Chapter 29
Jennie
Jisoo and I impressed ourselves with all that we got checked off our list while Rosé was away.
Cake, band and flowers … done. Centerpieces weren't even on our list, but we found the most beautiful antique vases at a flea market for a steal and couldn't pass them up. Rosé was beyond thrilled with our progress and gushed about how grateful she was. The minute she got back into town, I made her repay the favor by helping me get ready for the charity event with Lisa. I wanted to dress to kill; no way was I going to give Blaire any ammunition tonight.
There was no fashion show this time, nor did Mom or I have a say in what I wore. Rosé had a handful of expensive designer dresses that she was saving for a special occasion, and she insisted I wear one of them tonight.
It was a red, fitted Nicole Miller jersey-style dress that gathered down the front and back, showing off the waist Rosé said most women would kill for. Silver, strappy Jimmy Choos that she'd never even worn fit my feet like Cinderella, nicely showing off the pedicure I had gotten earlier that day with the girls. I never wanted to forget how adorable they looked sitting in those big chairs, grinning from ear to ear with their cute little toes barely reaching the water.
The Wild Kids event was halfway in between my house and Lisa's, so it didn't make sense for me to drive all the way to her place. She told me she'd be by at 6:15 to pick me up. As usual, I was ready early and pacing the kitchen like an expectant father.
"Sit down, relax," Mom called from the living room, patting the couch cushion next to her.
"I can't, I'll wrinkle my dress. I want everything to be perfect."
She got up and came into the kitchen, keeping me company while I paced. "Well, you look beautiful and happy. You're glowing. I could cry just thinking about what a change I see in you the last month and a half since you've met Lisa. She really is a blessing."
My chest warmed at her name. It'd been almost a week since I had seen her and I was aching to wrap my arms around her. This long distance thing was rough, but it made me really appreciate the time we were able to spend together, not to mention the dozens of hours on the phone we spent really getting to know each other. We still never ran out of things to talk about.
"I know, Mom. I'm pretty crazy about her."
"I already knew that—you two don't exactly hide it well. The way you look at each other across the room, the involuntary way you grin when I say her name, the way your heart swells when you see her playing with the girls … you two are the real deal." Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Don't make me cry, my makeup will run." I waved at my eyes, hell-bent on keeping them bone dry. "It's so strange, I went into this bound and determined not to let it get too serious, but I don't think that's what I want anymore. I judged her. I assumed because of what she does for a living, she wasn't capable of being a good person, a family oriented person. She's proven me wrong time after time. I like her, Mom. I like her a lot."
"I like the way that sounds." A voice behind me set every nerve in my body on fire. As I spun around, my breath caught in my throat.
Wow.
Lisa looked like she'd just stepped out of a magazine ad. She was leaning against the wall with one arm behind her back and the other holding onto the lapel of her jacket. Her normally untamed, short curls were slicked back just enough, her face silky smooth. Lisa was this crazy, professional athlete, but tonight, she could easily have passed as a model.
"Wow. You look great, way better than great. So far past great, you can't even see great anymore." I was nervous and rambling. I couldn't even think of a word to justify how amazing she looked.
"You … my girl, are breathtaking." She took a step toward me, revealing that in the hand behind her back were a dozen perfect red roses. When she got to me, she lifted my hand to her mouth, gently brushing her lips across the top. "When we walk into that room, you're going to put every other woman to shame. How lucky am I that you'll be on my arm?"
My mom sniffed again as Jane came barging into the kitchen. "Mom, come look at this car. It's the longest one I've ever seen!"
"What?" I looked from her to Lisa, confused. "What is she talking about?"
Lisa shrugged nonchalantly and cocked her head to the side. "The limo."
"You rented a limo?"
"I wanted to give all my attention to you tonight, didn't want to worry about driving. Come on." She took my hand in her and pulled me toward the front door.
"Would you mind putting these in water for me?" I handed the roses to Mom on the way out of the kitchen, laughing at the tiny Twisted Petal logo on the plastic wrapper. Knowing Jisoo, she went through dozens of roses to handpick the perfect ones for me.
