I was still wide eyed. Why was he here? How did he get here? How does he know Jared? All these questions flowed in my head.
"Ian, how do you know Wanda?" Mel asked a little creeped out.
"Met her at the airport."
"Hi…" I said awkwardly. I twiddled my thumbs.
"Why don't we all go out for lunch?" Jared suggests.
"Are you sure you can? I'm pretty sure if you take one step out there the media will be right there in your face in a split second." I stated.
Everyone chuckled. "Good point," Jared said.
"How 'bout we just eat here? I'll ask Trudy, Heidi, and Lily to cook something," Mel suggested.
"Great idea, Mel!" Jared said and kissed her cheek.
"I'll be right back! Wanda, why don't you tell them about the trip you were just on?" Mel said while wiggling her eyebrows. I glared at her. She smiled innocently. She was far from innocent.
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure they don't want to hear about it…" I said sheepishly.
"I'd love to, Wanda. I'm pretty sure Ian can say the same thing," Jared assured me. Ian nodded his head and offered me a warm smile. I took a deep breath.
"I just got back from Arizona. I was searching the caves there. I like to travel so much that my team came up with a nickname for me. Wanderer. It kinda suits me." I said.
"That's fascinating, Wanda," Ian marveled. "When I met you, I just got back from Florida. I was visiting my parents there. Not as exciting as visiting caves, though."
"Lunch is ready!" Mel called. Thank god! I thought.
We all made it to the humongous dining hall. It was decorated with breathtaking paintings and antique décor. It was the perfect place. I sat next to Mel, thank heavens for that, and Ian pulled my chair out. So did Jared to Melanie. Such gentlemen…
Mel and I sat and they pushed it in. They sat on the opposite side of the large table so that they were facing us. Wes and Aaron, the waiters, put our meals in front of us. Everyone had the same thing: beef stew. Then, Wes put our drinks on the table. Everyone else got red wine, however, I didn't get one. I was going to tell them, but Aaron put a glass in front of me. It had a bendy straw and I raised one brow at her. She was holding back laughs. Jared looked at me and the glass and smiled. I glared at them.
"Really guys?" I asked.
"Don't look at me! Mel told them what to make!" Jared defended himself. I narrowed my eyes at Melanie. She erupted in fits of laughter.
"Mel, I thought I told you this before. I'm. Not. Drinking. This." I pointed out. She really wanted to make my face as red as a tomato, although I'm pretty sure it already was.
"Come on, Wanda! It's been forever!" She urged. Ian cleared his throat.
"What exactly is in the cup?" he questioned. Jared, Mel, and I looked at each other. The story behind it wasn't that embarrassing, unless you went into great detail like they always did.
"We were in college. Wanda and I decided to throw a part for Jared's birthday. I was in charge of the cake and decorations. Wanda was in charge of the drinks and the invitations. The night before the party, Wanda stayed up late to study for her chemistry test. She totally forgot to make the drinks. About thirty minutes before the party she made the drinks. She was in such a rush, she took every bottle of alcohol and added a little bit of each in it. Then she added a bunch of grenadine in there. Finally, she put them in the cups with the bendy straws we had." Mel explained.
"They loved it, though they were so drunk that I found out a few things that I never knew before," Wanda said while glancing back and forth between Jared and Melanie. They were both blushing. "That scarred me for life, guys." I winced at the memory.
We were all dancing around in the dorm. I was glad everyone liked the drink. People started stumbling around. I chuckled. Mel came up to me.
"Hey Wanda! Wassup with you?" she asked while slurring a little bit on her words.
"How much of that punch did you drink?" I asked.
"Don't know. Mebbe eight cups." She said.
"What do you need, Mel?" I asked her. She came here for a reason.
"I have a confession to make," she said suddenly. "I'm pregnant."
I basically spit out my drink. I gaped at her. Was she serious? Or was she just drunk? Why was she even drinking if she was pregnant? Didn't she know the first thing when it comes to pregnancies?
"Who's the father?" I shrieked. "Why are you drinking then?"
"Jared," she mumbled.
Did she just say Jared? She and Jared were together? Most of all sleeping together? I was so gonna kill them.
"JARED!" I screamed. "GET YOUR FAT ASS OVER HERE. NOW!"
He came over, almost slipping on the punch I spit out. "Whadya need?" he slurred.
"YOU'RE WITH MEL?!" I shouted. "AND SLEEPING WITH HER?!"
"Yup. Got a problem with that?" he said shamelessly. That son of a bitch. He knocked up Melanie. My sister.
"YOU BET YOUR FREAKIN' ASS I DO! YOU KNOCKED UP MY SISTER!" I screeched.
"We're gonna have a baby?" he asked Mel. She nodded happily. He picked her up and kissed her deeply. I cleared my throat.
"When did this start?" I asked with a calmer voice. Just keep calm, Wanda. Keep calm. There's a reasonable explanation for all this.
"In high school," Mel replied. I just about blew my top right there. I'm fairly certain that steam was coming out of my ears. They've been together for about five freakin' years and didn't dare to tell me?! I was hurt.
"HIGH SCHOOL?!" I shouted. "YOU'VE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE HIGH SCHOOL AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME? WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS ARE YOU?" I questioned.
"We didn't want you getting mad at us." Jared said. Melanie collapsed. She was so drunk, she lost consciousness. Jared carried her to the couch and he fell asleep there. They were so gonna have to explain themselves when they woke up and were sober.
"What happened?" Ian asked curiously. This snapped me out of that disturbing memory.
"Long story short. They were drunk. They were sleeping together. Mel confessed to me that she was pregnant. I freaked and asked her who the father was. She said it was Jared. I called him over and asked him to explain himself. He was too drunk to form a coherent sentence. The next morning I asked them about it and they didn't know a thing I was talking about, however, Mel and Jared did confess that they've been together since high school and that Mel was pregnant. I freaked again but not as much as I did the first time." I explained to him.
"It was a false positive, Wanda. We were fine." Mel argued.
"What made it positive in the first place, Mel?" I shot back at her. That made her silent.
"Just drink it," Mel said, clearly exasperated.
"Fine," I gave in. I took a sip. It tasted like heaven. I sighed happily. "Just as good as I remember it."
They laughed. This was a nice lunch.
Kinda short I know. Please review and tell me what you think!
-hosters