Chapter Three: In Which Victor Extends an Invitation
"I'm just saying, you could have given me some warning," Victor says from where he's perched on the edge of my bed.
I sigh as I step into a navy blue dress. "I know Vic, but it was just a really chaotic day."
"Mine was too," he points out. "I was hoping we could have a quiet night in."
I glance into the mirror to make sure my dress is straight. Behind me, I can see Victor looks tired and is holding a bottle of wine in his hand. When I got home, I realized I hadn't told Victor about Alice's party. When he learned about it, he was fairly annoyed, having cooked us dinner. I feel a little guilty, but I do want to go to Alice's party.
After zipping up my dress, I turn around, and cross my arms. "Look, if you don't want to come to the party, that's fine. You shouldn't feel obligated. I just thought you'd like to come and meet some people from work."
Without waiting for a response, I spin around and head to my closet where I begin digging around for a pair of heels. I hear the bed creak, the sound of a wine bottle being put down, and then a pair of arms wrap around my waist.
"Emma," Victor says.
I don't turn my head, and so he uses a finger to tip my face towards his.
"Of course I'll come to the party," he says softly.
"I don't want you to come if you just want to avoid a fight," I tell him, training my gaze on the floor.
He shakes his head. "No, I do want to meet all your co-workers." A slight smile crosses his face. "I know you'd do the same for me."
I smile at him, a wide, genuine one. "Thanks," I say, giving him a peck on the lips.
"Emma! It's so nice to see you! You look fantastic!" Alice gushes as she swings open the door to her apartment. She turns to Victor. "And you must be Victor! I've heard so much about you."
I laugh and hug her. "Stop, you'll give him a big head."
Victor laughs too and shakes Alice's hand. "Likewise."
"Come on in," Alice says, opening the door wider. The sound of music and chatter drifts out. "There's a buffet in the living room and drinks in the kitchen."
We step into the hallway and Alice shows us where to put our coats. She then heads into the kitchen and Victor and I go into the living room.
"Wow," I say, glancing around. "I didn't expect there to be so many people."
At least thirty-five people are milling around the large living room. I only recognize a fraction of the people.
"Well," Victor says, "Alice seems to be quite the social butterfly. She probably has a lot of friends."
"I suppose so."
We wander around for a bit, introducing ourselves to various people before positioning ourselves by a huge window that gives us a clear view of downtown Manhattan. Alice's apartment is a mixture of minimal and home-style while still feeling cohesive and welcoming. I'm enjoying watching the going-ons but after a while, I can feel Victor is getting a bit restless and so I suggest we go and find some food.
As we enter the dining room, I spot a blonde head by the buffet. I freeze, unsure if it's really him. But when he turns and I can see his profile, there's no doubt that it's really him.
What's he doing here? I think frantically. I can't deal with him now!
Plastering a smile on my face, I turn to Victor. "Actually, do you mind waiting a few minutes for dinner? I'm suddenly really thirsty."
"Of course," he replies, seeming not to notice anything amiss.
We retrace out steps through the living room and hall and find the kitchen which is also full of people chatting, holding wine glasses.
"Would you mind finding me a drink?" I ask Victor. "I want to ask Alice something."
"Sure," he replies and vanishes into the crowd.
I stand on my tip-toes and search the room for Alice. Luckily, her blonde hair makes her hard to miss and I spot her arranging snack dishes. Despite the number of people, I reach her easily.
"Hey, Alice," I say casually.
She looks up and smiles broadly. "Emma! Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Of course," I reply. "How could I not?"
"That's great to hear," she says, her hands moving quickly as she slices cheese and lays out crackers.
"I just have a quick question," I say, resting a hand lightly on her arm so she pauses and looks at me.
"Yes?" she asks, looking puzzled at my intensity.
"Did you invite Stewart, my new partner?" I ask her.
Her eyes widen. "Oh yes, I did actually. I ran into him as I was leaving. I figured that since he was new to town that this might be a nice chance for him to meet some new people. I remember how hard it was when I first moved here."
I sigh. I can't blame her for inviting him. For one thing, she doesn't know that Stewart and I have a past, and besides, she was just being nice.
"Was inviting him a problem?" she says, watching me intently.
"Not at all," I say. "It was incredibly nice of you to do so."
She smiles and I tell her I'll see her later before sliding into the crowd to find Victor. He's standing by the doorway, holding two glasses of wine.
"I was wondering where you'd gotten to," he smiles.
I smile back and take the glass he offers me. "Let's go find some food."
Luckily for me, Stewart is nowhere in sight when we reach the dining room. While Victor grabs us plates, I scope out what's on offer. I smile slightly when I see wonton wrappers with a green onion "ribbon." After the Mother-Daughter-Book-Club progressive dinner, my father made them every year. It's like having a piece of home here.
I take a step back to go show Victor when I bump into someone, jostling their plate.
"I'm so sor—" I cry, spinning around. My voice trails off when I see who it is.
"It's my fault," Stewart Chadwick apologizes, adjusting his plate.
