Three Girls And A Wedding (11 page)

“This is a disaster!” I moaned,
staring at the pile of clothes, shoes and accessories scattered across my bed.

“Oh, poor Jen,” Annie scoffed. She
was laying on her back on the floor of my bedroom, carefully painting her nails
a shocking purple. “What on earth will she pack for her all-expenses-paid trip
to the greatest city in the world?”

“This isn’t all fun and games,
Ann,” I told her, picking up a grey cashmere scarf before tossing it aside
again. “It’s work. I have to make a good impression.”

“You’re going to New York,” Annie
said, holding up her hand to inspect her nails. “In a private jet. You’re
staying at the Plaza. Tell me what the problem is?”

I sighed. I knew Annie had a point.
In fact, I was pretty excited about this trip. I had never been to New York
City before and I couldn’t believe that my first trip there was going to be so
high-class. But I was also feeling a lot of pressure. What if I did something
totally embarrassing? What if messed up in some way?

“Are you nervous ’cause the
hottie
is
gonna
be there?” she asked,
smirking. I felt a swooping in my stomach at the thought. Kiki had just let me
know that Eric and his brother would be joining us so they could get their
tuxes custom-made by a tailor in the city. Annie, predictably, was very
interested in my description of Matt and his sheer gorgeousness.

“It’s not that,” I told her, not
totally truthfully. In fact, Matt made me feel more uncomfortable than the rest
of them, the way he always seemed to be appraising me, the way he always seemed
somewhat displeased by what he saw. I didn’t tell Annie that, though. She would
freak out if she knew I was letting myself get so worked up over a guy who
didn’t even like me.

“Jen,” Annie said, sitting up on
her knees. “It’s going to be amazing. Stop worrying.”

“Worrying about what?” Ginny asked
from the doorway.

“Hey,
hon
,”
I said, looking up at her. “How was work?”

“Busy today,” she replied, walking
into the room and sitting down at my desk. “Now, what are you worrying about?”

“Jen doesn’t know what to pack.
It’s a tragedy,” Annie said drily.

Ginny, however, did not make fun of
me. Instead, her entire face lit up. “
Oooh
, let me
help you!”

“Be my guest,” I told her,
gesturing at the pile of clothes. “It’s hopeless anyhow.”

Ginny moved into action, rifling
through the clothes and shoes on my bed and organizing them into neat piles,
while I took her abandoned seat at my desk.

“Jen, can I ask you a question?”
Annie said, pulling a pillow down from the bed and settling herself more
comfortably on the floor. “Why are you so worried about what these people
think?”

“It’s my career, Ann,” I told her.

“I know…but why should it matter so
much what you wear?
 
You’re planning
an amazing wedding for them—isn’t that what counts?”

I shrugged, feeling kind of
uncomfortable. Annie was never one to care about her image. Sure, she liked to
dress up and cared about fashion as much as Gin or me, but she only ever wore
what she actually liked, not caring about what was “in” at the moment or what
other people thought about her choices.

Sometimes I wished I could be more
like that.

“They’re important people. I just
want to give a good impression,” I mumbled.

Annie looked at me for a moment
without speaking. “You make a good impression just being you,” she finally
said. “I hope you remember that.”

We sat quietly for a moment,
watching Ginny fold and arrange my clothes. I had a sudden urge to confess to
the girls how stressed I was feeling, how inadequate I seemed around these
people. How I wished I didn’t have to try so hard. How usually when I was out at
smart parties or schmoozing with people like the Barkers, I felt uncomfortable
and cheap, and wanted nothing more than to be at home with them.

“Okay, how’s this?” Ginny asked,
distracting me from my thoughts. “I planned six outfits for you. That should be
way more than enough for a long weekend.” She gestured at her little piles.
“These four are good day outfits. And you can easily dress them up for evening.
Like this black wrap dress—wear it during the day with this scarf and
your corduroy blazer. Then at night lose the jacket and scarf and add this
necklace.” She gestured to the smaller pile. “And then these two are dressier
in case you go somewhere nicer for dinner or something.”

“Why the hell do you work in a
bookstore?” Annie asked, bemused. “You should have been a personal shopper or
something.”

