A/N: This is my last update for a week or so because I'm going to be in Los Angeles for my UCLA Orientation. I am working on a new chapter for "The Sophomore Chronicles" and that should be up after next week too. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the introduction of Billy Maguire.
In the end, Adam decided to go. He went through all the possible reasons why he received an invitation, and even thought about what Scooter said. Nothing made sense--so Adam admitted to himself that he was curious to finding out. And, Adam thought in the back of his mind, maybe he just wanted to see Tamsin one last time.
Adam counted on Scooter to make the arrangements because Adam didn't know if he would be able to take it, doing it himself.
Adam, Scooter, Stacey and Emily sat in the first-class section of a plane to the Los Angeles airport. The girls gushed about every single detail of the wedding that they could get their hands on—from the outfits they would wear to who would be commissioned to do the official wedding photos. It was Adam's understanding that this would be a relatively small and private ceremony—200 or so people—but Stacey and Emily made it sound like it was the Queen's coronation or something. Adam's palms were sweating as he brought up a scotch to lips and took a sip.
"Scooter, remind me again why I'm here." Adam's hand was shaking distinctly.
Surprisingly, Scooter patted his shoulder in sympathy. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of support. Some of your Duck friends are supposed to be there, remember?"
Adam smiled at the thought of being reunited with Guy Germaine, Lester Averman and Charlie Conway, three of his best friends from high school. Maybe their presence could help alleviate some of the tension Adam was feeling.
"So what happens when we get to the airport?" Get Scooter talking about the details, Adam thought. It was easier to think about the little things than the huge, emotionally charged things that threatened to drive Adam crazy.
Scooter was fiddling with the controls of his seat radio when he said distractedly, "Well, I talked to Aunt Judith—you know Tom's mom—and I worked it out that there would be a car to pick us up and take us to the estate."
Adam interrupted. "Wait, we're staying at the Maguire estate?" The thought of being in such close proximity to both the bride and groom made Adam uncomfortable.
Scooter grinned. "You haven't seen the Maguire estate—trust me, it'll be much cooler than staying in some hotel. We're lucky—I had to fight it out with Aunt Judy—but she agreed to lodge us there, just because I'm her favorite."
After a moment, Scooter laughed and slapped Adam on the back. "Come on, don't look like you're being carted off to your own funeral. Weddings are supposed to be a happy time."
Scooter may have believed that wholeheartedly, considering he was celebrating the nuptials of one of his dearest friends, but Adam was positive that this wasn't true in his case. However, he just nodded in response to Scooter's comment.
As Adam walked pensively out of the plane and onto the airport greeting/waiting area, he was shocked by what he saw.
Expecting a pot-bellied driver with a possible receding hairline, Adam almost dropped his carry-on bag when he saw Tamsin standing there, pressing her finger playfully on the nose of the man who accompanied her. Adam could never recall sharing ever experiencing that display of affection in the seven years that he had been with Tamsin.
Hesitantly, Adam walked toward where Tamsin stood, not really caring where Scooter, Stacey or Emily were.
Tamsin spotted Adam moments before they were face to face, and they locked gazes. Tamsin's lips parted slightly, and Adam thought that he saw her chest heave, as if her breathing had quickened.
Tamsin quickly regained her composure and said "Adam," in acknowledgment, her voice smothered with a coat of inappropriate familiarity.
"Tamsin," Adam responded, in the same exact tone.
"Adam," a voice interrupted their reunion, "I finally get to meet you."
Tamsin took her gaze off of Adam and shook her head, as if trying to clear her mind. "Adam, this is my fiancé, William Maguire."
As Adam was about to offer his hand to the man in greeting, William laughed heartily and placed a warm hand on Adam's shoulder. "Nobody calls me William anymore—it's Billy, really. Billy Maguire."
With this unfamiliar hand on his shoulder, Adam took the opportunity to really study Billy's face. Billy looked to be thirty, as Adam initially thought in the photo, and he was a clean-cut, good-looking Ken-doll type. Dark brown eyes, meticulously short brown hair and a firm jaw were all features that accentuated Billy's classically handsome looks.
Tamsin had changed in the last two years. Her perennially long, brown mane of hair had always made her look younger than she really was. Now Tamsin's hair was shorn into a choppy, layered bob with side-swept bangs. It made her face look gaunt and older, accentuating what looked like a substantial amount of weight that Tamsin had lost since Adam had last seen her. It was weight that she could ill-afford to lose in the first place. Otherwise, Tamsin was infinitely more composed and elegant at 25 than she was at 23, which was no small feat.
Standing together, Tamsin and Billy made a handsome couple that just looked RIGHT together, like they belonged in a movie. Their children would probably be perfect. Adam ran a hand through his own slightly longish and mussed blond hair with unconscious anxiety. He was embarrassed by his rumpled t-shirt and wrinkled jeans. This was the moment that Adam was meeting the man who replaced him, and here he was, looking like trash.
Adam's embarrassment deepened when Scooter, Emily and Stacey finally walked up. Why did I bring Stacey, Adam thought to himself. Stacey was still in college, and she certainly looked and acted like it. Stacey GIGGLED, for Pete's sake, and Adam remembered that Tamsin never giggled.
"I know that we were supposed to send a driver," Billy said, "But I just couldn't wait to meet everyone."
As they walked through the airport to the parking lot, Adam stayed quiet as Scooter made conversation with Billy. "Your family is in the wine business, right?"
Billy smiled, an easy-going and charismatic grin that had Stacey and Emily unconsciously drooling. "That's my family, but I'm not really part of the business."
Scooter, whose family owned a chain of luxurious hotels, had no desire to take part of the business. He nodded sympathetically at Billy's comment. "So what do you do?"
Billy looked around to see if anyone was in earshot and answered, leaning in close as if letting them in on a big secret, "I write for a living."
Tamsin, who had lived her whole life as the straight man in contrast to the joker, rolled her eyes. "Here we go."
Stacey, who was studying to get her Master's degree in Library Science, perked up instantly. "Oh, really? Anything we might have heard of?"
"You ever read anything by Clinton Jackson?"
Stacey gasped. "No, you're joking! That's you?"
Adam was impressed. Clinton Jackson was a regular on the Bestseller lists, and Adam even had a couple of his works on his bookshelf at home. And with that, Adam knew that Billy had them all in his corner.
Adam didn't realize what his real intent was until that moment. He had tried to fool himself into thinking that he just wanted to see Tamsin one last time. But Adam knew the truth—he came wanting to win her back. Even after two years, Adam loved her. But after meeting the competition, Adam knew that he was in trouble.