I give a small smile to cover my confusion. "Sorry, anyway. I didn't realize you'd be here."
He looks vaguely amused. "You didn't expect me to be behind you or to be at Alice's party?"
"Um, both I suppose," I say, flustered.
Victor materializes next to me and hands me a plate. "Here you go. I'm starving." He pauses when he sees Stewart next to me.
I incline my head towards Stewart. "Victor, this is Stewart Chadwick. He's my new partner at work, the one I've been waiting for. And Stewart, this is Victor Cahill, my boyfriend."
I see a flicker of an emotion in Stewart's eyes, but it's gone too fast for me to identify. Victor doesn't seem to have noticed it and is heartily shaking Stewart's hand.
"I hope you'll pull your weight," he tells Stewart with a laugh. "Emma's been working herself into the ground lately."
"Ignore Victor," I tell Stewart, keeping my voice light. "He always thinks I'm working too hard."
"That's because it's true," Victor protests, putting an arm around my shoulders. "She's a workaholic."
I can see Stewart's smile is becoming strained, so I slide out from Victor's embrace and return to the buffet. "Doesn't this all look delicious?" I ask the two men. "Alice must've gone to a ton of work to make all of this."
They flank me on either side and begin helping themselves.
"Emma," Stewart says, "when I first saw these wonton wrappers I immediately thought of your father and the New Year's Eve party."
"That's what I thought of too," I admit, putting three on my plate.
"Wait," Victor interrupts. "You two know each other? I mean, from before this?"
Stewart flicks me an incredulous glance that plainly says You didn't tell him?
I ignore him and turn to Victor. "Yeah, um, we both come from Concord. Our families were close. I was friends with Stewart's sister."
I hear Stewart snort slightly, but Victor doesn't seem to hear it. "Wow, that's great! Emma, it'll be nice to have someone you know so well working with you."
"I suppose so," I murmur.
"Actually," Victor says, his eyes bright, "why don't you spend New Year's with us, Stewart?"
I gape at him for a moment before regaining my senses. "I'm sure that Stewart has plans, Vic…"
"Nonsense," Victor says. "I insist that you come over, Stewart. We're having a little get-together. It'll be a pleasure to have you."
Stewart gives a polite smile. "I'd love to, Victor. Thank you for the invitation."
I close my eyes briefly. What just happened?
"I'm just saying, you could have given me some warning," I tell Victor as we head down the stairs to the subway, aware I'm starting an argument.
He sighs in exasperation and it's a déjà vu from earlier this evening, only this time, I'm the one who's been blindsided.
"Look, Em. He's just moved here and obviously doesn't have a girlfriend. Or at least not one in the city. It's likely he'll be alone for Christmas and having one extra person for New Year's won't be a problem."
"You don't know that he doesn't have a girlfriend," I argue. "Besides, he has family back home."
"If he has family, why did he accept the invitation?" he fires back. "And trust me, he doesn't have a girlfriend."
"How do you know?"
"If he did, he would've brought her along to Alice's party. No guy wants to go to a party alone if he doesn't have to."
I've run through all of my arguments about why inviting Stewart is a bad idea so I lean against the platform wall and take a deep breath. After a moment, I feel Victor give me a peck on the cheek.
"I don't suppose you're in the mood to have me stay over at your place," he says. "I'll head home, then. See you tomorrow."
I nod and wave as he retreats towards the train that will take him back to his apartment.
On the Upper East Side, my apartment seems very empty and dark until I feel a cat twine itself around my legs. I lean down to pet Hocus before switching on the lights. On the hall table is a stack of mail that Victor must have picked up. I flip through it as I head down the hall to my bedroom where I change into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before sitting on the sofa. Checking my phone, I see it's only 10:40 PM, not too late to call Jess.
She picks up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Jess. It's Emma."
"Oh, hey, Em. What's up?"
I hesitate. I want to tell her about Stewart, but I also want to know what's going on with her. We haven't talked in over a week—an eternity in our friendship.
"Not much. You getting geared up for Christmas?"
"Uh, yeah, definitely," she says, sounding oddly evasive. "You?"
"Definitely. I still need to get a tree, though. But anyway, how's Darcy? How's work?" I ask her.
She laughs. "Darcy's fine. Working like a fiend especially since midterms are coming up." Darcy—not to the surprise of any of us—became an extremely successful history professor and is currently working at Bennington College. "And I'm also working like crazy. You should see our house. It's a complete wreck."
I laugh as well. It's not surprising such a high-powered couple like Darcy and Jess have no time for housework. While Darcy teaches, Jess is a biochemist engineer, an occupation I don't quite understand. But it seems very difficult and I'm positive I wouldn't be able to make a head or a tail out of it.
"Talking of work," she says. "The last time we talked, you were all excited over getting a new partner. What're they like?"
"Oh!" I gasp. "Yeah, I'll give you three guesses who it is."
Jess laughs. "You know I hate guessing games, Em."
"Fine," I relent. "It's Stewart."
