A Wedding Affair (The Wedding Affair) (20 page)

“So y
ou all never had a real Christmas tree either?” Tristan looks at me

“No I break out in hives”

“Same here as a matter a fact I told my mom I was allergic to Pine sole so I couldn’t help her clean”

Cheswick laughs at my joke and Tristan smiles at me as he sq
ueezes my hand.

Cheswick is very forth coming about young Master
Tristan and his very disobedient stages of his youth, his termination from several schools for fighting and gambling as well as his acceptance to Harvard, his major was Business and Economics but he could have gone pro-law as he champions him.

Cheswick
also fills me in on Tristan, from his rebellious teenage years, which spilled over to his twenties when I had the pleasure of meeting a very young Tristan; let’s see he was a pompous arrogant pistol as I recall who was sharp and determined. I was beguiled by him when we met completely infatuated and obsessed, but I have to say I always felt lovesick. I think I liked him at first, I think I was drawn to him and his enigmatic charm that just sweep me away.

I love that Cheswick has
known Tristan his whole life, he has filled in some of the blanks that Tristan never mentioned to me about his home life like for instance how his mom abandoned her marriage and her three children, the end of their marriage was the beginning of ‘Tristan the tyrant’ as Cheswick put it.

“
You see Cheswick was my grandmother’s butler for over forty years, she was not fond of my mother when she left my dad, so grandmother sent me Cheswick so I would have someone at home with me” I also find it interesting that Tristan’s two older sisters were both sent away to school while young Tristan remained here.

“How devastating you were the only one here when she left?” Tristan nods at the unhappy memory.

“I remember that day all too well, my mom stood at the door with her designer luggage in hand she rubbed my head as she walked out the door and left before my dad got home from the office” Oh his words make my heart bleed for him, I now see him as the petulant teenager - mother abandoned him and tore apart his would for her lover, who I believe she is now married to if my memory serves correct.

Cheswick continu
es his story and I am nervous as I hear all the gory details, it was not pretty, the angry talks, the constant battles between the two of them, none of which I knew about, I met Tristan after all of this, I met him as the out of control pistol slash sex God stage in his life.

“Aria it
was terrible to be in that house I couldn’t take it, my father was devastated and he rarely came home, I would go and stay with my grandmother and was pulled away by my mom who was granted custody of me because I was only sixteen, so when I met you know Pamela Hardy I was enthralled in her, she was my escape and when my mom didn’t like her, I wanted her more just to spite my mom and what she did to us”

Oh wow he is talking to me about the slut-bag-ugly-whore,
my mom’s words haunt me
‘if you are going to air your dirty laundry in public be prepared to be hung out to dry’
he didn’t have to bring her up did he? I try to calm myself and remember that what happened to Tristan was before we even met, but how he used it as his excuse for the way he treated me and behaved was inexcusable. I am pulled from my fury by Cheswick.

“So
Tristan left, ran away with the undesirable, and we were all quite devastated, he was uncontrollable for years, we were surprised he even made it through Harvard” I look at Tristan as he raises his glass and gives me his bad boy smile. I shake my head at the smug son of a bitch.

“
Aria after years and years of anger and resentful behavior all of that changed when he met you” oh wow Cheswick is smiling at me as he looks at Tristan and me. I look over at Tristan and he is fidgety and seams uncomfortable now maybe because Cheswick is revealing too much? Nonetheless he takes it and he nods agreeing at Cheswick’s statement. 

Tristan
looks at me with an honest and contrite heart as he reaches for my hand, the spark is there as my heart blooms for this man, I finally get the big picture, it wasn’t all about me, it wasn’t that I was not good enough for him, it wasn’t that he was too good for me, it was the fact that his mom hurt him so bad by what she did that he couldn’t deal with it, so when I just happen to come around I was clueless, I was someone so honest and uninhibited I didn’t understand his fury and I believe now that he wanted me but was so full of rage he wouldn’t let himself be happy and have me almost as if he was undeserving of me.

I take a deep breath and he speaks.

“Aria I have gone through all the channels, I have tried to get my head together, but the only time I have ever had a sense of peace was when we were together, it scared me, and that is why I ran from you” I am sure that he has been mulling over this statement for a while now, the tone in his voice is apologetic and contrite, I just wish it was sooner rather than now.

Cheswic
k lightens the mood bringing out a tray of strawberries and cream. Tristan opens another bottle of wine and we both sigh a sigh of relief, gosh I feel as if we are talking to my dad. Cheswick is regal like my dad, an older stately man who has a father quality all his own, he cares for Tristan and that is comforting to know that Tristan has him. 

Tristan and I
are now relaxing as the air is cleared between us and I am left with a great deal of information about my dear Mr. Bach.

I have always felt comfortable with
Tristan, we have always bonded over a meal, I find it comforting that he and I still share this.

Tristan was the hot shot who was snapped up from college by our
Firm in the New York office, he was brought in to help assist me with a merger and that is how we met, and like I said we made a shit load of money together and we had record breaking deals and acquisitions we were the
dynamic duo
we had the inside on companies and CEO’s and we abused a lot of power. We were the driving force behind many a hostel take over, we loved the energy and the power, the destruction was massive both personal and professional and I can see how Cheswick had to deal with Tristan as he became more powerful it fed the beast and made Tristan less controllable.

