A Wedding Affair (The Wedding Affair) (37 page)

Ian and I are seated with the rest of the
new kids on the block
, we are also seated with Jean Bouchard as he is the head of Ian’s department, how lovely, I get to see him all night,
oh thank God they pour the wine.

I sip and relax at Ian’s side as Jean
is sitting across from me to my left. We hear about the funding issues, the enrollment numbers and of course the curriculum, all very drab and boring I must say, but I am here to support Ian so I don’t mind.

Ian holds my hand on his lap
and I freak-out! ...oh no! ...wait a second he doesn’t do things like that! Than a thought, darn we could have had some fun, Ok so now I’m bored. Oh does Tristan got me trained or what?

W
e get through the evening pretty well, the conversation is light and Ian is just wonderful, he is charming, charismatic and just delightful. I am sure I look as if I am enthralled because I can feel Jean’s stare on me the whole night, I take Ian’s hand and turn it to see the time on his watch, he looks at me strangely and he moves a curl behind my ear, thank goodness finally some show of affection, doesn’t he know that the Frenchmen is on the prowl, is eyeing me like I’m on
Le menu
!

Jeez what is it
with men these days I’ve gone for two years without a date, a wink or a smile, and now I got three guys in one day! I must not think about Tristan and the hot sex, no this is not the place for that, but if Tristan were here he would have definitely made
French
-toast out of the French baguettes who has been giving me serious fuck me eyes all night.

I am brought back to this function by the announcement that Ian is introduced to say a few words.
Ian stands and kisses me on the cheek, yeah thanks sweetheart I needed that. I applaud him as he stands and buttons his jacket as he proceeds to walks towards the podium. My eyes catch Jean as he is just sitting there regarding me with his salacious smile, he looks happy to see me, I’ll say, I’m sure he’d like to show me how happy he is.

I shift so I can see Ian better he is the reason I am here in the first place, I listen as
Ian gives a brief synapses of what he is going to accomplish this year in his course studies, as always he is mesmerizing, articulate and entertaining. I glance around the banquet hall and notice the ladies in the crowd are eyeing him, yeah he is a head turner and in his killer suit jacket matching trousers crisp French vanilla shirt and special tie, he looks the model teacher, well more model then teacher I dressed him quite well and my dress compliments his attire yes we do dress to impress.

Ian’s is the classic public speaker,
clearly captivating and yes a bit inspiring but always demanding attention, he gets his point across with sincere looks over the crowd, eye contact that lands on me,
how sweet,
he continues to work the crowd, pressing some points, as other comments are laced with humor and innuendo of course, I have to say he is impressive, inspiring and full of enthusiasm. Ian wraps it up with a polite joke that brings on a rousing roar of applause which beckons him as his ever present shy smile charms us all, he returns to my side gently taking my hand and squeezing it.

I have never known Ian to be so shy but he is and it is cute on him
, it makes him adorable actually.

A thought occurs to me, why are the two men who plague me so adorable in different ways? I know I have to stop with the comparisons, I have to get my head around this and make some final decisions
and the glares from across the table have to stop.

“Aria are you hungry?” He kisses my hand and dinner is served. Oh if he only knew what I was hungry for, but then again even I can’t control my appetite these days.

Dinner is served to us in unison I am impressed how Ian’s colleagues regard him, very respectful and high praise, I do however notice that a lot of the female faculty are quite taken with Ian, how interesting, I wonder quickly what the protocol is for fraternizing with members of the faculty at this university as I look over at Jean who is speaking to one of the other dons, wonder who is his latest conquest.

I don’t
really think Ian notices the intentions of the female professors, the two female philosophy lecturers are overly friendly towards him and I am sitting right here,
wow teachers are brazen aren’t they
? Tristan is oblivious to it, which I think makes him ever more alluring to the female alums. I have to say cougars come in every walk of life in every career, the professor cougars are in a class all their own.

The
conversation flows, Ian and I have always attended functions together, so we always do this well, we have always kept one another company at events like this, I use to fly to New York and attend functions with him, sometimes it was the only time we’d see one another but that was years ago.

We dine on so-so chicken, with a béarnaise sauce,
a lovely potato gratin, wine that is less than sub-standard, but serves it purpose and calms my nerves. A thought maybe I should tell Tristan to get them as a client, they could use his expertise to stock their wine cellar, but hold the phone these chocolate-chip cookies are to die for. My gosh they are brilliant, chocolate chunk, they are huge and delectable, don’t they say chocolate is a substitute for sex? …hmm Speaking of substitutes, my eyes meet Mr. Jean Bouchard again who is going to sub for Ian while we are on our Honeymoon in Italy, he is still smiling and looking at me and I don’t know what his game is.

Ian and I
both stand as the room starts to disburse.

“
Ian congratulations to you again we must be going” two of the overly friendly professors bid us a fond farewell, yes they are both quite fond of my soon to be husband, one shakes his hand and mine the other shanks Ian’s hand with two hands, meaning they caressed it with one while they held it with the other, just like their French counterpart.

“Thank you”
I shake hands and they smile sweetly and leave.

“I am going to the ladies room” Ian kisses my cheek and points to the double doors and it is down the hall.

“Thank you I’ll be right back” I walk through the double door and down to the ladies room

It’s clean and reminds me of high school, cold and drab and maybe a hint of lingering cigarette smoke. Oh well
, I pee and walk to the sink, I wash my hands and touch up my lipstick. I met a lot of Ian’s colleagues, a lot of them are older than us and have been teaching for years, but I have to say my guy was by far the most impressive, maybe because he is not a bullshit professor, he is an original, well-traveled, and intelligent beyond his years. I smile as I touch up my makeup and I am out the door.