Ginny smiled at her. “What do you
think, Jen?’ she asked me.

“It’s perfect, Gin,” I said
fervently. “It really is. Thank you, I feel so much better now.”

She grinned. “My pleasure. And I
have a pair of red heels that will be hot with that dress. I’ll grab them from
upstairs once Danny wakes up.”

I pulled my new suitcase out of my
closet, excited for Ginny’s reaction.

“Oh my God,” Ginny whispered, her
face alight. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Louis Vuitton,” I said, placing it
ceremoniously on the bed.

“Holy shit,” she murmured, gently
touching the soft brown leather.

Annie jumped up from the floor to
join us by the bed. “Jen, that bag is, like, three thousand bucks!”

“This one wasn’t,” I smiled. “My
mom got it on eBay when I told her about the trip. Granted, it’s still probably
the most expensive piece of luggage I’ll ever own, but she didn’t pay full
price.”

“It’s in amazing shape for being
used,” Ginny said, still touching the bag reverently.

“There are a few scratches in the
leather on the bottom, but I don’t think anyone will notice,” I said, crossing
my fingers.

“If they do, they’ll probably just
think that you’re well-traveled,” Annie said.

“Bless you,” I said, putting my arm
around her.

“Well, now I’m really jealous,”
Ginny said. “A trip to New York, a private jet, and couture luggage. What a
bitch. I should have let you pack yourself.”

Annie laughed and I began placing
the clothes Ginny had picked into the bag.

“Well, if you’re lucky I’ll let you
take it on your honeymoon…speaking of being a lucky bitch,” I said, finishing
my packing and zipping the bag.

“She’s right, you’re going to
Jamaica, you whore!” Annie cried. “I hate both of you. I don’t get to go
anywhere!”

“We should plan a long weekend away
somewhere while Ginny’s gone,” I said, “The Barker wedding will be over by
then, I’m sure I’ll need a break.”

“That would be great,” Annie said.

“Just so long as you go somewhere
kid-friendly,” Ginny said. When Annie looked blank she smiled. “Oh, didn’t Jen
tell you? She volunteered you guys to watch Danny while we’re gone.”

“This gets better and better,”
Annie grumbled. “I need a drink. Do we have any of that wine left?”

We headed down to the kitchen.
Ginny grabbed three wine glasses from the cabinet while Annie rooted around in
the fridge for a half-empty bottle of Merlot. “Fine then,” she said as she
began to pour. “We’ll stay in the house and enjoy the fact that it’s man-free
before Josh moves in here.”

I caught a glimpse of Ginny’s face
out of the corner of my eye; her expression made my stomach drop.

“Um, actually…we should probably
talk about that,” she said, clearly uncomfortable.

“Talk about what?” I asked.

“Josh and me…and where we’ll live.”

Annie and I just stared at her. I
guess I should have expected this, but instead I felt unpleasantly shocked.

“We thought…since we’ll be just
married and all…we thought we’d get our own place,” Ginny stammered, not
meeting our eyes.

“You’re…you’re moving?” Annie
asked, aghast.

“Yeah,” Ginny said, staring hard at
her feet. “After the wedding.”

“But…where?” Annie asked.

Ginny took a big gulp of her wine.
“We’re looking at apartments and houses to rent,” she said, finally looking up.
“So you guys will have a ton more room!” she said, her voice overly bright.
“And no more crying baby in the middle of the night!”

I closed my eyes, feeling short of
breath. No more crying baby. No more Danny.

“Is this my fault?” Annie
whispered. I looked over at her and saw tears in her eyes. “Is this because
Josh hates me? Because I’ve really been trying, Gin, I swear, I would be
totally polite if he lived here, I promise.”

“Annie, this has nothing to do with
you,” Ginny said firmly. “I know you’ve been trying, you’ve been great! This is
just about me and Josh. We’re starting our family together and we feel like we
should have our own place. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Of course we do,” I said, even
though the thought of her leaving broke my heart.

“I can’t believe this!” Annie
cried, setting her glass down a little too hard. “I can’t believe you’re not
going to live here anymore!”

