Josh is quite the genius, isn't he?
Okay, folks. This is the second to last chapter you'll be getting for a month. That's right. An entire month. So please review!
"Smile!" The photographer took two shots of Summer and Lucas squeezed close to each other. With each flash Seth wanted to gag.
Summer kissed Luke forcefully for a few seconds, causing Brianna to squeal her mother's trademark ew! Seth smiled, although he wanted to cry sometimes at his daughter's resemblance to her mother. With every smile and every tooth that shone white, Seth could see pieces of Summer in Brianna, pieces of himself as well.
"Bri, just you wait until you and Brandon have kids. Then we'll see who's saying 'ew'," Lucas leaned over Summer and gave Brianna a fatherly kiss on the cheek. She blushed but hugged Luke anyway, whispering something into his ear that brought a smile from one end of Luke's face to the other. A full spectrum smile.
Brianna would probably never have anything to say to Seth that would make him smile like that. It pained Seth to see Brianna treating a man who wasn't even her step dad like her father. Because he was her father. Even if he was withdrawn and neglected her, he was her father nonetheless.
More than anything, Seth wanted to tell Brianna that he felt neglected as well.
Lucas caught Seth's eye and smiled, he was friendly. And unsuspecting, apparently, because Seth felt as though he was wearing a sign that read: Hello, I've been divorced for over twenty years but I'm not over my ex yet.
Summer didn't seem to notice either, none of Seth's friends or family did. And he meant to keep it that way. Still…he couldn't ignore the frantic beatings of his heart that had started the moment he laid eyes on Summer.
He was used to them by now.
Since the pre-pubescent age of eight Seth had become hot and bothered whenever Summer was around or she was mentioned. Even the season of summer got him thinking about her. What could he say? Seth had a one track mind.
Lucas was telling a story and Marissa, Brandon, Brianna, and a man Seth didn't recognize were cracking up. Ryan was doubled over with laughter and, although Seth didn't know what was so funny, he felt a small chuckle spewing from his mouth.
Why did Lucas have to be so damn likeable? He was funny, he was affectionate, he was a great father; all traits Seth had once considered himself to possess but as of late he wasn't feeling too confident. There was nothing flawed about this Lucas guy.
He was going to succeed where Seth had failed. Lucas was going to make Summer happy.
Seth grabbed a piece of rye bread from the breadbasket on the table and ravenously tore a hunk of it off. The service was so slow; they'd been waiting over forty five minutes for their pre-ordered meals.
Summer tapped the side of a champagne flute with her spoon. "Attention, everyone. I'd like to propose a toast."
Seth got up from his seat next to Marissa, who was next to Lucas, who was next to Summer, and so on… Apparently he wasn't considered high on the wedding ladder of his daughter.
He couldn't be here…seeing Summer like this, in her prime…and Brianna… Brianna was the spitting image of her mother when she straightened her hair; naturally it was curly and untamed like Seth's. Every time he dared to cast a look in Bri's direction, Seth felt his heart twist again.
It was just one stupid mistake…that's all it took for Seth. He hadn't meant for it to happen and to tell the truth he wasn't sure that it was the deciding factor in the demolishment of their already crumbling marriage.
Summer had wanted to travel around the world to London for the designing opportunity of a lifetime. Seth wanted nothing more than to stay in Newport and put his passing of the bar exam to use.
They were young and reckless and hadn't known what they wanted, not really. They hadn't known how to compromise or learn to give up the things they wanted the most, for the one they loved.
He walked outside, alone with the country club valet and his thoughts… The months leading up to the divorce and the months after had been filled with remorse, regret, and a whole lot of head-smacking. Seth couldn't believe his own stupidity. If he'd just told Summer the truth…maybe they would still be married.
He sat down on the steps. Tonight, the club was relatively quiet as the employees readied the building and grounds for Brianna's wedding. The wedding ceremony was to be held in the garden, just as Seth and Summer's had been. Moving inside for the reception, the celebration was also going to be held in the same ballroom as Seth and Summer's wedding.
It was all hitting just a little to close to home…what with the wedding rehearsal, seeing Summer…
Except at Seth's wedding rehearsal dinner, there had been no alcohol on his or Summer's part, she for the baby and he for her.