“Aria” I turn and see Jean, he is walking towards me, I am getting nervous as he catches up to me.

“Aria it was good seeing you” he looks at me and I start walking and he does too

“So are you still teaching your workshops?”

“Yes but not in the summer” I walk back into the main gathering area and he is still beside me.

“Well take care”

“Hold on Aria, so how are you”
he grabs my arm and I look at him very sternly.

“Great didn’t you hear I’m getting
married!” I walk back over to Ian’s side, gosh what the hell does he want? A thought crosses my mind same thing I want from Tristan.

I return to Ian and we get through the res
t of the evening just fine. It’s a sea of higher learning at its best. Ian and I make it through the evening quite well, I’m a great schmoozer Ian knows most of the staff and for the most part we have a nice evening, a little friendly banter between colleagues is ok, the chatter is light and boring to me but I play along. We are wished well on our up and coming nuptials and Ian finally starts putting his arm around me as I still see Jean eyeing us from across the room. Ian says his good-byes to his fellow professors and he walks me to my car.

“
Honey did you take down your rosary from your rear-view mirror?”

All the blood leaves my face and I go pale as a ghost, as I look at the Cadillac that is not mine. shit I hav
e Tristan s car! Fuck, fuck, fuck can this day getting anymore nuts!

“O
h you know it came loose I will put it back up.”

He opens my door and I get in.

Ian is parked next to me he pulls out in front of me and takes off like James Bond, that ride has 007 written all over it, I can’t catch him in that car, I hit the button on the steering wheel and call you know who.

“Why is my car calling me?”
Tristan’s voice is music to my ears after a day of chaos and disarray.

“I believe you have something that belongs to me!”

“What do you mean?”

“
Don’t play coy!” He is laughing at me in the phone

“Tristan you have my car!”

“No Aria you have my car!” Now we both start laughing out loud,

“Baby the valets must have messed up our tickets”

“Or we messed up the tickets in our fit of Tuesday morning sex-capades”

“Really do I make you that
disoriented?”

“I believe you left me more than disoriented Mr. Bach”

“Where are you baby?”

“I’m leaving CWU on my way home”

“Stop by the restaurant we can switch cars, do you
really
want to take my car home, it has my plates on it?”

“Oh shit good thinking! Ok I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

We hang up, I call Ian and tell him I have to make a stop, I’ll be home later, he doesn’t question me.

I turn up his music,
Lately
by Anita Baker. Oh wow what a great song, I turn the bass up and floor it as I head onto Martin Luther King boulevard a two lane street that links the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital the Music School Settlement and Case Western Reserve to the shore way.  I drive pass Tristan and my fountain it is such a romantic park, the fountain is drenched in lights as delicious memories flood my mind. I follow the MLK, as it leads me through winding streets that takes me under the stone bridges, ornate over passes that are centuries old, there is a very central park feeling when I drive it, there are also several parks that are from various organizations as well as ethnic diversity that line this ornate area. I make my way down the long and winding road and jump onto I-90 west and head downtown which is a straight shot ahead of me, about three exits or so on our shore way that follows the lake I think they call it route two then it links to I-90 via
dead man’s curve
, a hairpin curse where accidents do happen a lot. It actually links all of our interstates I-90, I-77, and I-71 so this is the main hub of the city to get anywhere you can start here.

I
get off downtown at 9
th
street and drive down St. Clair to the flats district and pull to the valet at The Theatrical Grill.

I check my lipstick in t
he visor mirror and there is a picture of Tristan and I from long ago, wow really long ago, like when we first met, he must have been in his twenties I was younger and definitely naïve gosh look at me, so young and clueless. I don’t ever think I’ve ever seen this photo of the two of us, it looks like it was taken at our old office.

It makes me smile. I kiss it and leave my lipstick impression on the photo. I give his car to the valet and walk
through the black and glass doors, into the restaurant, it’s busy for a Tuesday night. I see him on the patio talking to a table of people.

I just stand and watch him work his magic, he is joking with them, he glances my way
and I smile, he stops me dead in my tracks as butterflies bloom in my stomach. I walk slowly towards him as the wait staffer hurrying past me, he excuses himself from the table he was standing at, and he meets me half way.

His smile makes me melt for him as I know it is all mine
. I am so happy to see him.

H
e took off his jacket but he still has his tie on that I tied for him earlier today. He takes my hand and kisses it and doesn’t let it go.

“Hello Aria, you look lovely”
he is soft spoken and very shy.

“Hell Tristan, thank you” I don’t know why, but I feel as if the whole room is watching us.

“Come let’s get some air shall we?” Tristan holds my hand and leads us
out onto the deck that overlooks the river, the cool summer breeze feels good against my blushing face.

“It
’s nice to see you again Aria, two dresses in one day I’m a lucky man”

“T
his one doesn’t come off as easily” I smile as I arch an eyebrow at him.

“I’m willing to give it a try” a
s he runs his knuckles down my arm, oh wow how can this be, we made love, he fucked me for three hours this morning and
I still want more too
, maybe I am addicted to sex? Well look at him, tousled dark hair, hair hazel eyes, five o clock shadow, it’s just him, he looks like sex. I pull myself from my erotic thoughts.

“
Interesting song in your car on repeat?” I gotta change my train of thinking or I will derailed onto my back for this man.