Chapter 3

My skin quite literally sizzled under his touch, goosebumps rising on my skin as I remembered the night we’d shared back in Korea. His hold on me was delicate, and I knew I had the option to pull away.
I didn’t want to though.
We didn’t go too far from the dance floor. Finding ourselves right behind a pillar out of earshot, I crossed my arms and looked around the golf course to avoid his direct gaze. He wasn’t looking at me either, but leaned back against the pillar and kept his eyes on the golf carts some distance away. The spot on my arm he’d held felt cold in the absence of his touch.
“What did you want to say?” I asked softly.
“Well, for one, you look absolutely wonderful.” came his deep and raspy voice. I hated the way my heart thudded with warmth at that. Crossing my arms tighter, I was almost about to speak until he began again, “I…wanted to apologize for that night.”
Ouch…
I breathed deeply as my gut wrenched. That felt really hurtful.
“I shouldn’t have allowed that to happen,” he continued, “although I won’t say I regretted it. I just…it took me a lot of thinking to realize that you’ve been keeping me at arm’s length and I should’ve just gone with it. I don’t understand how I manage to find myself around you all the time.”
“Was there ever a time it was a choice?”
“Like right now? Yes.” He nodded, “Every other time was strangely coincidental, I believe.”
We stood in silence, and I was wondering if I should say anything at all. For closure’s sake, I guess? I wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear, but I didn’t know what to say either.
“I made the move.” Was my dreaded response, “I should’ve just turned around. I guess I really needed somebody there and misunderstood my own intentions.”
“Understandable.”
“And…you know a little about me, I guess.” I continued with a shrug, “I’m not one for commitment.”
“What about your boyfriend?”
“Marcus? He isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Oh…”
“Look, let’s just forget it ever happened.” I pleaded, “I want to get back to work with–”
“Cristo!” someone called out cheerily from behind the pillar. We both leaned out to look around it, seeing a familiar woman in a turquoise dress like Aubrey’s but with off shoulder straps. She was one of the bridesmaids. But as she came closer into the light of the small crystals, I realized it was none other than Blair herself.
Cristo visibly froze up next to me, but composed himself, greeting her back with a smile that seemed very forced.
“Blair.” He said, sounding quite constrained. My heart fell at the look in his eyes. He and Blair must have history. I looked back at Blair, a beautiful red head with a splash of freckles across her nose, bright green eyes, with radiant peaches and cream skin that practically glowed under the lights.
The envy that coursed through my stomach was shockingly phenomenal I’ve never felt jealous of anyone before, not like this. Sure, I would be jealous of kids with good families, but I would simply cut myself off from them to feel at peace. But Blair? She felt like competition.
What was I competing for, though?
“I didn’t think I would see you here out of all the people.” She chuckled with a delicate cross of her arms and looked over at me, sizing me up. Her eye was critical, but not judging. I wasn’t surprised, she was a designer after all. “You have a date, too!”
“Oh, no!” Cristo and I cried out in unison and looked at each other, flustered. I shook my head and went forward, putting my hand out. My target was right in front of me so I might as well get on with my job.
“I’m just an acquaintance. It’s finally nice to meet you Blair.”
She took my hand cautiously and gave me a playful raised brow, “Were you expecting to see me?”
“Aubrey.” I countered quickly, “She’d told me a lot about you. You work with Renée Helvig?”
“I do.” She said with a prideful lift of her cheeks, her teeth whiter than diamonds, “Has she been talking about me?”
“Wedding planners consult me sometimes. I hear about you every now and then.” I lied through my teeth, having to force a smile onto my face. There was just…something about her that didn’t fit right with me at all. But it’s possible that it was just my jealousy getting in the way.
Honestly, it didn’t make sense for me to feel this way. Did I really like Cristo that much that she threatened me by just existing? That was so ridiculous. I was in no way envious of someone who wasn’t even relevant to me outside my job. What could she even do?
“Oh, which company do you–Cristo, you’re leaving us already?”
“I think we’ve gone past what was agreed, didn’t we?” he sounded strained.
Blair’s face fell and she walked past me as if I’d ceased to exist, an elegant hand reaching towards his chest. My heart sunk in my chest with each move that brought my mind closer to the confirmation of my assumption.
They loved each other. At one point, anyway.
“Is it so bad to see me?” her voice was almost a whisper, soft and caring. Cristo turned away with a flash of anger across his face and a tick in his jaw. Should I intervene?
“You were the one who broke it off, Blair.”
“And what if I was wrong?”
Cristo’s head whipped over to look at her so fast I thought it would snap off his neck. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from himself, walking off immediately. I knew then and there that I couldn’t work with Blair. She already had her eyes set on someone.
I walked away immediately, taking refuge behind a pillar to breathe out the stabbing ache in my throat caused by the scene that had unfolded in front of me. And when she turned around for me, there was nothing but air to greet her.
My job here was done.