Hand of Thorns (25 page)

When we get back into his car, I lean over to kiss him hard on the mouth. He chuckles. "What is that for?"

"What was that?" I ask, pointing to the hospital. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I did."

"If you start doing special things like that, people are going to think you're actually nice."

"Shit, I better stop then." He winks before placing his sunglasses back on his face. "I got to keep up my asshole role, right?"

"Exactly. You can only be that sweet to me."

"It was for you," he says. "I called my assistant and told her to pick it all out, and to sign the card from you. I didn't know she put my name too."

When we start driving away, I ask where we're going. It's getting late, and although it's LA, I can't think of anything to do. He only grins and says, "We have some serious celebrating to do." My skin crawls in excitement.

The dress isn’t quite as horrid as I assumed. I try not to wear lose clothing because I swear I gain three pounds a week at this rate. I
have
gained over fifty pounds since I first got pregnant, and it's mainly in my boobs and belly. If I wear anything that hangs straight down from my belly, I look twice my size. When I envisioned a dress, I thought I'd look like Missy Elliot during her trash bag dance video, signing
The Rain
. Thankfully I feel a little more Jennifer Lopez when she was pregnant with twins. I'd take the latter over the first any day.

Although my face, feet, and everywhere else is swelled, so I definitely don't look nearly as gorgeous as JLo. I can't even wear heels... nor sneakers... nor crocs. I put on strappy sandals, but even those are uncomfortable. I'd prefer to go barefoot, but I know that isn't an option.

Glancing at myself in the mirror, I sway back and forth, actually loving how I look. The top half of the dress is black lace over beige material, and it ends just below my breasts, then the rest of the material is a soft green silk that fits just right against my body, allowing me to still move and feel comfortable.

My hair is curled in spirals, which falls almost to my waist at this point. I have some eye shadow to match the dress, and my makeup was done by Sumner who perfected it exactly how I wanted it to be. "I'm impressed," I say out loud.

"Me too," Sumner agrees. I convinced Leon to allow Sumner to join, since we haven't seen much of each other lately. He was skeptical until I mentioned that he'd be stuck with Ellie all night, and I'd be the third wheel over in the corner. He had no room to argue after that.

Sumner is dressed in a strapless silver and black dress that falls almost to her ankles, with a slit all the way up to her hip bone. Her hair is pulled back into a sleek bun, and she has a simple pearl necklace on for jewelry. She is stunning, but that never takes much.

We ride to the banquet in her father's car, which happens to be an Audi R8 right off the lot. He wasn't going to let her drive it at first, but she somehow convinced him. The banquet isn't overly exclusive and there is no valet parking, but we manage to park pretty close to the entrance. Most of the vehicles are large pickup trucks, with some other fancy cars, and even some basic ones like mine. Since a majority of the trucks have racing stickers or numbers on them, you can definitely tell we're at the right place, after all the banquet has to do with the upcoming motocross races Richard is going to be part of.

Inside most everything is in black and white... the balloons, the banners, the table settings. I see a lot of checkered flags, too. I don't know much about motocross, but Dad did enjoy watching NASCAR, so I recognize a few things here and there as we walk around. The dining hall is a large open area with round tables circling the perimeter. A buffet setup is off to one side, a stage to the front, and exceedingly large windows opposite to the buffet.

People are already digging in to the food, while many guests are still arriving. There is a huge difference in the people here tonight, as most of the females are dressed to the nines as well, but there are some wearing jeans with fancy shirts instead, while it's split right down the middle with the men. I see suits and I see flannel, I see dress pants, and I see jeans with holes in them. I feel a little overdressed, but at least I'm not alone.

"Monica, so lovely to see you tonight." Her eerily fake voice drives me crazy, but I put on my fake smile and turn towards Ellie. Nope, I'm certainly not the only one dressed up tonight.

"Thanks for inviting us. I'm not sure if you remember, this is my best friend, Sumner. Sumner, this is Ellie and Leon." Feeling uncomfortable, I avoid eye contact with him while I do introductions. His smell over empowers my senses, and I'm instantly filled with a yearning desire. Maybe it's the hormones, or maybe it's because just last night we made love for almost two solid hours, but either way, I want to shove him into the bathroom for a quickie.

