I'm heading off on a tangent here...who would like to join me?
These aren't my peeps. I don't claim to own them, just play with them. Think of it as stuffing them into the microwave to watch them blow up. Ok, maybe not the best analogy, but you get it, right?
Will sat, swirling his drink mindlessly as the music droned on in the background. He was trying to avoid gazing in Alicia's direction, but he wasn't entirely successful.
He had entered the party behind her, making up a lame excuse for letting her go in ahead. Coming back to the party, he'd gone straight to the bar and sank into a chair in a covert corner of the room. He hoped to avoid any unnecessary conversation until it was late enough that he could leave without invoking Diane's suspicions. Until then, he would drink.
Alicia was sitting on the stairs, looking beautiful as she hugged a girl. From here, he couldn't see the girl, but he assumed it was her daughter. He lifted the glass to his lips to take a long swill, and searched the room for another subject to observe as he lowered the glass back to his lap. Nothing caught his eye. Nothing was as beautiful as she was.
Now she stood arm in arm with a woman who looked familiar. It was her mother, he realized after a second. She looked upset, though he couldn't see her face clearly. He'd learned to read her delicate body language long ago and her dress revealed the tense muscles of her upper back.
Another swallow, another glance around the room. This time, he purposefully looked for Diane's royal blue attire. Not that he wanted to talk to her. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He just needed a purpose.
Diane was not within his line of sight at the moment, but as he searched the room again, his eyes landed on Alicia in Peter's arms on the dance floor.
Nausea struck him. He needed to get out of here.
Finishing his drink, he was about to head back to the bar and find an even more secretive place to wait out the end of the party, but she stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't help but stare at her, even in the arms of another man. She was gorgeous, all dolled up for the special occasion. She'd been gorgeous when she was teasing him back at the police station. If only he could rewind. If only he had taken her in his arms when she'd asked if they had been good together.
He forced his gaze away from her. She belonged to Peter. She'd given herself to Peter, not to him. He needed to get over it, but had no idea if it was even possible. He allowed himself one last look at her, drinking her in to savor later, before he stood to walk away.
"Mr. Gardner?" he heard a young voice behind him.
"Yes," he answered, turning around to stare into a younger version of Alicia's face. He'd never met her daughter, but he did recognize her from the photos he'd seen in Alicia's apartment and in her office.
"You're Will Gardner?" she asked again.
"I am," he said, wondering where this was going.
"You knew my mom in law school? Before she was married?" the girl asked, seeming a bit unsure and yet proceeding with her questions.
"Yes, I did," Will answered. He sure didn't want to go down that road again. Let's not think about Georgetown, he wanted to say to her. If this was some school project, he was going to hunt down that teacher for revenge.
Zach appeared at his sister's side and tried to pull her away. "Grace, what are you doing?" her brother asked her, not acknowledging Will at all.
Grace shook off her brother's grasp as she asked, "Were you in love with her?"
Will drew in a sharp breath. The young girl had caught him off guard. What was this? What was she getting at?
His brain couldn't manufacture an appropriate answer. Yes, but I was an idiot and never told her, probably wouldn't cut it in this case. He stared dumbly at the two teenagers for a moment, while Zach continued to try to get Grace to walk away.
"I'm sorry, my sister isn't herself tonight," Zach said, trying to cover for Grace's behavior.
"Zach, stop," Grace complained, shaking him off once again. She took a couple of steps toward Will as she said, "Did you know that my mom was pregnant when she married my dad?"
Will couldn't keep his eyes away from Alicia in that moment. She was pregnant? He hadn't known. He'd had no idea. He'd attributed their quick marriage to her being head over heels for the sleezebag. He looked back to the two kids standing in front of him. He had to get out of here. He shouldn't have even come back to the party.
"No, I didn't," he said succinctly. "Excuse me," he spoke quietly as he walked back toward the bar.
He needed to find Diane and make some excuse for leaving early. Looking around, he still didn't see her. Did Eli have her cornered somewhere discussing the politics of her new career move? He was found her number in his phone, pressed send and was raising the phone to her ear when he saw Zach approaching him. He heard Diane answer just before he hung up.
"What's up?" he asked the teenage boy, who looked a bit puzzled.
"I'm just wondering something. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Zach asked sheepishly.
"Umm, I guess not," Will's answer was unsure. He certainly didn't want to talk to any more underage Florricks this evening, but how could he say no?
Zach swallowed, stalling for time and dreading even asking this question. Will saw his mother in Zach's expression and his heart softened toward the boy. "Is there any chance that you're my dad?" Zach asked cautiously.
Will was taken aback. This was definitely not what he'd expected. "No," he answered quickly. "No, your mom and I weren't..." he wasn't sure how to phrase this. This kid had to be old enough to know about the birds and the bees, but how much should he say to him? "...together... um... like that..." his words trailed off awkwardly, and he noticed the color rising in Zach's cheeks.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but I just had to ask. The way you ran off back there, I thought maybe..." Zach took his own awkward moment before wrapping up their inept interaction. "I'm so sorry. I hope you have a nice night." Zach spun on his heel and turned back to where is his sister waited.
Will stood, frozen for a moment, unable to move from the shock of this evening. Finally, he turned towards the exit. He sent Diane a text on his way out the door and never looked back.