Going back in time was first on Seth's wish list. If only he could reverse the events of that night…if only he hadn't walked away from Summer…then maybe he wouldn't have had to avoid his daughter and ex-wife for years.
Seth was tired. He was thinking about skipping the wedding altogether and flying back to New York, selfish as it seemed. Being at Brianna's wedding would only stir the pot up even more, something Seth was not eager to do, as his heartstrings reminded him.
But that would sever all ties he had with Brianna. His relationship with her had sprung a leak and was sinking. If he didn't do something soon his daughter would sink out of his life. And that was not something Seth imagined he'd enjoy doing.
Seth glanced at the valet, wondering if he had a smoke on him. Probably, but Seth wasn't in the mood to get up off his sorry ass and ask.
The click of heels alerted Seth to another person's approaching presence. He didn't turn around, secretly hoping it was Brianna. They would have a heart to heart talk in which Brianna proclaimed how much she'd missed her father and they'd have their first real father-daughter bonding moment.
Of course, this was not likely to happen. What little Seth knew about Brianna, he for sure knew she was stubborn like her mother and apt to hold a grudge.
Only when the person—Seth presumed a woman judging by the heels—sat down next to him did Seth look over. It was Summer, and she was holding her purse and a champagne flute.
Seth longingly watched the valet disappear behind one of the tall marble pillars and light up.
He turned towards Summer and saw that she was extracting a heart-covered lighter and a pack of Marlboros from her purse.
"You smoke?"
She shrugged. "Only when I'm totally stressed," Summer explained. She steadily flicked on the lighter and lit her cigarette, inhaling deeply. "Why? You?"
Seth nodded. "Sometimes. I took it up…"
"…after you left," Summer chimed in, and the two looked at each other, surprised.
They smoked in silence for a while. The raucous noises from the rehearsal dinner guests who had begun to feel the effects of their alcohol consumption melodically floated to their ears.
Summer idly flicked the ashes onto the sidewalk. A few ashes, blown astray by the gentle night breeze, flicked onto her shoe, darkening at the tiny spot. Summer licked her finger and dabbed furiously at the spot, then sighed.
Seth wondered what she was thinking about, or if she was thinking about anything other than her ruined $500 shoes. Probably not, for Summer seemed to have reverted back to her pre-Seth high school days.
"Is something wrong?" Summer asked, blowing smoke circles. Seth laughed. A trick probably taught to her by Ryan.
"Nah…" Seth sighed, "Just thinking about what was."
Summer raised her eyebrows. "What was?"
"Us…I guess." Seth carefully avoided Summer's questioning look. "What happened to us?"
"Oh, Seth." Summer ran a hand through Seth's unruly curls, "I don't know. We were young and I guess we mistook love for something it wasn't."
This was definitely not what Seth wanted to hear. So he tuned out, keeping his ears alert in case Summer said something he wouldn't feel bad about.
Summer noticed the somewhat hurt look on Seth's face. "Seth…I didn't mean it like that…it's just, we wanted different things and by being together we couldn't get what we wanted."
"Selfish," Seth said suddenly. "That's what we were. Selfish. For what it counts, if I could go back and do it again I would've traveled the world with you."
Laughing uncomfortably, Summer replied, "It's all in the past now, Seth. Let's not rehash the horrible." Seth chimed in with laughter, more laughter to fill the awkward silence.
"I hope Lucas makes you happy," Seth told Summer, who had finished the cigarette and carelessly flicked it onto the paved club road.
"That's very mature of you, Seth," Summer decided, glad for the change in subjects. She too occasionally wondered if they should've worked out their 'irreconcilable differences'. Summer wondered whether Seth was right to abruptly ask for a divorce on those terms. And she wondered if she had been too selfish. Of course she hadn't; going to London was the best career move possible. The best part was, she'd been able to open up shop in California just a few years after settling down in London.
"I want him to make you happy, since I couldn't do it."
"Oh, Seth…" Summer couldn't look into his soulful brown eyes, the eyes she'd seen only on occasion for the last two decades or so. But the times she did see him, she'd seen the lifeless look that had replaced the sparkle he'd once charmed her with. Now was one of those times.
"You should get back. We should get back. Brianna's probably wondering where we—you—are." Seth ground his half smoked cigarette into the ground and walked back into the club, leaving Summer on the steps with two cigarette butts and unhappy words to ponder.