We walked over to Kell’s. Martha was there along with Seth, our friend from the poetry group who was going to deejay the party. We put some last-minute touches on the food and decorations before guests started arriving. I introduced Robert to everyone, but at times he seemed disinterested or preoccupied with his phone. Seth played wonderful big-band music while the champagne flowed. When Will arrived, I saw him shake Robert’s hand and then he hugged Jenny and Tyler before making his way toward me.
“Hey, you look hot,” he said as he hugged me around my shoulders.
He was wearing black pin-striped suit pants with his belt and wallet chain and a black, short-sleeved dress shirt. Black on black and smelled divine. I inhaled deeply as he hugged me.
“So do you.” I laughed shyly. “I mean you look handsome.”
He took a step back and drank me in. His hand went to the hem of my dress and I flinched as he grabbed the fabric between his fingers and tugged. “I like this.” He winked and shot me a sexy smile. I laughed and shook my head. Some things never change… who would want them to?
I saw Robert observing our exchange. I elbowed Will and winked back at him and then walked over to stand by Robert. We continued to mingle and I noticed Jenny and Tyler were happier than I had ever seen them, which made me feel more carefree than I had been in a long time. I noticed that Will chatted with Sheil for what seemed like an hour and it made me wonder, but I figured Will could talk to anyone about music for hours on end and Sheil would be a great sounding board for that. When the party was well on its way, Will stood on a chair to get everyone’s attention. I scooted over so that I was standing right below him.
“I would like to make a toast to the happy couple. Jenny, you look amazing tonight, by the way. I don’t know how this schmuck got so lucky,” he said, gesturing his champagne glass toward Tyler. “Okay, it’s an engagement prayer, if you will.” He looked at me and whispered, “No pun intended.” He paused and cleared his throat:
For each other…
May your hearts always beat wildly…
and…
May your minds always sing wildly…
but most of all…
May your souls always dance wildly…
For each other…
For eternity…
To Jenny and Tyler!
Cheers rang out. Everyone toasted each other. When Will stepped down from the chair I grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, “That was really beautiful, Will.”
“Thanks, baby.” Then he kissed me on the cheek and headed toward Jenny and Tyler.
When the music got louder, Jenny and I got drunker along with everyone else, I’m sure. Seth played “Live Your Life” by T.I., so I busted out my amazing (mostly ridiculous) hip-hop stylings and then Jenny and I created a medley of 90s dance moves, including the Roger Rabbit, the Sprinkler, the Running Man, and my personal favorite the Bus Driver. I spied Will laughing at us, so I mouthed an air kiss to him and he winked at me. Robert, on the other hand, sat in the corner looking bored to death. I couldn’t tell if he was antisocial or if he thought my eclectic little group of friends was beneath him. Either way, I thought maybe it would be better to keep the two worlds separate.
When the party died down, I starting drinking water and cleaning up.
“Thank you so much, Mia, this was amazing.”
I gave Jenny a big hug. “It was my pleasure. I’m glad you’re in my life. I love Tyler and I’m so happy for you.”
Before leaving, Will came up to me. “I’m heading up. Are you guys coming?”
“We’re gonna stay at Robert’s tonight. He has to pick up his son early, so…”
“No worries, I’ll see you later then,” he said as he hugged me.
“Night, Will.”
He waved to Robert and then walked out. I knew Will wasn’t disappointed that Robert and I wouldn’t be there, but I felt like I had to explain anyway.
I got to see some of Robert’s true colors in the cab on the way to his apartment. “That was an interesting group. Martha is a very strange woman, Mia.”
“How so?’
“She asked me if I wanted my chakras cleansed. What does that even mean?”
“Don’t be obtuse, Robert.” And so it began, our first and last fight.
“Obtuse? Please. What about Will and his sappy toast? Come on, souls dancing? That loser should spend less time on the poetic nonsense and more time trying to find a job so he can stop leeching off you.”
I was breathing through my nose, mouth clenched shut, and then through gritted teeth I let him have it.
“What? How dare you? You want to know something, Robert? Will has more to offer in his little finger than you do with your Upper West Side apartment, your business degrees, and your VP job. Will is kind, sensitive, creative, determined, and he’s been a good friend to me and that’s more than you can say.” I yelled at the cabbie to pull over.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s not going to work between us.”
Looking straight ahead he said, “Yeah, because you’re just like all of them: wannabe, artist trash.”
Time for the big guns. “Fuck you, you dickless, fascist f**k. I wish I could get back every meaningless, banal moment I spent with you. Ba-bye.” With that, I hopped out of the cab. The taxi sped away and Robert never looked back.
I was on the corner of East 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue at two thirty in the morning. If I walked one block east I would be at the United Nations. It was an interesting prospect but I decided to consider my options. One block east and one block south would put me at the mouth of the Queens tunnel. I thought about Queens. Folding my arms, I backed up against a light pole, feeling wretched and small. What a piece of shit Robert was for letting me out of the car in midtown at that hour. I watched motionless as three taxis zipped by me. Everything around me started moving in hyper speed. I was standing on the sidewalk, perfectly still, staring at the constant red blur of taillights. The signal on the pole above me was changing from green to yellow to red in supersonic speed, so fast that it became one color.