Perfect on Paper (18 page)

“Man, Shane was right when he said you were hard-nosed.”

She smiled again. “Girl, you have no idea.”

We lugged our shopping bags up to my room, hung my outfit for the wedding in the closet, then plopped everything else in a corner. I plugged in my hair straightener and showed Kristina the makeup I had with me.

She looked through my stuff. “I’m thinking that you should wear your hair down and straight, with smoky eye shadow and plum-colored lipstick.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “After that speech downstairs, I’m not about to get in your way.”

She laughed. “Watch it.”

I turned on the TV set and clicked through the channels until I settled on MTV, which was, shockingly, actually playing a video, a Madonna video marathon, in fact. “Ooh, I love Madonna,” I said as I walked back to the bathroom. “Her music reminds me of getting ready for high school dances. So what was the deal with dances anyway? Did you notice how halfway through high school they suddenly weren’t cool anymore? Or was that just my high school?” I leaned my hip against the sink as she finished selecting my makeup.

She applied a light layer of foundation to my face with a cotton ball. “Hey, you’re right. That happened at my school, too. Suddenly no one went anymore. I have no idea why.”

“And did you ever notice that getting ready for the dance was usually more fun than the dance itself?”

She stepped back and smiled at me. “Waverly, where do you come up with all these observations?”

I shrugged. “I’m a single woman with no pets. I have a lot of free time.”

“Waverly …”

“Okay, okay, no more complaining about being single. Hey, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” She leaned toward me and swiped a concealer stick underneath my eye.

“Um, well, I was just wondering, do you know Shane’s college roommate, Jake McIntyre?”

She dusted a large brush over my cheekbones, then had me close my eyes and applied eyeliner and shadow. “Jake? Sure I know him. He was in our wedding party. Why?”

“Oh, well, Shane introduced me to him at a big party JAG threw at the end of that trade show back in November. I thought he was really cute.”

“He’s a sweetheart,” she said, then turned my head to the left and applied more blush. She held my chin in one hand and examined my face. “Okay, I’m done with your makeup, but now I want to tweeze your eyebrows a bit, just to give them a little more shape. You mind?”

She dug through her purse and pulled out a pair of tweezers, a tiny brush, and a pair of eyebrow scissors.

“Not at all, please, go right ahead.” I closed my eyes. “My blonde friends like my eyebrows because they’re dark and thick, but to me they’re a nightmare.”

“Just leave them to me. I’ve always thought that if I hadn’t become a doctor, I would’ve opened up my own beauty salon. I love this stuff. Now don’t move.”

I held my breath. She finished my right eyebrow, then leaned back and squinted. “Perfect. Now hold still while I do the other.”

I closed my eyes again and listened to Madonna sing “Like a Virgin” in the background. I let myself get lost in the song and pictured her prancing around Venice in her wedding dress. Man, I was like a virgin for all intents and purposes. How long had it been? Ugh. I was a born-again virgin.

The sound of Kristina’s voice snapped me out of my reverie.

“Okay, I’m done with the eyebrows. Now let me just straighten your hair, and we’ll be done.” She picked up my straightener in one hand and a chunk of my hair in the other.

“Kristina?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, um, I was just wondering what you know about Jake. I mean, does he have a girlfriend?”

She reached for another chunk of my hair and clasped the straightening iron around it. “A girlfriend? Hmm … I have no idea. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen him. But I could ask Shane about it.”

“NO! I mean no, you don’t have to. I was just curious, that’s all. Working for the Hawks, he must have a thousand girls chasing after him.”

She moved behind me to work on the back part of my hair. “He might, but I bet none of them look as good as you do right now.” She rubbed a touch of shiny gloss on her fingers and ran them through my hair. Then she put her hands on her hips again and smiled. “You have a fantastic stylist, if I do say so myself.”

I turned to face the mirror, and I had to admit that I looked pretty good. My hair and makeup had been done professionally a couple times to be a bridesmaid, but the whole look had never turned out so well. And the new shape of my eyebrows really brightened up my eyes.

“Wow, Kristina, you’ve made me into a hottie!”

“Waverly, you were already a hottie. Now you’re totally on fire.” She unplugged my straightening iron and started putting my makeup back into its case.

I laughed and held my hand up to hers for a high-five. “Singles table, watch out.”

The church Cynthia had chosen for her wedding was called St.  Luke’s. I figured it was going to be gorgeous, because I had noticed that most guys named Luke tended to be gorgeous. And I wasn’t disappointed. It was high and narrow with breathtaking stained-glass windows lighting up the walls and ceiling.

I couldn’t believe how many people were crammed into the pews. Seriously, there were like fifty thousand of us. I hadn’t asked Cynthia how many people she had invited, but now that I thought about it, a big wedding made sense because of who the bride and groom were. Dale Payton was a big-shot sports agent, and Cynthia was a senior VP at an international marketing firm. Being successful in both professions required some serious people skills and also led to some serious financial rewards.

I slid quietly into a pew and glanced around. I leafed through the wedding program and tried to look nonchalant as I waited for the ceremony to start. The irrational side of me felt like I had a big sign on my head that said LEFT AT THE ALTAR THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE. The rational side of me told me that McKenna, Andie, and now Kristina, too, would all kick my ass if they knew what I was thinking.

The ceremony was short and sweet, thank God. Cynthia and Dale had mercifully elected to keep it that way and cut right to the
Do you? Yes, I do. And do you? Yes, I do
chase, which was just fine by me. We all stood and clapped for the newlyweds as they glided back down the aisle. (Or is it up the aisle, since the bride walks down the aisle? Who really knows?) Anyhow, they blissfully floated past us and out of the church. Once the bridesmaids and groomsmen had followed suit, the crowd streamed out of the pews and off to the hotel, where the real party awaited.

