InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (11 page)

“I’m
sure you remember when Tia brought Dylan here for Nick’s memorial. You all made
him feel incredibly welcome, and he made an impression on all of us, especially
because he was the one who made Tia smile again. I, for one, considered him a
friend after just a few minutes of knowing him—he was a genuine guy.” A murmur
of agreement rose from the ranks. “And God knows we’ve heard enough about him
since then—even though he hasn’t been able to get back here, whenever Tia’s
around, it sure feels like he is!” A few glasses were raised, and Tia couldn’t
help but smile as Dylan pulled her close while they hovered at the entrance to
the pub.

“Well,
Dylan’s in town, and for some strange reason, he wanted to come hang out with
you crazy people!” More glasses were raised, and few whistles sounded from the
floor. Sean held up his hand for quiet.

“What
none of us knew; what I just found out, actually, is that they’d only just met
that night, the night of the memorial, and that the Dylan you met that night
isn’t the same Dylan you’re going to see tonight. I mean, he’s the same guy on
the inside, but the outside is very different.”

Someone
yelled out, “Please tell me he got a haircut!” Giggles of exaggerated approval
rose up from the group, and Dylan and Tia shared a knowing glance. 

Sean
waited for the laughs to stop, then he continued. “Yeah, yeah,” he said.
“You’ll be thrilled to know that his hair is different…” more mock cheers
filled the room. “…but that isn’t the first thing you’ll notice—trust me.” He
waited for the room to quiet before continuing.  “Maybe some of you saw the
news today, about how everybody’s favorite singer, Dylan Miller, is involved in
a sordid love triangle with a bitchy Hollywood starlet who shall remain unnamed
and a mystery woman who has yet to be named…” Murmurs rose again. “Well, I might
not have believed it if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes, but…” he paused
for effect, “…our very own Tia is that mystery woman, and they’re here tonight.
They’re going public with their relationship in a big way tomorrow, but they
wanted to come here first, so Tia could formally introduce him to her friends.
Apparently, you clowns made some sort of impression on him, and he wants to
count you as his friends, too.”  Heads turned, scanning the room, most of them
not putting it past Sean to stage an elaborate hoax.

 “One
of the things Dylan appreciated the most about that night, because he was
disguised when he and Tia first met, was that we all treated him like one of
the family. He’s the same guy on the inside, and he wants it to stay that way.
He doesn’t want to be treated any differently than you treated him then, so
don’t make asses out of yourselves, OK? So I’m going to let them say a few
words that’ll be easier to say once to all of you rather than a thousand times
over.” He turned to the entryway, where Tia and Dylan still stood. “Shit, I
feel like a fucking talk show host here, but I’m happy to be the one
introducing them as a couple for the first time—Tia Hastings and Dylan Miller!”
He stepped aside as the couple mounted the small stage and stepped up behind
the mic.  Thundering applause and catcalls bounced off the walls, and the
couple just smiled, waving them away.

“Wow.
This isn’t awkward at all,” Tia said sarcastically into the mic as a hush fell
over the room and she took in the wide-eyed looks of her friends. “First off, I
need to say that I’m incredibly sorry I kept all of this from you—you are my
dearest friends, and I felt horrible lying to you all. Like Sean said, the last
time Dylan was here was the night of the memorial, and we’d just met a few
hours before that. At the time I had no idea that things between us were going
to progress like this—in fact, I didn’t think I’d ever see him again after that
night. It was a fluke that we even met, and then he was heading off to Europe
for a tour, and I didn’t see how...anyway, that’s a long story; one that I’m
sure I’ll be telling at least a thousand times in the next few weeks.

