“No, but once Connor gets an advantage in an argument, he always uses it, so that’ll be the main way he tries to shut me up.”
Once we were in the kitchen and dining area, Johnny pulled out his cell phone and hit a couple of buttons. Back in the main room, the discussion was still just as heated, even if it was taking place at a lower volume level.
“Who are you calling?” I asked.
With perfect timing, a very gay voice answered over the speakerphone. “I am having Mai Tai’s by the most delightful swimming pool with the most handsome man in California, Johnny, so this had better be an emergency.”
“Connor’s parents are here. Unannounced and uninvited.”
There was a pause.
“Nooo,” Sebastian said, not like he was replying in the negative, but like I can NOT believe you just said that.
“Yes.”
“Both of them?!”
“Yes.”
“Why?!”
“Apparently there’s some sort of business deal Connor’s in that’s going to cut into their bottom line. Deep into their bottom line, sounds like.”
“Oh shit, watch your back, then. And especially Connor’s.”
“I plan to.”
There was a pause. “Which business deal, exactly?”
“Something dealing with the governor and a bunch of land in Nevada.”
“Um… why don’t I know anything about this?”
My eyes widened.
Wow… Connor really DID trust me…
Johnny looked at me. “Lily knows more about it than I do.”
Sebastian’s tone of voice suddenly iced over. “Oh, GOD, is she still there?”
“So nice to talk to you, too, Sebastian,” I smirked.
“It would be nicer if we weren’t talking at all.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you’d been here five minutes ago,” Johnny informed him.
Curiosity piqued, Sebastian bit. “Why? What happened?”
“Lily took down Lenora.”
Sebastian sounded like the gayest five-year-old on Christmas morning ever. “OH MY GOD, tell me EVERYTHING.”
“What did she say?” Johnny asked me. “Something about if Connor picked you up in a trailer park?”
“That, and a discount bin at Walmart.”
“Oh, well… can’t say I disagree with Lenora yet.”
“You’re almost as big a bitch as she is, do you know that, Sebastian?” I asked.
“Honey, NOBODY’S as big a bitch as Lenora. She makes Madonna look like Mother Teresa.”
“Just be quiet for a second, Sebastian,” Johnny scolded. “So Lily said, ‘You’re being very rude,’ and Lenora said something like, ‘That’s how we talk to people like you where I come from,’ and Lily shot back, ‘Where’s that? Bitches ‘R Us?’”
There was a pause. Then –
“No you didn’t.”
“Yes she did,” Johnny grinned.
Another pause. Then, even more dramatically –
“No you DIDN’T.”
“Oh, just wait – it got better.”
Johnny went on to recount the ‘mean old lady plastic surgery’ and the ‘born in the 18th century’ quips.
Every time he delivered another punch line, Sebastian threw in an even louder, more gleeful “NO YOU DIDN’T.”
After Johnny finished, there was a long pause on the other end of the line.
Then, finally, Sebastian spoke.
“I say this only because Javier just left to freshen up my drink, and also because I’m about three Mai Tai’s to the wind. Lily, if I weren’t gay, I would ask you to marry me right now.”
I burst out laughing.
Considering who was saying it, it was probably the best compliment I’d ever had in my life.
“Thank you, Sebastian. I’d have to turn you down, but I appreciate it.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t actually go through with it. After all, I don’t like you very much. But right now, I LOVE YOU. I’m going to name my first adopted child ‘Lily’ just to commemorate my love for you right now. Boy or girl, doesn’t matter.”
I laughed again. “Thank you Sebastian, but please don’t saddle a boy with my name.”
“It’s alright, he’ll be gay, too, it’ll be fabulous.”
“I think this is the Mai Tai’s talking.”
“Undoubtedly. Another reason we’re having this conversation is because I’m probably not going to remember it tomorrow.”
“That’s probably for the best. Especially for your future adopted son.”
“Uh, Sebastian, I hate to ask you this – ” Johnny said.
“Already on the next flight. I’m booking it on my iPad as we speak, and I’ll get a car service to the airport. I’ll be in Vegas in… two and a half hours. Can you pick me up, or do I need to get a cab?”
“Get a cab, I want to stick close to Connor. Sorry to wreck your vacation.”
“Darling, you didn’t wreck it, Lenora and Augustus did. Besides, I’m bringing Javier with me. It’ll be a working vacation.”
“Thanks, Sebastian.”
“Toodles. And Lily?”
“Yes?”
“Yours and mine is a love that dare not speak its name. Understand?”
“Completely. See you soon.”
“Ta ta.”
And the phone hung up.
Johnny grinned at me. “You’re in the club.”
“What club?”
“The club of people Sebastian actually likes. It’s a very exclusive group.”
I laughed. “I don’t know that he actually likes me… seeing as he said, ‘I don’t actually like you.’”
“‘Very much’ – he said he doesn’t ‘like you very much.’”
“Oh, now you’ve convinced me.”
“Let’s put it this way: he’s never said he’d ask to marry me, and I’m a dude.”
I grinned. “Okay, point taken. What do we do now?”
“We wait.”
36
During the lull in Johnny’s and my conversation, we could hear shouting from the other room.
And then there was suddenly a loud knock.
Johnny looked over, concern on his face. “Connor?!”
“It’s alright, Johnny, my dad’s guys are getting it,” Connor called back.
Even so, Johnny started down the connecting hallway towards the main room. I followed close behind him.
I could hear the sound of everything that happened next, even though I couldn’t see all the participants. The edge of the hallway blocked my view of most of the main room. I could only see Connor, who stood in front of the enormous windows looking out over the Strip. Everyone else was at least a few feet out of sight.
There was the sound of a door opening.
Then a man’s voice, similar to Connor’s, but a little higher. “Connor.”
“Vincent,” Connor replied coldly, his face twisted in displeasure. “I’d say it’s nice to see you, but I don’t like lying to your face.”
“No, just stabbing us in the back,” Mrs. Templeton sneered.
“I brought someone with me,” Vincent’s voice said. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Then there was the sharp click click click of stiletto heels on the floor.
And Connor’s face immediately went grey.
I had never seen him look like that, ever. He looked like someone had sucker-punched him in the solar plexus, and he was about to throw up.
Either that, or he had seen a ghost.
Or something worse.
“Hello, Connor,” a woman’s voice said.
A voice I had heard earlier that day.
Low and throaty.
A young Lauren Bacall.
My stomach nearly fell out of my body as I reached the corner of the hallway, a step behind Johnny.
There she stood, Grace Kelly with the golden blonde hair, still dressed in her silk blouse and pencil skirt.
She walked up and stood beside the other new arrival, a man who looked like a slightly shorter, slightly less handsome version of Connor, with sandy hair instead of black.
“Shit,” Johnny whispered.
Connor just stood there, stock still, staring at her.
I tapped Johnny on the shoulder and gave him a questioning look, though deep down, I already knew the answer.
I didn’t want to hear it aloud… but I had to.
I had to know for sure.
Johnny glanced back at me, a sick look on his face.
“Miranda Lockwood,” he whispered.
I shook my head, as though that meant nothing to me.
Yet it did. Mr. Templeton had said her first name earlier.
You’ve come down a ways since Miranda.
Johnny’s voice was sympathetic and grave, as though he were breaking the news of a loved one’s death.
“Connor’s ex-fiancée.”
The woman who had broken his heart.
I looked back at the woman again – and saw her slip her hand into Vincent’s.
My eyes widened, and I glanced over at Connor.
She might as well have shot him.
I saw the agony in his face… how hurt he was…
How much of an effect she had on him, even eight months later.
And my whole world came tumbling down.