Wedding Bells and False Apologies

I woke early the next morning to the sound of Brody's phone ringing.  I groaned and squinted at the clock.  6:19.  Ugh.  Next to me, Brody rolled out of bed, yanked on a pair of shorts, and answered the phone.  He moved quietly out into the hallway. 

I drifted back into sleep, but woke when I felt Brody slip back into bed next to me.  I looked at the clock again.  Nearly 7.  Quite the phone call.  He laid next to me and put his arm around my waist.  "Sorry," he whispered into my hair.  I didn't say anything, but I leaned back into him.

I had just fallen back asleep when his phone rang again.  "Shit," he muttered, getting up and walking out the door with it.  Now I was irritated.  It was 7:30 in the morning, on a Saturday when he was supposed to be off, and he'd already taken two calls.  He had promised me no phone calls this weekend.  I was awake at this point and I laid there waiting for him to come back, stewing.  The longer he took, the more irritated I got.

When he came back in almost 30 minutes later, I was fuming.  I got up and rifled through my overnight bag, then pulled on shorts and a t-shirt.  "Liv, I'm really sorry," Brody said.  I just stalked into the bathroom.  I washed my face and brushed my teeth, hoping I'd feel calmer when I was done.  I didn't.

I came back out, avoiding his gaze.  I walked over to the desk and grabbed my phone from where it was charging and started scrolling absently through.  "You know, for a therapist, you're pretty awful at telling people how you're feeling," he said shortly.  I whipped around to look at him.  It was absolutely true, but it still stung to have it brandished like a weapon at me.  He saw my face and his angry glare softened.  "I'm sorry," he said, a little more gently.  "But if you're pissed at me, just tell me you're pissed at me."

"I'm not pissed at you," I snapped back.  He raised his eyebrows and gave me a skeptical look.  "I'm not," I insisted.  "I'm really fucking irritated, but I'm not pissed. If I were pissed, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you."

"Okay," he said, then nodded for me to go on.

"You promised me that there would be no work this weekend.  And you've already been on the phone for over an hour!  It's barely 8 in the morning.  This sucks."  I punctuated the words with a heavy sigh.  I was still standing by the desk, and I realized I was gripping the top of the desk chair so hard my hand hurt.  I let go and gently flexed my fingers.

"You're right," he replied.  "I'm sorry.  I did promise you no work, and I haven't kept that promise.  I'm still trying to get a handle on running this company by myself, and you're suffering for it."  He was right.  I couldn't remember a lunch or dinner that hadn't been interrupted by his phone in the last two weeks.  It rang unfathomably late at night and early in the morning.  And he answered every call.  Most of me knew that that was the price for dating someone who owned his own business, but the rest of me was really tired of it already.  I had tried to be patient with it, because I knew Brody was working his ass off and was seriously shorthanded, but apparently I had let it build up too long. 

I continued to glare at him, but I felt my anger fading.  "After I got off that last call, I called Pete.  He's going to take care of anything else that comes up this weekend," Brody assured me.  Now it was my turn to give him a skeptical look.  "Look," he said, holding up his phone.  He depressed the power button and held it until the phone turned off.  Then he held it out to me.  "All yours."   I looked at the phone for a minute but then shook my head.

"I believe you," I said, my shoulders dropping as my tensed muscles relaxed.

He smiled and tossed the phone into his bag.  "Good," he replied, walking over to me.  He wrapped his arms around me and I let him pull me against his chest.

"Sorry I was a jerk," I said, my voice muffled.

"I'm sorry too," he replied.  "And I promise I will work on balancing things better."  He pushed his hand through my hair, massaging my scalp at the base of my skull.  I sighed against his chest as his hand moved lower, kneading the tense muscles in my neck.   "Why don't we blow off breakfast?" he suggested.  We had made plans the night before to eat with some of the others in the lodge's restaurant.  "We can order room service and eat here."

"I like that idea," I said.  We looked at the room service menu and Brody called in our order.

After he hung up, he looked at me and said, "They said about 40 minutes."

"Hmmm," I responded, grinning.  "We can do a lot of making up in 40 minutes!"

"You are unbelievable," he said, looking surprised.  "I don't know if I've ever met a woman I can't keep up with.  You might be the one."

"Don't worry," I said, pushing him back on the bed. "I'll do all the work this time."

We finished "making up" just a few minutes before breakfast arrived, so Brody had to scramble to pull on a pair of shorts and answer the door.  I'm sure the female employee delivering our food didn't mind his lack of a shirt though; I wouldn't have. 

We ate our breakfast and were lazy in bed until Brody had to get ready for pictures.  Since he was just an usher, they weren't making him be there for all the picture time, but did want him there for some.  I continued to lay in bed reading while he showered and shaved and got dressed.  I got up and plucked a loose thread from the back of his jacket as he adjusted his bow tie.  "I really hate these things," he complained.

"But you look so hot," I protested.  He looked at his watch and turned and kissed me quickly.

"Gotta go," he said.  "I'll see you for the ceremony."

After he left, I showered and got ready slowly.  As much as it sucked arguing with him, I was glad we had talked.  I wish I could have just told him my feelings about his job and the phone calls sooner, but he was right--I sucked at that stuff.  I was just pinning the last piece of hair in place when my phone vibrated with a text from Kinsley letting me know that she, Damien, and Lauren were there.  I felt a sudden surge of anxiety about seeing Damien.  I hadn't seen him since James and I stopped seeing each other, and I was certain it would be weird.

