"Massie, I mean it. I'm not saying goodbye to you again. I refuse to. I don't care what happens, I'll find a way."
"I love you, Derrington." She whispered, her eyes falling shut as the exhaustion of the last two days finally took her on.
"I love you, Block." He whispered back, pressing a kiss to her lips before falling asleep beside her.
Friday came quickly, and although Massie willed herself to stay asleep, she knew at some point she'd have to face reality. Derrick had left around six in the morning, something about needing to make his morning practice before work. He kissed her before leaving, and despite the sleep that was still taking residence in her mind, Massie swore he whispered her a final goodbye before closing the bedroom door and disappearing into the halls of the Estate.
She decided to actually get out of bed around nine a.m, forcing herself to take a warm shower before facing any part of the day. Massie let the steam gather round the marble tiled bathroom, the hot water burned against her skin as she scrubbed her body with a loofah and some l'occitane body oil until she felt fresh again.
Taking her time once she was finished, Massie moisturized her body from head to pinky toe before changing into her outfit for the day. Never in a million years did Massie Block ever plan on getting married in August, but sometimes you don't get what you wish for.
Massie pulled on a pair of black brunello cucinelli linen wide legged trousers, matching it with a white cropped tee shirt from open edit and a pair of black sam edelman espadrilles. She blow dried her hair out into some beachy waves, adding some fekkai creme to keep them soft before applying her usual lightweight summertime makeup look and heading downstairs.
"Sweetheart, he's on his way here with Len." That was how her father chose to greet his daughter as she approached the kitchen's breakfast bar and began helping herself to the scrambled egg whites, turkey bacon, and freshly sliced fruit Inez had prepared.
"Fabulous. Maybe I should add some vodka to my coffee?" Massie responded in a snarky tone, taking a sip of her black iced coffee she poured into a crystal glass and making a face at the bitterness. She added some of her favorite vanilla caramel coffee creamer, then took a seat beside William and began to eat like nothing was wrong.
"Talk to me." He pleaded, turning to face his daughter with only a look of sheer regret. "I know I've made mistakes, but I'm trying my hardest to help fix them."
"You signed my death certificate doing what you did. I don't need any more of your help, father."
"I didn't know!" He cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "I didn't think you'd be ready. I didn't know the kind of man you were with, the kind of man you were marrying."
"Am, father. Am marrying. Let's stop beating around the bush and pretending it isn't happening."
"Massie, there is nothing I regret more than hurting you or causing you any harm. You think I wished for my only daughter to be in this situation? I'd much rather you married that stick-throwing dog boutique owner's son than this monster."
"Well, the only good part of this is that you won't be able to escape him either, dad. He may be my husband, but he'll be your son in law. I hope you enjoy it." She spoke easily, like this was a simple conversation about the news or stock trading tips. William was taken aback by her tone, and excused himself from the table as Tristan came through the front door.
"Oh, honey!" He yelled, approaching Massie and wrapping his arms tightly round her small body. "It's so good to be home."
"Oh, yes, it truly is." Massie muttered to herself, pinching her inner elbow in hopes she'd wake up from this nightmare.
"The food was horrible, the company was horrible, the staff? Terrible! I've never felt more like a criminal in my entire life!"
"Well, that's probably a good thing considering you were arrested and arraigned." Josh snarked over his glass of scotch. "I suppose that means our tax dollars are being put to good use, eh?"
Massie, Tristan, Josh, and Alicia were spending the evening having wine, whiskey, soda water (for Alicia) and appetizers at the local upper class wine bar in Westchester Village. It was the evening before the wedding, and Tristan was currently recounting his time spent at the Westchester Correctional Facility.
"Well, Mr. Rivera and his wonderful skills cleared that right up and got me out in the nick of time. Imagine if we had to have a jail house wedding?" Tristan laughed at the thought, shaking his head and lifting his own glass of whiskey to a fake toast before taking a sip. He then shook the empty glass at the waitress, the lone ice cube making a clinking sound that snapped Massie back to the present.
"Do you mind? That's extremely rude." The brunette snapped at her fiance, who bristled at the comment and sent her a glaring look.
"Oh, I'm sorry darling. Won't do it again." He remarked, setting down his glass with a slam before taking a piece of cheese and popping it into his mouth.
"Careful, you've said that before." Massie retorted with a glare of her own.
"Would you like to step outside for a second to discuss this, love?"
"Absolutely not."