I hobbled to a cab and directed the driver to the Waldorf-Astoria, just a few blocks away. Normally I would have walked, but it was freezing outside, and I was a major turtle in my cast. When the cab dropped me off, I checked my hair and makeup in the lobby powder room and reapplied a little bit of plum-colored lipstick. Then I headed toward the main ballroom. The place was rapidly filling up with a ton of wedding guests I didn’t know. I made my way to the seating chart table in the hallway and picked out my place card:

“Table fifty-three? Who has fifty-three tables at a wedding?” I said to myself.

“Excuse me?” The attendant behind the seating chart looked up at me.

“Sorry, just talking out loud.” Oops. But seriously, where would we all fit? How would the happy couple possibly have time to say hello to everyone?

I started walking into the main dining room, but the attendant pointed down the hall and smiled. “The cocktail hour is in the Astor Salon. Dinner is in an hour back here in the Grand Ballroom.”

“Uh, okay, thanks.” I turned on my good heel and followed the crowd. I knew a few of the people from K.A. Marketing who were supposed to be there and wondered if any of them would be seated at my table. Or maybe I’d be seated next to someone famous. I’d already spotted several athletes and media personalities in the crowd.

The Sunrise Ballroom was filled with a variety of stations featuring appetizers and drinks from around the world: sushi, tapas, spring rolls, tacos, German beers. As soon as I walked in the door, a smiling silver-haired woman in a black-and-white catering outfit approached me and looked down at my cast.

“Hi there, do you need help with anything?”

So much for my
No one will notice my cast with these pants on
plan.

I smiled. “I’m fine, thanks. But would you please tell me where I can get a glass of wine?”

She pointed to the bar on the right. “Enjoy your evening, and please find me if you need anything at all.”

I headed over to the Wines from Napa Valley island and ordered a glass of Peju merlot. Then I hobbled to the sushi bar and picked out a few California rolls and a spicy salmon roll. I turned around and spotted an empty cocktail table with high bar stools to my right. I put my glass down and took a seat, then once again scanned the room. As face after face failed to register, I began to wonder if I had wandered into the wrong party.

I gave up looking and focused on the plate in front of me. Yummy. I gobbled down the California rolls and was throwing back the salmon roll when my eyes stopped in the middle of the room. Right there, standing next to the taco station, was Jake McIntyre. And I think he was looking at me.

I quickly turned my head and took a sip of wine to help the salmon roll head downstream. Jake was there? Cute Jake? Blue-eyed Jake? No way. What was he doing there? And was he alone?

I took a deep breath, then turned back to face him with a nervous smile.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, Sunshine, I thought that was you.”

I turned around and saw Scotty Ryan from the
Today
show standing there.

I stood up and hugged him. “Hey, Scotty! I didn’t know you’d be here. What a nice surprise.”

“I could say the same thing,” he said. “How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks. You know, just the other day, I was reminiscing about how you shot down that awful baseball player by pretending not to know who he was.”

He smiled. “One of my favorite interviews.”

“Are you friends with Dale or with Cynthia?” I said.

“Actually, I know them completely independently of each other, so there was no way I could miss this party.”

“Please, have a seat.” I gestured at the empty bar stool next to me. “I’m so glad I ran into you. I don’t know anyone here and was already wondering how I was going to make it through the evening alone, so you just saved me.”

“Happy to help out.” He took a seat and immediately noticed the cast peeking out from under my pants. “Hey, what happened to your leg?”

“It’s my ankle. I wish I could say that I broke it doing something exciting, but I tripped over a branch. Painfully boring, painfully embarrassing—just plain painful.”

He put his hand on my shoulder. “Well, despite the cast, you look just as lovely as ever. You’re really here alone? I find that hard to believe.”

I took a sip of my wine and smiled. “Well, thank you for the compliment, kind sir, but yes, I’m flying solo. You too?”

He nodded and looked around the room. “Yep.”

“Actually, this is the first wedding I’ve been to by myself in a while,” I said, suddenly feeling courageous.

“Really?”

I nodded. “Yep, and actually, the last wedding I was supposed to go to was my own.”

His eyes met mine. “You were engaged? When? What happened?”

I bit my lip and took a deep breath.

I could do it. I could tell him.

“Um …,” I said slowly.

I pictured Kristina giving high-fives to McKenna and Andie.

I could do it.

“He, uh um … we, um …”

Scotty raised an eyebrow.

“I … uh, I just wasn’t ready to get married, so I called it off,” I finally said.

Damn it. Baby steps were harder than I thought.

“Wow, I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.

I picked up my glass. “Me too, but hey, what can you do? If it’s not right, it’s not right, right?” At least I was learning that, if nothing else.

“Love sucks,” he said, then lowered his voice and leaned close to me. “Although I probably shouldn’t be saying that at a wedding.”

I laughed and looked around the room. “This is by far the fanciest wedding I’ve ever been to. I wonder when the
InStyle
celebrity weddings photographer is going to show up.”

He nodded. “Tell me about it. This place is busting with current and former professional athletes.”

“Yeah, my friend Hunter would sell his soul to the devil to be here right now,” I said. “What a scene.”

He took my free hand and gently squeezed it. “Once the party really gets going, we’ll have to check out the best-looking men and then divide and conquer.”

“I’ll drink to that.” I held my wine glass up for a toast. “Actually, there is a guy here I’m sort of interested in, but I seem to have lost him in the crowd. Want to help me find him?”

“Sure, let me at him. The four-one-one, please?”

I leaned close, still holding his hand, and lowered my voice. “Okay, but we need to be sly, because I tend to choke around this guy, and I mean that literally.”