“Ann, this house is way too small
for four adults and a growing kid. And I don’t really want to spend the first
months of my marriage sharing a room with my baby—Danny’s
gonna
need his own room. Plus, it’s not fair of me to ask
Josh to have to share one bathroom with three girls.” She smiled, trying to
lighten the mood.

“You’re right,” I said, trying to
keep my voice light. “It makes sense. We should have expected you’d want to
move out.”

“I guess,” Annie said, clearly not
convinced.

“Listen, we’re
gonna
stay really close,” Ginny said quickly. “I promise. I’ll see you guys all the
time. It really won’t be that different.”

“Sure,” I said, my voice sounding
falsely hearty in my ears. “We’ll hang out all the time.”

A sharp cry from upstairs
interrupted us. Danny.

“I should go—” Ginny started
to say, but Annie interrupted her.

“I’ll go,” she said. “I’ll get
him.”

I understood completely. The
thought of Danny moving was too horrible to accept. Just like Annie, all I
wanted was to grab him and hold on to him for as long as possible.

“I should get some work done,” I
said, turning away from Ginny so she couldn’t see my face. “I’m leaving for the
airport really early.”

“Jen—” Ginny started, but I
cut her off.

“I’m fine, Gin, don’t worry. I’ll
help you guys look at places when I get back if you want.”

“Okay,” she said quietly, and I
left the room.

I felt guilty, knowing she was
upset. It was completely understandable that she would want to move out. I
should have expected it, honestly. But the thought of this house without her,
without Danny…It felt like something precious, something safe, was being taken
away from me.

I knew if I let myself think about
it anymore I would cry, and Ginny didn’t need to see that. Instead, I went back
to my room and buried myself in work for Kiki’s wedding, determined not to
think about Ginny or Josh all night.

 
Chapter Fifteen

I
can’t believe I’m here right now.

Having never flown anything except
coach, I had no idea what to expect when the limo picked me up the next morning
to take me to the airport. The reality of the Barkers’ plane was beyond
anything I could have imagined.

It was the definition of luxury.
Ridiculously comfortable leather seats, marble tables, carpets so plush I was tempted
to lay down on the floor, a chef on board with a full wait staff serving us
breakfast. I couldn’t believe that people lived like this.

I’d had plenty of time to take it
all in since we had boarded twenty minutes ago. Jason had immediately honed in
on Kiki and her parents, and had been talking with them non-stop ever since
takeoff. Eric and Matt were sitting together toward the black of the plane,
each engrossed in newspapers. Out of Kiki’s bridesmaids, only her cousin Bella
was joining us on this trip; she was sitting alone with a book and an
expression that clearly said she would rather not be here.

This left me alone to enjoy myself.
I fiddled with the controls on my chair for awhile, thrilled with the way it
would lower and recline at will. It even had massaging controls and a button
that seemed to turn on a butt warmer. So cool.

I finally managed to get a hold of
myself, trying to stifle my excitement and act more like a professional. I
looked up, hoping no one had seen my silliness, and found myself staring
straight at Matt, who was standing in the aisle next to me, looking at me with
a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Having fun?” he asked.

I blushed. “It’s a very nice
plane,” I murmured.

“It is indeed.”

“Have you traveled on it before?” I
asked, trying to be polite.

“A few times. Kiki and Eric have
planned a few weekends away with friends of theirs and they usually invite me.”

“That sounds great,” I said,
thinking of the last trip I had taken with my friends. We had traveled in my
Jeep over to Lake Michigan for a long weekend. Danny had screamed the entire
drive, the hotel we had booked had messed up our reservation and put us all in
the same room with a single queen sized bed, and it had rained for three days
straight. A far cry from a private jet whisking us away to what I am sure was
exotic locales.

“Kiki throws a nice party,” he
agreed. He was looking at me strangely, as if trying to figure something out.
“Well, anyhow, talk to you later.”

“Bye,” I mumbled as he headed off
toward the bathroom (marble counter tops, bigger than my bathroom at home). I
wondered, not for the first time, why this guy seemed to dislike me so much. He
barely knew me! But so far most of our conversations had demonstrated what
appeared to be his clear disdain, or, at the very least, complete indifference
to me. A few times he had seemed somewhat amused by me, but that was hardly a
compliment.