“Thanks for the toast, man,” Keith told him. “It was really nice, you even made Amy cry a little,” he said.
“Oh my God, was I that corny?”
“No, you weren’t corny at all, it was perfect. Thank you.”
“No problem, I’m just so damn happy for you, man. I think you did great, Amy is perfect for you.”
“I know,” Keith agreed. Changing the subject, he said, “Just a heads up, Devon’s on the prowl, wants to talk about renewing the contract.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s been here already. I think, I hope, I pissed him off,” Rick said, pouring himself another glass of wine. “I can’t believe he’s bringing that shit up tonight, of all nights.”
“That’s who he is, Ricky. You know that, he’s always one step ahead.”
“I know, but it’s your wedding for Christ sake, he could give it a break.”
“Yeah, it is my wedding, and it doesn’t bother me, so why the hell should it bother you?”
Rick felt bad, Keith’s daylong smile disappeared, and he was responsible. “I’m sorry, man, I just get frustrated with him is all.”
“Don’t – eat, drink, and be merry!” he said, rising and waving his hand majestically. His smile returned.
“I will. You too. Now go find that beautiful bride of yours and dance the night away.”
When he was alone again, Rick searched the dance floor for Sonya, but couldn’t find her. He stood and looked to see if Randy was around, but didn’t see him either. When he sat back down, he lit a cigarette and took a drink of wine. He could hear a child crying, and looked to see Julia’s dad carrying Eli out of the party. The boy cried, reaching toward the room, and angry he had to leave. His grandpa tried to console him as they left.
After a while, Sonya reappeared. Her cheeks were rosy and it was obvious she was having a good time. She sat down beside Rick, but didn’t have much to say. When she turned to look toward the bar, Rick saw a blade of grass tangled in her hair. His eyes narrowed as he turned to see Randy re-entering the room from outside. Rick poured himself another glass of wine and rose. “I’m gonna go mingle,” he said, backing away. “You should go dance some more. It looks like you’ve been having fun.” She nodded and grinned.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Winter 1986
They entered the trendy Manhattan nightclub through the back door. The owner offered his own services to escort them to their table, leading them up the side stairs to the VIP balcony. It held only ten tables, each surrounded by luxury sofas and settees. Four of the tables were occupied. The man led them to the farthest table on the balcony.
“This is the best table in the house. It has the best view of the dance floor, as you can see.” He waved his arm as though displaying the final showcase on
The Price Is Right
, an overenthusiastic grin splitting his face.
“Thank you Phillip, this will be fine,” Devon said, as he palmed the man a tip and scooted onto one of the sofa’s behind Julia.
Rick waited for Sonya to pick her spot, and then settled in next to her. He looked over the balcony to observe the club below. The crowded dance floor was the largest he’d ever seen. One end was just below him, and the other end was so far off that could barely tell if the dancers there were male or female.
The lights of the club flashed in time to the loud dance music, and the entire atmosphere seemed to pulse along to the beat. Experience told him that the effect was more dramatic from below. Sonya tugged at his sleeve and he turned to find the waitress looking at him expectantly, but her wide, toothy smile hid any irritation at having to wait.
“Oh, sorry.Just a Coke, thanks.” Rick looked around at the other tables to see if anyone noticed or recognized them, but everyone around them seemed to be lost in their own world. He looked back at the floor below, but the crowd was oblivious.
“Ricky!” Devon snapped.
Rick turned back around.
“Sonya is talking to you,” Devon said with a scowl.
What’d I do to piss him off this time?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear. What did you say?”
“I was asking if you’re going to dance with me tonight or should I just go ahead and book Randy and Keith now?”
“You know I don’t dance,” he said, glad that Amy wasn’t there and Keith would be free for dancing.
“I thought you might make an exception for once.”
“Maybe,” he said absently, and turned back to look over the balcony again. He felt like he was being watched, yet he could find no one showing any interest in him. Looking all around, he saw there was a shorter balcony above, but again found no one watching them. He couldn’t shake the perception, and it reminded him of the odd feeling he used to get after doing too much cocaine.
This time, Devon slapped his arm. “What the hell is wrong with you, man?”
