InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (70 page)

            Stan handed
the mic to Dylan, and he stepped to the center. “I want to say thanks to Stan,
for his patience and understanding, and to the great people I got to know
during this little adventure. I also want to reiterate Stan’s comment to the
editing department—brilliant work, my friends.” Gary gave him a thumbs-up.
“This is a little unconventional, but I want to thank all of you for your love
and support during the past few months…it’s really meant a lot. And I’d be
remiss if I didn’t thank Tia; for sticking with me through some tough times and
for keeping the faith. I love you, baby girl.”

            Tia waved
shyly at the audience and blew a kiss to Dylan.

            “Thank y’all
for coming out this evening and sharing this with all of us.” He held out the
mic and looked around at the other members of the cast and crew. “Anyone else
want to say something?” he asked. They shook their heads shyly and looked
around at each other.

            “I should’ve
been invited here, you pompous jackasses! I should have been
included
!”

            All heads
turned to where Penelope stood glaring angrily at the group lined up under the
screen. The rest of the audience fell quiet, waiting to see what would happen
next. Reporters scrambled out the exit doors to get camera crews that weren’t
allowed inside the screening and banged into security personnel that were
simultaneously rushing in to deal with a potential situation.

            Stan put his
palms out in an attempt to calm her, giving an almost imperceptible shake of
his head to the guards who were making their way down the aisle toward her.

              Dylan put
his arm around Tia and led her toward the aisle furthest from Penelope. “I
think this is where we make our exit,” he whispered.

             “Hi,
Penelope,” Stan said. “It really is good to see you. Can we talk privately? I
wish I could have explained all this to you ahead of time, but…”

            “Is it? Is it
Stan? Is it good to
fucking
see me?” Stan nodded, trying but failing to
put some sincerity into his smile, and Penelope raised her middle finger. “You
know, I really don’t need to hear your bullshit explanation, thanks anyway. And
this
is
bullshit. I am the star of this goddamn movie and I did a hell
of a job. I should have walked the carpet—I deserved that!”

            “You’re right.
Come on, let’s go somewhere quiet and talk it through, OK?”

            Penelope
turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Dylan and Tia as they made their way
up the aisle.  “And you! You think you’re better than me because you dropped
the charges? You are not better than me! You are nothing, understand? He’ll get
tired of you so fast it’ll make your head spin!”

            Dylan
tightened his grip around Tia’s waist and led her quickly toward the nearest
exit. “Ignore it, baby, it means nothing,” he whispered as he hustled her up
the aisle.

            “You are not
better than me!” she yelled again.

            Something in
Tia snapped. Her vision went foggy around the edges, her hands clenched into
fists, and she felt all the anger and frustration that Penelope had forced her
to endure bubble up to the surface and threaten to explode. She held her breath
and willed it to simmer, but it wasn’t going to happen. She turned, pulled out
of Dylan’s grasp and stormed down the aisle and across the front of the theater
to face Penelope.

            “I don’t think
I’m
better
than anyone,” she said, her eyes glaring. Dylan put his hand
on her arm, and she shrugged it away, punching her hands to her hips and
walking over to the end of the aisle where Penelope stood.

            “Let her go,
Dylan,” Stan said, putting his own hand on Dylan’s arm. “She’s never really had
a chance to deal with this. Let her have her say.” Dylan fell back into the
line, eyeing the security guards that had already positioned themselves between
the two women. They nodded at him to indicate that they’d have the situation
under control if it got out of hand.

            Tia stopped at
the aisle entrance, with Penelope only a few yards away. “Oh, you know,
wait—maybe I need to rethink that. I know I’m a better
person
than you,
Esther,
because I don’t look down my nose at everyone else in the world. I don’t lie, I
don’t steal, and I would never intentionally try to destroy someone else’s
happiness.”

            Penelope took
two steps forward and Tia matched them. “Don’t try and make yourself out to be
some sort of fucking martyr, because I’m not buying it. You dropped the charges
for yourself, not for me, and don’t think I don’t know that.”