Looking at Tristan
now in this setting that old life seems like a million years ago, we were both ambitious and out to take over the world, sadly it was our relationship that put a stop to our corporate raiding.

Cheswick makes me laugh as he tells me stories of when Trist
an and I met and the aftermath of our fall outs, I love hearing every bit of it. I can tell he adores him so, we laugh and joke and Tristan kisses my hand every once in a while, as we spend a lazy afternoon in the vineyard.

Cheswick watches us together and
I know he must see my ring, shit I forget
I’m engaged damn it and it’s not to the one kissing my hand all afternoon.

Chapter 11

I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS

We finish lunch and Tristan takes me on a tour of his house, we leave Cheswick and we make our way out of the cherry and marble kitchen which is bigger than my house mind you, through the butler’s pantry, thank goodness he has a butler, to accommodate this very room!

He reaches for my hand, I don’t mind that he has been holding my hand all day,
I rather like it.

He stops at the set of huge white doors.

“We’ve seen your favorite room in your house this is my favorite room in my house” this is the Tristan that I missed, the one who always shared his inner most thoughts, his wants, his private desires and his life with me, yes he has got me all hot and bothered and I am excited to see what is on the other side of these doors.

He slowly o
pens both door and takes my hand, we are surrounded by works of art, books as far as the eyes can see, a library, a music room, and it is simply breathtaking.

We are dwarfed by the sheer size of the wall to wall books with a rail and ladder around the room.

Huge windows, floor to ceiling, adorned in royal blue and gold drapes. There is a sitting area, with French chairs, a sofa and a coffee table, the lamps have chains that you pull to turn them off and on, very beautiful and very stately.

A
very ornate square table with the chess board inlaid into the cherry tabletop, there is a wet bar, an
extraordinary billiards table, but what catches my eye is the huge nine foot Steinway concert grand!

“C
ome” he leads me over to the piano I gently run my finger down the shiny black edge, she is impressive, the music on the piano is
Rachmaninoff piano concerto no. 2. Op 18
I look up at Tristan as he watches me.

“Will you play this for me Tristan?” this piece of music is my all-time favorite, it speaks of romance, unrequited love and desire for one so dear.

Tristan regards me quizzically as he runs his finger over his chin as if he is pondering something...hmm, I watch him with great eagerness and I smile softy at him hoping he honors my request.

The notes catch my eye, I look at the music and it is a feat in deed, key changes, variations and I know next to nothing about what is
written on the page, but seeing it and knowing how it sounds I have to hear
him
play this for me.

He's mulling over something alright and then he speaks, as he tugs on his ear.

“I’ll play this for you if you let me take you to the Symphony this evening!” he pulls two tickets out of his jacket and shows them to me.

________________________________________________

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA AT SEVERENCE HALL

A NIGHT WITH JAZZ AND STANDARDS

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE BY

ROD STEWART

SATURDAY JUNE 11,
2012 AT 8:00PM

ONE NIGHT ONLY

Seat 9 row J orchestra section

________________________________________________

I look over the tickets, wow I love Rod Stewart, a smile comes over my face, I have nothing going on tonight why not, I look up at him and he is an
xious, he wants a yes out of me, he is so adorable when he wants something.

“Yes I would love to go Tristan” he sighs as if he was holding his breath.

I give him the tickets back he puts them back in the breast pocket of his jacket and hands me his jacket to hold.

He puts me to sit down
one of the overstuffed chairs facing the piano. Kisses my hand and he takes his place on the black leather tufted piano bench.

Tristan moves the pages to the beginning
as they are in a spread sheet formation.

I hug his jacket
in my arms it smells of him and I take it all in as I sit.

Ladies and gentleman what you are about to hear is one of the most poignant pieces of music ever written by human hands, I cannot emphasize the depth of feeling, emotion and reverence that this mu
sic has instilled in me, and to have someone that you love so much play this for you, it is a soliloquy from his heart to mine.

He begins and
the hair on my neck stands up, Oh wow we are not alone, his fingers bring the notes off the page and breathes life into them. I watch as he plays with little or no effort, it is almost a natural motion for him, as his whole body is enthralled in this peace, he is not just fucking around, this is something so deep and personal to him, I feel it because it beckons at my soul.

He makes quick work of his seduction, gliding his skilled fingers over the keys ever so gently, so poised and confident, I am impressed beyond comprehension.

Tristan always use to play for me at my house just messing around, toying with me but nothing as seductive as this, that pulls at my heart, the story of how Rachmaninoff wrote it for the women he loved who didn’t want him, unrequited love, rumor has it  ‘
full moon and empty arms’
was its title, well at least that is the story my mom heard from her father, who knew Sergei Rachmaninoff in New York, my grandfather on my mother’s side was a big violinist in New York City.

This is my favorite part, I scurry and lay under the piano
, my head at his feet and the sound resonates through-out my body tantalizing me, it is so erotic with every note he plays, his timing and pitch is shear perfection, he plays with such color and brilliance I am under his spell. The piece is forty some pages long and he has me wanting more, with every crescendo, the anxiety and intensity of the melody that pounds so deep inside of me. It’s like nothing I have ever felt.

The anticipation, the preponderance
echoes all my senses, to hear someone play this beautiful piece of music as perfect as this I am in awe of Tristan Bach. This is seduction at its finest.