Rick turned to find that the drinks had come, and the women had gone.
“Huh?”
“I said what the hell is wrong with you? You’re acting like a dick, and Sonya’s getting pissed.”
“Why? What did I do?”
“You’re ignoring her. She keeps trying to talk to you, and it’s like you’re not even here.”
Rick looked around again. “I don’t know, I’ve just got this weird feeling. It feels like someone’s watching me.”
“Are you serious? Someone is always watching you! You’re in a club, for Christ sake.”
“No, not like that. I’m used to that. This is different.”
“He’s right,” Randy jumped in. “You need to pull your head out of your ass and get over it or there will be hell to pay later.”
The women came back and scooted into their spots.
“Where’d you go?” Rick asked, giving Sonya a quick kiss. “We went to freshen up. I told you, you know?” Seeing Rick’s confused look, she said “To the bathroom – I told you we were going to the fucking bathroom!”
“Okay, okay. You don’t have to get so upset,” he said, gently rubbing her shoulder. “And keep your voice down, Jesus.” He looked around again, and this time people were staring at them. “I’m sorry, I’m just feeling a little out of it tonight. Don’t take it personally. I’ll try to be more attentive, okay?” He made an effort at a classic, apologetic look, and Sonya relaxed a little, but Rick knew he would need to be extra careful the rest of the night. She was in one of her moods now, the kind that could result in a lengthy silent treatment.
As the evening wore on, he made a point to be involved in all the conversation and laugh at all the jokes, but he still kept an eye out for an observer or a stalker. When Sonya asked him to dance once more, he declined, even though he knew he should just give in and do it. She gave him one of her thin-lipped looks as she grabbed Keith’s hand and dragged him toward the stairs. Devon and Julia followed.
“I guess that just leaves you, Ricky. I’m gonna go find me a dance partner,” Randy said, shimmying out from behind the table.
Finally alone – it felt as though he was playing a part in a play, and was tired of making sure he caught all his cues and didn’t drop a line. The feeling of being watched still nagged him.
Below on the dance floor, he saw the guys fending off the occasional fan after an autograph or picture. The club, however, was a hotspot for celebrities, so they were only a few among many, but still, Rick was glad to be away from the throng. He wasn’t in the mood for that kind of attention.
After a long break, Julia and Keith returned to the table. Rick noticed the feeling that had been bothering him all night was suddenly gone, but his neck hurt from all the quick head turns and stress.
“Where is everybody?”
“Devon went to the restroom, and Randy and Sonya are still dancing,” Julia said.
The waitress came and Keith asked her to bring another round of drinks. “Ricky? You still on Coke?” Rick nodded. “And another Coke for the young man,” Keith said.
Rick gave him a nasty smirk and turned to look over the balcony again. He scanned the dance floor for Sonya and Randy, but couldn’t see them. He did spot Devon near the main bar, hugging someone, but Rick couldn’t tell who it was. He turned around when the drinks came, afraid it might be Sonya. God forbid she think he wasn’t paying attention. When he realized it was just the waitress, he went back to observing Devon.
He was with a woman and they were acting rather intimate. The behavior didn’t seem very Devon-like. Rick checked to make sure Julia wasn’t watching the same scene, but she was deep in discussion with Keith. Devon had his arm around the woman and pulled her closer to speak. Rick checked Julia again, then looked back to Devon below. The couple stood together talking for quite some time, touching each other all the while in one way or another. Devon pointed toward the balcony once, and Rick quickly looked away. He waited a moment and looked back. Devon had the woman by the hand and pulled her to the dance floor. They disappeared into a sea of dancers.
Turning back to the other two, he was just in time to hear Julia asking what could be keeping Devon. “I saw him down at the bar talking to some guy,” Rick lied. He wasn’t sure what Devon was up to, but he didn’t like it. Even more than that, he didn’t want to see Julia get hurt, so he covered.
“Well, I guess he doesn’t need his drink then,” she laughed.
“No, it looked like he had one.”
“Can you see him?” Julia asked leaning toward the balcony.
“No,” Rick said, trying to block her view. “They disappeared.”