            “You don’t
even know kindness when it’s staring you right in the face, do you?” Tia
answered coolly. “I’m not trying to be a martyr, Penelope. I didn’t press
charges because I thought that you’d been through enough. I know what it’s like
to lose someone you love, thanks to you, and I thought that spending time in
jail, facing charges here, and the hit on your career and your personal life
were enough punishment. Add losing Dylan to the whole mix—because I believe
that in your deluded little mind you really think you did—and I thought that
was punishment enough. I really don’t expect your thanks or your admiration,
but I sure as hell deserve some respect. I’ve never done one thing to hurt you,
despite everything you’ve done to me.”

            “I don’t owe
you anything, you conniving little bitch. You didn’t earn any of this and you
don’t deserve it. You’ve orchestrated this whole little nice girl routine to
make the public take your side.”

            “I don’t have
to orchestrate anything—there’s another big difference between you and me. I
don’t pretend to be anything I’m not, and I…” Tia’s eyes widened and she turned
and caught Dylan’s eye before continuing. “Speaking of orchestrating, would you
happen to know anything about the little situation at the album party?”

            Penelope’s
lips peeled up in a sneer. “Prove it.”

            “That’s pretty
much what I thought,” Tia said softly, turning back to Dylan with an apology in
her eyes. She was done here—done with letting others have control over her
feelings, her self-confidence, and her faith in the most wonderful man she’d
ever known.  She took two more steps toward Penelope and looked her straight in
the eye.  “I am not better than you, but nor are you better than me. The sooner
you realize that, the sooner you can get on with a life that’s real and has
some sort of meaning.  I really do feel sorry for you, Penelope.”

            The fog
cleared, and Tia looked around at the stunned faces and the backs of cell phones
that had recorded her entire rant. She held her head high and faced them before
turning slowly and walking into Dylan’s waiting arms. The audience burst into
thunderous applause.

            “Let’s get out
of here, baby. I’m done.”

             He pulled her
in tight and brushed his lips against her ear. “You were fucking brilliant,” he
whispered; and then, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he led her back up
the aisle.

            “Why is there
never a bus around when you need one?” Tia asked, her eyes sweeping the street
as they ignored the constant click of the cameras and the shouts of the
paparazzi and climbed back into the limo.

            “What do you
mean?” Dylan asked.

            “Oh, it’s
nothing,” Tia replied, wrapping herself into Dylan’s loving arms.

*****

            Welcome to
Chit
Chat
! Dottie Miles said on Monday’s show. Tia knew that the scene between
her and Penelope had hit social media even as she was walking out the door, and
she knew that Dottie would have something to say about it. Even in hindsight
Tia thought she’d handled it pretty well, but wanted to see what the media take
was on the whole thing.

            “Well, it
isn’t surprising that Penelope Valentine’s back in the news,” Dottie started.
“And it’s even less surprising that she’s made a complete fool of
herself—again.”  She looked over at Abigail and narrowed her eyes.

            “OK, OK. I’ve
been trying to give her the benefit of the doubt; mainly because no one else

would; but she effectively
lost any sympathy votes with her latest performance.”

            “That’s the
understatement of the year,” Lynne agreed.

            “In case you
missed it, we’ve got the video of her latest rant—and if you weren’t a Tia fan
before, you will be after you see this. That lady has style.”

            “Thank you
very much,” Tia said with a smile.

            They rolled
the whole video, and Tia felt a touch of pride as she watched how well she
handled the situation. She couldn’t help but giggle when she saw the part she
had missed—Penelope’s less than graceful exit out the back door that included a
trip and an awkward roll down the aisle.

            “Now that goes
straight for the jugular, doesn’t it?” Lynne said, stifling her own giggle.

            “I can’t
believe that Tia didn’t go straight for her jugular,” Dottie said. “I don’t
know that I wouldn’t have.”