The girls were standing in the front room, their faces fogging up the glass as they stared at the limousine.
"You guys wanna go for a quick ride?"
"Yay!" They squealed and jumped up and down like they would've if she'd bought them each a pony.
She opened the front door and stepped back, waiting for the three of us to go out. Once the girls hit the porch, they were out, sprinting across the yard like an Olympian ran for the finish line.
"Relax," I said in my mom tone as I walked up behind them. "We're going to sit nice in here and not break or ruin anything. Got it?"
They didn't hear a word I said but nodded anyway as I pulled the limo door open and they climbed inside. Once they were in, I bent down to climb in myself and stopped when I saw the red rose petals sprinkled all over the floor of the limo. I sat down on the bench opposite Ruby and Jane and looked at Lisa apologetically when she joined me, knowing this wasn't the way she wanted the night to start out.
She shrugged it off and delivered her smile that could make all my troubles disappear. "I wanted you to feel like a princess tonight." She nodded across at the girls who were excitedly pushing and spinning every knob and button they could find. "Now I have three princesses." She leaned over to drop a kiss on my forehead, but I was done hiding things from the girls. I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and redirected her mouth onto mine, meeting in a sweet, wonderful kiss.
No tongue—I wasn't anywhere near ready to teach the girls about all that yet.
Lisa asked the chauffeur to drive up and down the main road off our driveway for the next ten minutes. The girls either didn't notice or didn't care that we were driving in a big circle, they were too fascinated with the TV in the car, then the radio in the car, then the fridge in the car where they discovered bottled water they just had to have.
We dropped the girls off with Mom and we were on our way. Lisa slid the cover off the built-in cooler in the limo and pulled out a bottle of Cristal. "Glad they didn't find the good stuff." She said, winking at me as she pulled out two champagne flutes and poured us each a glass.
I took the glass from her as she leaned over and kissed me softly.
"Here's to a night we'll never forget."
Truer words were never spoken.
Our limo crawled to a stop at the curb of the Prescott Pavilion, and I was shocked at the chaotic scene of fancy cars, security guards and photographers.
"This is a charity dinner?" I asked, staring incredulously out the window. I don't know what I had expected to see, but this definitely wasn't it.
"Yep, this is it." She squeezed my hand. "You ready?"
An attendant dressed in a crisp white shirt with a black tie and black pants rushed over and opened the door for us. Before I took the young man's hand and got out, I glanced back at Lisa to see if she was as nervous as I was. She calmly buttoned her jacket and winked at me.
"Let's go."
I stepped out and moved off to the side so Lisa could follow.
"That was a nice view," she whispered into my ear once she was out.
She offered up her arm and I hooked mine through immediately, smiling up at her. We walked up a few steps and heads started to turn; people started to whisper.
"Lisa, people are staring." I breathed, leaning in close.
"I know. It's okay. We'll walk the red carpet and go right inside. Just a few more minutes."
"Red carpet?" My voice cracked in a panic. "You didn't tell me about that."
"Breathe." She reached up squeezed my hand reassuringly. "I didn't want you to freak."
"Well, that worked out well, didn't it?"
She stopped walking and pulled me over to the side. "Do you not want to do this? I can walk alone and meet you inside if you'd rather? I want you to walk with me, but I'm not going to force you."
Dread whirled around in my stomach, knocking down everything in its path as it spun and grew like a twister in the summer heat. A month ago, the biggest decision of my life was what shade of pink to paint Ruby and Jane's fingernails, now I had to decide whether or not to walk the red carpet at the charity dinner for my girlfriend's hockey team. It wasn't the walking that made me nervous, that part was easy—one foot in front of the other. It was the people staring, whispering, and pointing that made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
I looked into Lisa's soothing eyes as she bit her lip, patiently waiting for my answer. I was proud to be her girlfriend and I wanted her to know that. Soon enough, people would figure out who I was anyway. I might as well rip the Band-Aid off fast, right?