Jess makes a choked noise. "Stewart Chadwick?"
"Yeah," I say. Jess understands. She's the only one I told the truth to about what happened between Stewart and I that caused us to break up.
"Oh, Em, I'm so sorry," she sighs.
"I know. It's crazy," I reply. "And now Victor's invited him over for New Year's Eve."
"At least it wasn't Christmas," Jess laughs.
"But it just seems to…intrusive to have him at my party. How can we act normally together given everything that's happened?"
Jess sighs. I can imagine her, sitting on her couch at home, twirling her braid around her finger, a crease in between her eyebrows as she thinks. "I'm not sure. The fact you never had closure with him makes it difficult. But it's possible you two can be friends if you decide that's what you want—or rather, what you're ready for."
"Maybe you should've become a therapist instead of a scientist," I joke, trying to take my mind off my next question.
"Maybe," she laughs slightly.
"So, I'm wondering if I should tell Victor who Stewart is."
"I figured you wouldn't have told him," Jess remarks. "But I think you definitely should."
I gulp. I knew that was what she was going to say, but I'm still dreading the prospect of telling Victor.
"It'll be fine, Em," Jess reassures me. "It's better you do it now rather than have him assume you're keeping secrets.
"Right," I say firmly. "I'll tell him next time we're alone." I realize that it's getting late. "I should go. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye," she says and then the line is dead.
Despite everything that happened last night, I'm in a good mood this morning. It might have something to do with the fact that this is my last day of work before Christmas break.
I even manage a smile for Miranda as I enter the newsroom.
To my surprise, Stewart is already seated when I get to the cubicle. As I unwind my scarf and drape my coat over the back of my chair, he spins around and watches me.
"Look," he says, "if you don't want me to come to your New Year's Eve party, I get it."
I pretend to smooth a wrinkle in my shirt to give myself time to collect my thoughts. A moment passes before I look at him.
"Okay, Stewart," I say. "Tonight, I'm going to tell Victor that we used to date. Then it's going to be his decision whether he still wants you to come over. But for the record, I'm game for you to join us."
He nods. "That's fair."
I tilt my head and watch him curiously. "Are you really not spending the holidays with your parents and Becca?"
He smiles slightly. "Mom and Dad are taking a cruise to the Bahamas and Becca's out in Minnesota with Theo."
"Right," I say reply, thinking of the card I received from Becca a week ago with her and Theo standing outside their new house. "And no…relationship other than that?"
"Are you asking me if I'm single?" Stewart asks me, looking amused. I sigh; being made of fun by him is getting old. "But no, we broke up before I moved here."
I feel a knot in my stomach—one that I didn't even realize was there—loosen at the admission that he doesn't have a girlfriend. I frown, why does it matter? What he does with his life is his business; he made that abundantly clear five years ago.
Still, it makes a little easier for me to work with him knowing that he's single and has agreed to my terms for New Year's. But by five o'clock, all my apprehension has come back but now it has to do with telling Victor about Stewart.
"Hello?" I call as I unlock the door to my apartment.
"In here!" Victor calls and I follow his voice to the living room where he's busy untangling lights for the Christmas tree. He glances up when I appear in the doorway. "How was your day?"
I shrug. "Busy, but it was my last one before break. And yours?"
"It ended early, thankfully, so I picked up a Christmas tree. It's out in the hallway."
"Oh, I was wondering whose that was," I call over my shoulder as I head back to the hall closet to take off my coat and shoes.
"Well, Christmas is only a few days away," he points out.
I rejoin him in the living room and sit on the sofa next to him, pulling my feet up beneath me. "Victor, I think we need to talk."
He looks up from the lights, a frown on his face. "I've been thinking the same thing."
"So, I know we had a disagreement about Stewart coming over for New Year's Eve—"
"He doesn't have to if you don't want to," Victor interrupts. "It's fine, I'm serious."
I smile weakly. "Well, that's actually it. I'm fine with it, but I think you should make the final decision because there's something I haven't told you." Victor watches me expectantly. "The thing is, he's actually my, well, um, we used to date."
Victor's eyebrows shoot up. I don't blame him; I haven't exactly been forthcoming with details about my life before I moved to New York. He knows the bare-bones; my family and Jess.
"Oh, um, that's fine?" says Victor, sounding slightly confused.
"It was a long time ago," I rush to reassure him. "I just wanted to tell you to clear the air."
He nods slowly, still looking deep in thought before turning to look at me, his face serious. "And it's over? No spark, no anything?"
I frown. The truth is, I'm not sure. There could potentially be something, but I've got an awesome boyfriend. Why would I want anything else?"
So, I say, "Nope. No nothing. It was a long time ago."
"Good. So it shouldn't be a problem that he's coming over?" Victor leans in and kisses me. When he pulls away, he smiles at me. "You know I love you, right?"
I smile back. "I love you, too."
"So, I've been thinking. We've been together for three years and I think it's time for the next step. Emma, will you move in with me?"