“Much
to my obvious delight things did progress, and Dylan invited me to Europe. But
after the tour, when Dylan had to go film the now infamous movie in New
Zealand, we agreed that it would be better if we waited to make the
announcement until we were at least on the same continent. No one knew who he
really was—except for Lexi…” She pointed to her best friend, who was doing a
fine job on her own of calling attention to herself. “Even my parents just met
him earlier today.” She paused and took a breath. “But finally, after a whole
lot of time apart and an incredible amount of bullshit courtesy of the...” she
looked at Sean. “What did you call her? The “bitchy Hollywood starlet?” we are
back together and ready to tell the whole world.

 “Dylan
wanted to come here tonight because he counts you as his friends, and I hope
you’ll do the same. He really is the nice guy you met back in May and, well,”
she said, the grin stretching across her face, “he’s also the man I love, and
neither of us could think of a better way to celebrate than with all of you
incredible people….the most important people in my life.”  

Applause
rang through the pub, and Dylan stepped up to the mic.

“It’s
so good to see you all again,” he said. “I have to tell you that the last time
I was here, I had the best time meeting all of you and seeing the love you have
for my girl here. I had no idea that night that she’d become the love of my
life, or that I’d feel guilty for deceiving you.” He paused, taking in the sea
of faces that were staring at him, dumbstruck.  “Bloody hell, this
is
awkward,” he said smiling at Tia and tucking his long hair carelessly behind
his ears. “I can’t really add anything to what Tia just said—I do count you as
friends, and I hope to get to know you all better. So, I’m just Tia’s
boyfriend, OK?” Nods of agreement filled the room.  “Alright, so at the risk of
it becoming ‘my thing,’ I’d like to buy a round of Tully for all of you—the
traditional friendship drink to mark the start of an honest and true
friendship.”

Cheers
rang out through the bar, and the patrons lifted their glasses to the couple.
Tia and Dylan clasped hands and bowed slightly, accepting their
congratulations, and when someone in the crowd started clinking silverware
against a glass in the old wedding tradition, others joined in. Dylan obliged
them by pulling Tia into his arms and tipping her back for a kiss, to the delight
of the crowd. Then he hopped off the stage and made his way to the bar to help
Paddy and Siobhan distribute the trays of shots.

When
everyone had a shot glass in their hands, Paddy stepped up to the mic. “I’m
going to take the liberty of making this toast, because it’s my damn bar,” he
said laughing. He held up his glass, and the others followed suit. “Here’s to
happiness, love, friendship, and second chances,” he said. “In life you can’t
ask for anything more, but should never settle for anything less.”

He
raised his glass to Tia and Dylan, and they stepped up to toast with him. Then
they raised their glasses to the rest of the crowd, and the shots were downed,
glasses clunked, cheers raised.

Tia
turned to Siobhan and whispered, “I promised Dylan that you make the best
corned beef brisket sandwich in the world, and that he could have one. I need
one, too.”

“Oh,”
she smiled, “I can definitely handle that request!” she said as she hustled
back toward the kitchen.

They
made the rounds of the tables, greeting everyone and sharing bits of their
story. They would have liked to have stayed longer—Tia was truly impressed with
the way her friends treated Dylan. There were some star struck looks, some
nervous giggles, and plenty of batting eyelashes; but that was par for the
course whenever Dylan was in a room, and she’d have to get used to it. Time
after time Tia looked around the room and smiled—she considered most of the
people here family, and she relaxed and actually enjoyed herself. This was how
she’d envisioned going public with Dylan…a gathering in a safe place full of
her friends and family…the genuine pleasure of introducing the people she loved
to each other and building friendships. Her work friends mingled with her pub
friends; Lilly, her school secretary, took charge and introduced everyone, and
Lexi rode on the high of being the only one who knew about the relationship
from the start. Sean, Dave, and Tim dragged Dylan into a dart ‘rematch,’ and
she joined friends at a group of tables to ‘dish scoop’ and share pictures and
videos from her incredible summer; finally able to put it out there. It was
reminiscing and new beginnings, and more than once Tia glanced over at the
table where she and Dylan had sat that first night, remembering when Sean had strummed
the first chords of
Pull You Up
from the little stage on the other side
of the room and Dylan had asked her to dance; singing the song that had been so
instrumental in her healing into her ear. She’d felt something incredible that
first time he took her into his arms, but never imagined then that she was on
the verge of the most amazing journey of her life. It felt strange. She was the
same person, but she felt so
different
, and even her closest friends saw
her differently. She could see it in their expressions; hear it in their voices
as they sat entranced, waiting to hear the story of how she won the heart of
the “Sexiest Man on Earth.” Things wouldn’t be the same and Dylan was
right—what fun was a life that never changed; never offered challenges and
makeovers and do-overs? Paddy was right, too. You couldn’t ask for anything
more, and shouldn’t settle for anything less. She was at home here with these
people, and Dylan would be too. These were her true friends and she was lucky
to have them.