"Let's do this," I said, raising up on my tippy-toes and planting a kiss right on her beautiful mouth.
She palmed the back of my head and held me there, elongating our kiss before she rested her forehead on mine.
"You. Amaze. Me."
I didn't have time to tell her she amazed me more before she took my hand in her own and morphed into 'Sports Superstar Lisa,' confidently shaking hands and working her way through the crowd.
The red carpet was overwhelming, suffocating. Flashbulbs right in my face, hundreds of them causing me to blink so fast, I'd be surprised if there were one picture with my eyes open. My heart was pounding as hard as ever, the only thing keeping me from sprinting back to the limo and barricading myself inside was Lisa's warm hand resting comfortably on the small of my back.
Lisa! Lisa, over here! Lisa!
The reporters were piranhas, all begging for her attention as we walked the line, pausing for pictures every five feet or so.
"Lisa Manoban, who's your date?" One yelled out over the others. "Is she your new girlfriend?"
"She's my only girlfriend," she yelled back to the feeding frenzy with that charming grin plastered to her face.
"Do we get her name?"
"Soon enough, soon enough. Tonight is about the kids though, don't you think?" She went over and signed a few autographs, took a few pictures and the crowd cooled it a bit. She said goodnight to the masses and led us inside.
After a few more stops to meet people in the foyer, we headed into the ballroom.
Oh my God.
The room was permeated with the soft, unmistakable smell of roses. Every table was decorated with the lushest white and silver linens, and the tabletops were sprinkled with enough candles to give the entire room a romantic glow. Waiters in black tuxedos strolled from person to person, balancing sterling silver trays of foreign looking food on their fingertips. Bartenders poured pale, bland-looking drinks. Personally, I liked my alcohol in brown glass bottles.
As I stood, completely mesmerized, taking in all of the beautiful scenery in that room, I didn't even notice Bambam walk up to us. I turned as he and Lisa were doing their weird hug. I immediately panicked and peeked to see if anyone was behind him.
Not anyone—Blaire.
"She's not with me," Bambam said as he turned toward me.
My cheeks flushed with embarrassment that I'd been caught looking for her.
He leaned forward and gently kissed my cheek. "She actually wanted to come over and apologize, but I told her she was to stay away from you the whole night. I don't even want her looking at you. And it has nothing to do with Lisa's contract, it's because you're the girl that has made my best friend the happiest I've seen her since she was twenty-one and got signed to play professionally." A tight smile formed on his lips and I couldn't help give him a bigger smile back.
"I appreciate that, Bambam. Thank you."
"I'm so sorry for the way she acted. You didn't deserve that. It won't happen again, I promise."
Lisa stuck her hand out for Bambam again and they shook in some sort of show of mutual respect. He turned and walked away, and I let out a breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding.
"You okay?" Lisa looked nervous.
A small laugh built up inside me at the irony of that interaction making her nervous, but the hordes of people outside calling her name and clawing at her was nothing.
"I'm good." I beamed at her. "I'm so good."
"Let's find our seats, then get a drink, huh?"
I was having the best time … dinner was out of this world, the people at our table were wonderful and Lisa couldn't keep her hands, or lips, off me.
I felt like Cinderella.
"I'm gonna use the restroom, I'll be right back, okay?"
Lisa stood politely as I got up from the table. Dina, a wife of another hockey player, got up and said she'd go with me. We gabbed about hockey life once the season started, and she actually put my mind at ease. Her life wasn't so different from any other woman who had a husband that traveled for work.
"I'm so glad we talked. You really calmed my nerves."
"Absolutely! You're so sweet. Lisa is lucky to have you," she said as she reapplied her lipstick. "You coming?"
"I'll be right behind you … I'm going to call my mom and check on the girls."
She smiled and squeezed my hand on the way out.