Julia gave him a strange look, but went back to her conversation with Keith. Rick looked back to the club, scanning the crowd for Devon and his friend. When the song ended, he spotted them toward the back of the club. He only recognized them because of Devon’s physique – they were too far away to make out any detail. Rick saw them embrace once more. They both seemed reluctant to let go, but they did finally, and went in opposite directions.
A few minutes later Devon was back at the table. Instead of sitting by Julia, he scooted in next to Rick.
“Guess who I just saw,” Devon said in a low voice meant for Rick alone.
Rick looked to make sure Julia wasn’t listening, and said, “I know it was someone you couldn’t keep your hands off of! What the hell, Devon?” Was everyone fucking around on each other? What the hell happened to his friends? Bastards.
Devon looked surprised by Rick’s accusation, and he too, looked to make sure Julia didn’t hear. “Ricky, it wasn’t like that, it was Shelby. I ran into her on my way back from the bathroom.”
Rick couldn’t speak. His thoughts raced, replaying the scene he had just watched in his head with Shelby as the mystery woman.
“I tried to get her to come up here and see everyone, but as usual, she said she had to be somewhere.”
Rick felt the overwhelming regret that came with another missed opportunity. Though the guys saw her every so often, Rick
still
hadn’t seen her since the day of her graduation, and that was nearly five years ago.
“She said she had to meet some people. Ricky, I told her she needed to come talk to you, that you would be so disappointed. Do you know what she told me?”
Rick shook his head.
“She said, ‘I can’t face Rick.’ I asked her why. She said, ‘I just can’t – he thinks he fucked me up. I’ve seen it in his eyes when he looks at me, and I just can’t handle it.’”
“She
said
that?”
“Yeah! Why would she say something like that? She wouldn’t explain when I asked her.”
“And she left?”
“Yeah. Well, no. First she was going to the bathroom, and then she was leaving.”
Without thinking, Rick shoved Devon as hard as he could. Devon almost fell to the ground as he scrambled out of the settee and Rick pushed past him. He wasn’t going to let yet another chance slip by.
“What the hell? Where are you going?” Devon called after him.
Rick didn’t answer. He ran to the steps as quickly as he could and descended them so fast he wasn’t even sure if his feet actually touched any of them. He didn’t slow down as he passed Randy and Sonya who were climbing the stairs, even though they both called out to him.
His heart raced as he ran out the front door of the club and began searching up and down the street. She was halfway down the block, standing with her arm up to hail a taxi. He ran to reach her before she succeeded.
“Shelby!” he called as he neared her. She turned to see him, but tried to scurry away. “Wait,” he cried, “I have to talk to you.”
He finally caught her and pulled her to the sidewalk. “Please,” he said, panting for breath. “Please don’t run away. Talk to me.” He couldn’t believe he actually held her arm in his hand. Here she was – before him in solid form – not a ghost and not a dream.
She wore a look of shock and fear, as though she thought he meant to hurt her. “Please Shelby.”
“I can’t Rick. I have to go.”
“Where? Where do you have to go Shelby? It’s one o’clock in the morning. Where could you possibly have to be?” She offered no answer. “Just talk to me.” He looked around and spotted a café down the street. “Have a cup of coffee with me. Please?”
She followed his gaze to the coffee shop. “Okay,” she said, seeming to know she was out of excuses.
“Thank you.” He took a few steps towards the café, and turned and waited for her. She looked at him as though he had just told her to walk the plank, but followed him down the street.
Chapter Thirty-Four
As Rick opened the door for her to enter the cafe, he could feel his heart beating beyond its normal limits. After all the years of yearning to be able to talk to her, to sort things out, here she was, almost willingly. He followed her in and directed her to a table in the back. The place was nearly empty. A few people sat at the counter nursing steaming cups and a group of teenage girls sat at a table giggling amongst themselves.
They took seats opposite one another, but neither spoke. She unzipped her jacket and pulled the sleeves down her arms. When she settled and straightened to look up at him, he saw the necklace he gave her long ago peeking out from beneath her collar. He reached over and tucked a finger around the necklace, lightly lifted it away from her neck and let it drop back. He waited for her to look at him. When she did, she flashed him a quick smile, one that consumed him with a flush of memories and still made his stomach pitch.