Ryan
sat by himself at a small table at the back of the pub, sipping a Harp and
watching Lexi flit about the tables chatting and telling anyone who’d listen
how she’d been the only privileged one in on the secret of Dylan’s true
identity. He smiled to himself as he watched her over-exaggerated gestures and
the pure joy on her face as she shared her own versions of stories about the
couple; clearly enjoying the spotlight thrust upon her. She’d been waiting for
this day for a long time, he realized, and although it wasn’t her who slept
with Miller, she was certainly thrilled to talk about her connection to him…and
to the rest of the band.  He still felt like a bit of a fool when he remembered
how he’d first reacted when he saw his fiancé in the arms of the rock star; and
although he was relieved that it wasn’t Lexi that Miller had come to see, part
of him was kind of pissed off that she’d kept the information from him—that
she’d not shared with him that she was on tour with one of the world’s biggest
bands over the summer instead of just hanging out with her friend and engaging
in the usual tourist rituals.

These
weren’t his people. Back in the day, when Tia and Nick were dating, he and Lexi
would hang out here occasionally; mainly for St. Patrick’s Day parties and when
Tia was singing on the little makeshift stage with her fiancé’s band. They were
nice enough, but most of his socializing over the past few years was with
stuffy old lawyer types; going to operas and tremendously boring dinner parties
or hanging out at the country club in his constant effort to make partner at
his firm so that he could truly enjoy the finer things in life and provide a
good future for himself and the family he would one day have. Lexi seemed in
her element, however, pausing to wave at him periodically from across the room
as she moved from group to group, sometimes lacing her arm through Dylan’s and
encouraging him to help her tell a story.

Aside
from that, he may as well have been invisible. All attention was focused on the
happy couple and on Dylan in particular—especially from the ladies, he noticed.
They couldn’t seem to take their eyes off of him, and batted their eyelashes
while regarding him with coy smiles whenever he tossed a glance their way. He
was obviously used to this kind of attention and smiled warmly at everyone,
accepting hugs from the ladies and hearty handshakes from the men as he and Tia
mingled with groups and Dylan tried to laugh off the many requests for him to
take the stage and sing something for the patrons.

Ryan
looked at his watch and frowned when he realized they’d been here just shy of
an hour. No way this party was going to be breaking up anytime soon, so he
leaned back, sipped his beer and watched from a distance, the brew bitter on
his tongue and the isolation chewing on his ego.

Tony
Granger was one rich motherfucker, as Dylan eloquently put it. He not only
hosted the most popular late night talk show on television but was also a
shrewd businessman, and he was seriously loaded. His home was a sprawling
estate north of San Diego, and his private helicopter flew him in to work each
day. He had an obsession for classic cars, owned an entire island in the
Caribbean, and had several private jets; one of which Dylan and Tia boarded
late Sunday morning for the start of what Tia had coined their “media
blitzkrieg.”  Tony also happened to be one of Dylan’s closest friends outside
of the band, and was the reason that they were making the West Coast the first
leg of their trip—he’d apparently jumped at the opportunity to be the first to
satisfy the public demand for more of the “love triangle” story that was still
big news, especially when Dylan offered Tony their first public appearance as a
couple.