"So, who's excited for tomorrow?" Alicia chimed in, trying to break the awkward tension growing between the couple and praying she didn't get wrapped into a fight tonight.
"You know, I think Massie's just getting those pre-wedding jitters. Maybe I should bring you home to relax?"
"Nope, good where I am. Don't worry, though, I won't be a runaway bride." Massie winked at the end of her sentence before taking her glass of sauvignon blanc and downing it in one go.
Alicia and Josh both knew what Massie was trying to do. She was hoping she could get under Tristan's skin one last time, rile him up and make it bad enough that she could call the police and violate his release. By the look of Tristan's fists clenching and veins in his exposed arms popping, it wouldn't take too much more. His ocean eyes seemed to storm over, like when you're at the beach and a thunderstorm comes rolling in. The waitress returned with a new glass of whiskey, setting it down in front of Tristan with no regard for his anger bubbling. He raised it, and swallowed it all in one sip before setting the empty glass back on her tray.
Slowly, his red face started to dissipate and his veins grew back to their normal appearance. His fists began to release, and his face calmed down to a soft smirk aimed at Massie. That's when it registered for Alicia. Tristan knew what she was trying to do, too, and honestly that part scared Alicia more.
"A toast," Tristan began once the waitress again returned with a full glass of amber liquid for Tristan, "a toast to us, to making new memories, making new friends. To cultivating a relationship and bond to last a lifetime, to starting families and to all our new beginnings."
"A toast." Massie chimed, lifting her wine glass in what she intended to be a sarcastic manner, and clinking her glass to Tristan's, Josh's, and Alicia's.
"A toast to new beginnings, and all the surprises they may lead to." Josh smirked, raising his glass and taking a long sip of his scotch.
"A toast to love!" Alicia cheered, clinking her soda water to everyone's alcohol and sipping it daintily through her straw.
Massie, Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen were all lounging around Massie's bedroom. There were face masks being applied, hair being deep conditioned, limbs being spray tanned and an awkward heaviness in the air no one could shake.
The four best friends were all sitting on the floor on blow up mattresses covered in designer sheets and bedding, fluffy down pillows and custom bathrobe and slippers. They were passing around fashion magazines, giggling like the girls they used to be, and gossiping about the celebrities they knew.
Kristen was flipping through one of her sports magazines when her finger landed on a four page spread article about Derrick. Laughing to herself, she looked up at the other girls and held the picture for them all to see.
"To think the last time we did this in this bedroom, we all thought you'd be marrying him." Kristen said softly, almost saddened.
"Times change. People grow." Massie responded coldly, and the girls all knew why. Massie was nervous Tristan went so far to bug her bedroom, so his name was off limits, but all the girls knew Massie would give everything to walk down the aisle to him tomorrow instead of Tristan.
"Dylan, do you think you and Chris will ever get married?" Alicia blurted out, then covered her mouth with her hand as if to say 'I totally meant to think that, not say it.'
The redhead shrugged, looking at her friends and answering honestly. "It feels like that's our next step, right? But what if..what if we don't want to? We both come from pretty shitty failed marriages. Neither of us want to hurt each other, or god forbid children, the way we were hurt. I think we're both just...afraid."
"You can't be too afraid to let yourself fall in love." Massie said softly, her words ringing true in her own heart. "You lose out on so much by being afraid."
"You're right." Dylan nodded her head, taking her hair and tying it up into a messy top knot on the top of her head. "But, what if you're more afraid to lose what you already have?"
"If that's the case, then what you already have sounds like it's holding you back." Alicia offered. "If Chris wants to leave because you want to get married, then maybe he isn't the person you're supposed to be with at the end of the day."
"He's just…"
"Familiar." Massie finished her sentence for her, knowing in her heart how true that statement was.
Tristan was familiar to her, there for her at every turn she made throughout college and postgraduate. But, that didn't always mean familiarity was good. Derrick was the dangerous option, the one with a crazy job (or two), hadn't been there for her since high school, and grew up so much that he became unfamiliar to her.
He became unfamiliar in the best way possible, though. He became a stronger person, someone with real goals and ambition, someone who actually tasted defeat and worked his ass off to avoid it again. He was wiser, more intelligent, more aware of the world around him versus the world underneath his high school cleats. He became honorable, caring, protective, ambitious, he had everything any girl would want. Any girl would be lucky to have him, and crazier to give him up. Does that make me crazy? Massie thought to herself.