"Hockey wife? You really think you're going to be a hockey wife?" An achingly familiar voice cackled as I started to dial my mom's number. My stomach flip-flopped as Blaire slithered out of one of the bathroom stalls. "Hi, Jennie. So nice to see you again."
"Hi, Blaire," I said, tucking my phone back in my purse. "I'll see you later."
"Where are you going? I wanted to talk to you some more." Her tone dripped with insincerity as she inspected herself in the mirror. "We never finished our conversation a couple weeks ago because your douchey girlfriend so rudely interrupted us."
You have got to be kidding me. She doesn't sound very apologetic. What the hell was Bambam talking about?
"She's not a douche, Blaire, and I'm not about to stand here-"
"Oh, you're gonna stand there, or you would've been gone already." She turned and looked at me with venom in her eyes. "Admit it, you want to know all I know about Lisa because the truth is, you barely know her yourself."
I stood frozen, like an animal in her crosshairs, but I felt stronger this time. Maybe I couldn't get my legs to move, but my mouth certainly could.
"You know what, Blaire? I think it's you who doesn't know Lisa."
She tossed her head of thick blonde hair back and laughed. "Did she tell you all about Kendall?"
I put my hand on my hip and cocked it to the side. "As a matter of fact, she did."
"Oh really?" She straightened up and smirked at me. "Did she tell you she saw her last weekend?"
Bile rose up in my already uneasy stomach. Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, I did my best to keep my dinner down, not wanting her to know she was getting to me … again.
Is she lying? She has to be lying. She wouldn't have seen her again, right? Not after we…
"I don't believe a damn word you say, Blaire."
"Okay," she said, as she whipped her phone out and thumbed something onto the buttons. "I'll prove it to you, Princess."
"I don't have time for your bullshit. My date is waiting for me." I turned to leave the bathroom, but that didn't stop her.
"Go ahead, live it up while you can, it's only a matter of time before she throws you away too," she cooed.
God, this obnoxious woman knows how to push my buttons.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," I spat as I turned around.
"Of course I do, Jennie. I've seen it a hundred times with her. She likes a girl and brings her around constantly for a few weeks. As soon as she gets sick of her, she tosses her aside and goes onto the next." She faced the mirror and tousled her hair.
I'd had enough. Nothing I could say would get through her stone exterior, I was just wasting my breath arguing. I stomped toward the bathroom door and almost fell through it when it was pulled open from the other side.
"Sorry," I muttered, trying to regain my balance.
"No problem." The girl with beautiful dark waves and bright bluish-purple eyes said to me.
Bluish. Purple. Eyes.
"You must be Jennie? Blaire has told me so much about you." She smiled with rows and rows of perfect white teeth. "I'm Kendall."
I whipped around to face Blaire who'd walked up behind me. "What the hell?"
"She texted me and asked me to come meet you," Kendall answered for her. "She said you had some questions about Lisa and last weekend."
"I don't have any questions." Anger grew in me and seeped out of my pores as I glared back and forth between the two of them. "You two are insane."
"Calm down, drama queen. I just wanted her to confirm that she did see her last weekend. Didn't you, Kendall?"
"Mm-hmm," she purred. "She's such a sweetie and a great kisser too."
"Face it, girl. You're nothing but a summer fling," Blaire hissed into my ear. "The only thing she'll ever really love is hockey. Once the season starts, you'll be in the rearview mirror crying in your fake designer purse. She'll move on … and you can focus all your efforts on making cupcakes with your kids."
I rushed past both of them and headed straight for an emergency exit opposite the ballroom. I needed space. Once outside, I sucked in the cool, crisp air as fast as I could, begging my pulse to slow to a normal rate.
What am I supposed to do now?
I could go flying into the ballroom and start screaming and yelling at Lisa like a lunatic, embarrassing both her and myself and making Blaire and Kendall squeal with delight in the process. Or … I could tuck my tail between my legs and wait. Wait until we were alone. Wait until I had time to think about the things Blaire had said. Wait until I could distance myself from her enough emotionally so that all of this wouldn't hurt so much.
That's what I would do. Wait.