I won't though, the room is too open and large, there aren’t many places for hiding. It'd be far too easy to get caught here.

"Yes, Sumner, of course. Beautiful gown. Ralph Lauren?" She says Lauren wrong, but I bite my tongue.

Thankfully although Sumner feels bad for Ellie- as I used to- she doesn't like her. Not because she's my best friend either, but because she has seen the fake personality first hand, not to mention she's heard enough rumors about her in the Hollywood community. So she decides to be as fake back, first by pronouncing the name correctly. "Ralph Lauren, yes it is. Lovely seeing you as well." I'm thankful when she doesn't compliment her back. "And you Leon. Thanks for the invite. The two of us were about to use the powder room, so if you'd excuse us."

As we walk through the bathroom doors, I'm able to breathe again. "Thank you for that," I say while letting out a long exhale.

"I could strangle her." The calm and collective Sumner apparently got left back in the ball room.

"Yeah, me too. But I think I've done enough damage."

"Leon was looking sexy though." Sumner winks before walking into a stall.

I walk into the one next to her, using every opportunity I can to pee. "I didn't look."

"What, why?" She hollers over.

"I get antsy when he's with Ellie."

"Has he talked about leaving her anymore?"

"Not really," I reply solemnly. "It's all in good time."

We exit the stalls at the same time to wash our hands. "Well, I do feel bad this has gone on for so long, but I do like him. I like you with him, when y'all aren't fighting that is. I just wish he'd screw his head on straight and use that damn brain of his. Finally leave her ass, you two can be together, and they can split custody. It happens all the time,
especially
in Hollywood."

"I know." I pout as I dry my hands. Fixing my dress, I look into the mirror to make sure all is well. "I get where he is coming from, and I don't want to pressure him at all, because I may be the one he walks away from."

"You two are practically spending every available moment together. If he walks away from you, I'm going to drop kick him in the balls."

A lady walks into the restroom and gasps at the ending of Sumner's words, staring at the two of us with disgust. Sumner laughs, not caring at all as she exits the restroom and I follow foot.

There aren't designated seats, so the two of us find an open table where no one has occupied a place yet. I can see both Ellie and Leon out of the corner of my eye, but I pretend not to notice. Our table eventually fills up with two couples, who all end up talking with us, asking who we know here, and then rave about Richard, Leon's brother.

One of the guy's from the table next to us seems to have caught Sumner's attention. They keep looking at one another with small smiles or flirtatious glances. Finally I nudge her. "What are you doing?" I whisper.

"He. Is. Hot."

"Yeah, he is, but you're with Gunther."

"So? I didn't say I was going to sleep with him. Doesn't mean I can't flirt."

I have absolutely no right to say anything, so I shrug. "If that's what you want."

"It's not like he's talking to me anyways." She rolls her eyes, fixing the top of her dress.

"Then you go talk to him."

"Ew, no. I never do the talking first."

"Because you have so much experience," I retort.

"Touché." She laughs. "Well, I may not be all that experienced, but in my minimal moments of sexual tension with the opposite sex, I've certainly never been the first to put forth effort."

"Those, uh, classes are working for you, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been speaking more thoroughly lately."

"Oh, probably. I hardly even notice to be honest. We have to answer all questions with full sentences, and even ask questions with full statements. There are absolutely no shortcuts in Speech Analogy."

We're interrupted when a chair squeals, moving closer to us. We both turn to look as the guy she was being flirtatious with leans towards her. "I'm Smitty Thomas. And you're beautiful." He runs tongue over his lip before pressing down on it with his teeth, gliding it out from his mouth slowly in a seductive manner. He's smooth, I can give him that.

Sumner gives me a look that says,
I told you so
, then smiles her full wattage smile at Smitty. "Try Sumner Nysson, but I'll accept being called beautiful."

"Nysson? As in?"

"Yes, my father is York."

"Well, damn, I didn't know I was introducing myself to a real life celebrity. I guess that's why you look straight from the red carpet."