            “And what
about the evil grin and the ‘prove it’ statement when Tia called her out about
the record party? She pretty much admitted that she was behind it.”

            “Yes, I would
say that it puts Dylan firmly in the clear, that’s for sure.”

            “That’s what
we call ‘throwing
herself
under the bus,’” Lynne mused.

            “Now I don’t
say this often, and I don’t say it lightly,” Dottie said, “but I’d love to be
the one behind the wheel of that bus!”

            “You’ll have
to get in line for that,” Tia said, clicking off the television and picking up
her phone to call Dyl.

            “Good morning,
ma’am,” the driver said, tipping his hat, as Lexi handed him her bags. He swung
them into the trunk, and then looked at her, his eyes widening as recognition
settled in. “Wait, I know you,” he said, surprised. “You’re Tia Hastings’s friend…you’re
on your way to the wedding, aren’t you?”

            Lexi nodded,
smiling, and held out her hand. “I’m Lexi,” she said.

            “Wow, the Maid
of Honor. It’s my pleasure to be driving you today.” He held the door open for
her, and she climbed in. Once he got behind the wheel, he turned. “OK, I’m
really out of line here, but I just have to ask. I mean, it’s been all over the
news, right? The girls back at the office have a pool going to see whose guess
is the closest. Do you know where you’re going?”

            “I honestly
don’t,” Lexi replied, kind of glad that she didn’t. Besides the anticipation
for the wedding, she was actually enjoying the element of surprise about where
she was going. The speculation had been out there for weeks, and like everyone
else lucky enough to be on the guest list; and at least half the free world;
she’d wondered openly about where the wedding would actually take place. As
expected, the media had managed to get hold of an invitation; but since it gave
away no clues—just telling guests to pack “resort casual” and to bring
passports—they were all in the dark, which was exactly where Dylan and Tia
wanted them to be.  Locations all over the world were being tossed around; and
there were numerous pools and contests giving people the chance to win prizes
by guessing the actual location.
Chit Chat
was even promising one lucky
winner a trip to the city that was the closest to the guess of the actual
venue. Tia and Dylan were having some good laughs watching the media people
scramble to try and figure it all out, and were feeling pretty confident that
they’d be able to have the intimate wedding they both wanted. “If you had any
idea how many times I’ve been asked that question…” she smiled. “I’m glad I
don’t know. I’ve had enough of keeping secrets.”

            “I
understand,” the driver nodded and he fired the engine, pulling away from
Lexi’s building and heading toward the little airport where she’d meet the
plane.

             She was
looking very forward to getting away for a while; far from the hot mess her
life had become over the past few months. A fresh perspective was in order, and
hopefully some sun and sand between her toes would be part of the deal. She
leaned back in her seat and let her mind run over all that had happened in the
past year of her life—the events that changed so many things she could hardly
believe them. This weekend was going to be monumental—not just because her best
friend was getting married to the man of a lot of people’s dreams; not just
because it was being called the “event of the year;” but also because of what
it held for her personally. It would bring some sort of closure to the current
chapter of her life; which was very near the end; and allow her to turn a fresh
page in her own saga.

            It was hard to
put into perspective, actually. At this time last year, she’d been a completely
different person with a solid future and a sense of direction. It was almost as
if she and Tia had swapped roles—a year ago, Tia was struggling with trying to
get her life back together after Nick died. She was going through the motions
of a normal life, but wasn’t really living it. Lexi was her support system;
making sure she didn’t hide out in her house feeling sorry for herself,
dragging her out to the country club, and trying to help her heal. It was Lexi who
was planning the wedding of her dreams and Tia, God love her, never once
complained about sitting through bridal shows or accompanying her to shop for
dresses, flowers, or wedding cakes. Lexi had known it was hard for her, and
that, even though Tia was genuinely happy for her best friend, the little trips
had to serve as countless reminders of what she herself had lost.