you’re a wild child at heart. I’ll go get some water for them.”

“Come now, let me do it. You stay out here with everyone.” Mrs. Cole takes the flowers and the wine.

Hannah turns to us and settles on the floor, sitting in perfect lotus, back straight. Who is this woman? I’m so intrigued and terrified at the same time. It’s an odd sensation.

“Nicky. Come tell us how you are? And what you’re up to these days,” Hannah calls over to Nicky.

“Me? No one wants to hear about me. What about you? Why are you here?” Nicky sits next to me on the couch. We look like a small theater, the audience up high and the actor holding center stage on the floor.

“Well. I’m here because we bought tickets last year, and I figured a trip to California was a good idea. I’ve been up in San Francisco working with some brilliant yoga teachers. I’m almost done with my 500 hour certificate.” She waits for our reaction.

We all catch on and congratulate her.

“The center is going well, but we’re always fighting for funding. I’m a lawyer with Victim Rights in New York. As well as a yoga teacher,” she explains to the rest of us.

I can’t believe she can sit in lotus for that long with boots on. The thought is distracting me from what she is saying. I want to ask her if her boots are cutting into her legs or if her foot is asleep yet, but I bite my tongue. I wonder if she’ll limp when she gets up. I can hear her talking again, but now I just can’t listen. I start timing how long she has been in the position. She has to move soon, right?

“Well, Nora does, right Nora?” I hear my name and drag myself away from my internal timer.

“What? I’m sorry. I was—”

The front door opens and everyone from the beach walk comes in. Thank God. Hannah jumps up and I watch to see if her legs move the right way. About 20 people pour into the living room. Some know her and hug her, others don’t. The room is loud and I can’t follow Hannah’s movements.