Sumner blushes but holds her head up well. "I'm not a celebrity, yet, but one day hopefully."

He starts to ask her about her school and career, until she starts in asking about his dirt bike racing. They both laugh together, leaving me out of all communication. I guess I should be used to being a third wheel.

Apparently Ellie finds this as a perfect opportunity to head in my direction. I ignore her, wishing I would have gone up to the buffet when I thought of it a few minutes ago, but now it's too late. She sits at my table, taking one of the empty seats someone left behind while they danced.

"You look bored. Why don't you come speak with Richard? He didn't bring a date and was asking about you." She reaches for my arm but something catches my glimpse. It's simple, yet stunning, and it's definitely real.

I look back up to Ellie with a questioning look. "Are you and Leon?" I let the question hang off the tip of my tongue.

She glances down at her diamond ring. "Oh, this? Yes. He proposed two nights ago." She squeals with delight, looking at the ring herself. "Isn't it gorgeous? Three carats. I couldn't believe it. Such a surprise."

"Oh." I'm left speechless, as I try to rack my brain about two nights ago. That was the night Leon canceled last minute to say there was an emergency, but I was so exhausted I didn't argue or think twice about it. "Well... wow. Um, congratulations. That is wonderful news."

"Thank you. That means the world to me. Now, come-come, speak with Richard."

I look at Sumner who is staring at me with despair, but neither of us wanting to give away quite how hurtful it really is. I stand up and follow with Ellie over to the table where Richard sits, which happens to be next to Leon.

Giving my biggest, fakest grin, I tell him, "Congrats on the engagement. You two make a wonderful couple."

He face falls, being caught off guard, as he turns to look at Ellie. "We weren't saying anything yet."

Weren't saying anything yet.
God, those words piss me off tremendously. I can picture myself picking up a glass of water and tossing it into his face. No, screw that, a glass of gasoline. Then I can set him on fire as I storm out of here. Since that is impossible, I stand here, holding onto my willpower to get through at least another half hour before leaving. I have ten days until my due date, after that I don't have to speak to either of them again. I can play nice until that moment comes. Not that I want to.

She scoffs. "She saw the ring and asked, I only told her the truth." I can see the dare in Ellie's eyes for him to argue about any of this right now, while in public. "Besides, it's not like the tabloids haven't been posting about it. I mean, have you seen them lately? All three of our faces plastered on them, talking about affairs and babies and hidden weddings." She rolls her eyes. "May as well start setting the truth straight about it all."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You haven't seen? Oh sweetie, you're practically a celebrity. You and Leon have been photo shopped together a few times, seen going into a hospital supposedly together, talk about how the baby is you and his, not mine, talk about affairs, asking who the mistress is." She chuckles. "I finally had to call Cite Magazine this week to set up an exclusive interview. It's going to be awfully disappointing when I let them know it's all false, but at least I can publicly announce the engagement when I do."

I truly feel like I'm going to be sick. "I'm on the cover of... tabloids?"

"I'm shocked you didn't know. None of your friends told you?"

"No." Penelope is the only one that reads those things like a religious Bible, but she's been busy with the new baby, so it's not surprising she hasn't seen them. Rochelle has been out of town for the last week with her newest fling, José. And Sumner avoids those things like the plague. "Nobody has said anything."

"Well if you're in for a good laugh, I'd certainly pick them up. Anything to do with Leon or myself I pick up a copy to stash away for some time in the future. You just never know what will be worth money one day. Plus, it's always entertaining to see what stories these lowlifes have concocted. I mean, honestly, they all seem to think you two are having an affair."

She roars with laughter, so I pretend to laugh too. "Yeah, hilarious. Definitely far from the truth." I glance at Leon. He stares at me angrily, but I don't give him any more of my time. "I'll have to pick up a few copies. Never thought I'd end up on a magazine cover."

Ellie looks down at her wedding ring, gleaming with pride. "Yes, and it'll probably be short lived, so enjoy it while it lasts." She drops her hand to look up at me, her face is full of happiness and pride. I deserve it, to see her like this, to see her so happy, all because of Leon. I destroyed their relationship without her acknowledgment, and now I'm getting major payback for it all.