I texted back that I would be right down.  I took one last look at myself in the mirror, and satisfied, I grabbed my wristlet, shoved my phone and the room key in, and headed for the elevator.  I spotted them right away when the elevator opened and walked over. 

"Look at you, hot stuff!" Kinsley exclaimed, hugging me.

"You actually clean up quite nicely too," I said back with a grin.  I greeted Lauren and turned to Damien.  "Hi," I said shyly.  To my relief, he smiled broadly back.

"Hey, how have you been?" he asked.  I told him I had been good and asked him the same.  We made small talk as we walked over to the room where the ceremony was to be held.  As we approached, Kinsley touched my arm.  I looked in the direction she motioned and saw Savannah.  I frowned, but before I could say anything, Lauren interrupted.

"Wow, Brody and Alex do the tux thing quite well, huh?"  Alex was the other usher.  I looked over near the door of the room and grinned.  We walked over towards them.

Brody saw me and raised his eyebrows.  He kissed me on the cheek and then said, "Wow, you look amazing."  His eyes traveled appreciatively over my dress, down my legs, and back up until he met my eyes.  His green eyes sparkled as he leaned towards me and kissed me again, lightly on the lips.  He then turned to Damien.  "How's it going?" he asked, extending his hand.  Damien shook it and returned the greeting.

Brody led our small group to seats inside a huge, gorgeous room.  He promised that he and Alex would join us before the ceremony and walked back to the door.  The room had high, vaulted ceilings and a large stone fireplace sat directly in front of us, between two giant picture windows overlooking the same view we had from our room.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, and timed perfectly so the sun set over the mountains as they were saying their vows.  After, we all moved to the next room, a perfectly decorated ballroom, for the reception.  Kendra had been kind enough to not seat Savannah with us, and I spotted her at a table on the other side of the ballroom, sitting with people that I assumed were her and Kendra's friends from college.  I wondered if she was as awful around them as she was around us.  Or if any of them actually liked her. 

After eating, dancing, and drinking a little too much, I found myself a feeling a bit lightheaded.  I walked back to the table, where Brody, Damien, Alex, Lauren, and Kendra's brother were all sitting at the moment.   "I'm going out on the patio for a little fresh air," I said to Brody.  "Do you want to come?"  He nodded and stood up.  He grabbed his jacket and walked towards the door with me.  Alex and Lauren didn't even look up from whatever conversation they were having.

It was freezing outside, and I was grateful when Brody draped his jacket over my shoulders and wrapped his arms around me.  I leaned back into him and stared out at the mountains.  He kissed the top of my head.  Neither of us heard the door to the patio open, but we both turned when we heard heels clicking towards us.

"Hi," Savannah said, tentatively.

"What do you want?" I spat.  I had no desire to have a conversation with her.

"To apologize," she said.

I snorted.  "I don't want to hear it," I replied, turning away.  Brody squeezed my shoulder as Savannah walked closer.  He still hadn't said anything.

"Seriously, I'm really sorry.  I didn't mean...well, I didn't mean for everything to happen," she said lamely.

"Really, Savannah?" Brody asked.  His voice was quiet, but I recognized the controlled anger in his words.  "You didn't mean for someone to get fired?  You didn't mean for me to waste two months of my life cleaning up the mess in Miami?  You didn't mean to potentially end me and Olivia's relationship?"

She didn't say anything for several seconds.  I was still facing away from her, not interested in anything she had to say.  I pulled Brody's jacket tighter around me as the wind picked up again.  "Well, shit happens," she said coldly.  Seriously?  I thought she came to apologize.

I whirled back around.  "Shit like that doesn't just happen, Savannah," I said, spitting her name out like a curse.  "Shit like that happens when you start fucking around with people's lives."

Now she was angry too.  "Fucking around with people's lives?  Oh please.  You must have an awfully high opinion of me to think I'm capable of controlling the lives of at least 3 people.  Grow up.  Sometimes people make moves that make things happen. Sometimes those things are bad.  That's the way the world works."

I took a step towards her.  Brody put a hand on my arm and whispered something to me, but I was completely focused on Savannah.  "You have a seriously fucked up view of the world if you think that that's the way it actually works."  My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I seethed.  Brody put both hands on my shoulders and squeezed them gently.

"Get out of here," he said to Savannah.  His voice was still quiet, but I could tell the anger was starting to bubble up more.  "We're not interested in your half-assed apologies and even if we were, this isn't the place."  She rolled her eyes, and I clenched my teeth, determined not to feed into her anymore.

"Whatever, you guys enjoy each other while it lasts," she said.  She tossed her hair and strode back into the reception room.  

"I fucking hate her," I hissed.  Brody rubbed my arms and sighed.

"I know," he said.  "She's unbelievable."

"I need to walk," I declared.  He took my hand and we walked along the path around the lodge.  I walked fast, the clicking of my heels ringing out on the concrete.

"Slow down, if you break an ankle and we have to spend the night in the ER, you won't be able to show me those other ways we can use my bow tie," he said with a smirk.

"Oh?  I thought I've worn you out this weekend," I said back, starting to relax.

He shrugged.  "I've had some time to recover.  And that dress is amazing, even covered with my jacket.  I'm not sure I heard any of the wedding ceremony because I was too busy staring at your legs."

"Well then, why are we wasting time out here?" I pulled him towards the door to the hotel.   We stopped back at the reception so I could grab my purse and to say goodnight, and then we booked it up to our room.

"So," he said with a mischievous grin, dangling his untied bow tie in front of me.  "Tell me how to make this useful."