Vindicated (18 page)

“Well,” she said.
 
“I’ve already asked her to come in and I think you might have other plans this afternoon.”

“I don’t, really, its fine,” I tried to clarify.

“I’ve got it covered sweetie.
 
Have fun today.
 
See you after you get back from your honeymoon!” and then she hung up the phone.

 
I glanced at the screen, seeing “call ended” flashing at me.
 
Shaking my head, I slid my phone back into my pocket.
 
Just as I did it vibrated.
 

Where are you?
a text from Emily read.

We have plans right now,
another from Amber came through at the same time.

I shook my head, laughing to myself.
 
So that was what Rita had meant that I had plans for this afternoon.

Be home soon,
I texted back.
 
With Alex picking up his suit.

I didn’t have to wait long for Alex to come back out.
 
His real Alex-smile spread on his lips as he walked out of the doors, white bag slung over one shoulder.

“So apparently I have plans right now,” I said as we slid into the truck.
 
“I’m a little afraid what Emily and Amber have in store for me.”

“I guess I have plans too,” Alex chuckled as he started the engine.
 
“Rod called while I was in there.
 
We’re having a little ‘party’ tonight.”

My face suddenly fell.
 
“There aren’t going to be any strippers involved, are there?”

Alex laughed as he looked over his shoulder and backed out of his parking space.
 
“Don’t worry, if the strippers come out I’ll put an end to it.
 
Maybe,” he added.

“Alex!” I yelled as I hit his arm.
 
My playful hit would have bruised a normal man.

“Kidding!
 
Kidding!” he laughed.
 
“Don’t worry, Rod knows you’d kill him if he planned for strippers.”

I just shook my head and laughed.
 
“Man, a bachelor party,” I said as we started back home.
 
“This is getting pretty real.”

“Not getting cold feet on me, are you?” he raised an eyebrow at me, a crooked smile on his lips.

“No way!
 
You’re not going to change your mind on me, are you?”

Alex’s eyes got serious then as he glanced over at me.
 
He took my hand in his again, pressing a kiss to the back of it.
 
“Never.”

By the time we pulled back into the driveway, everyone was there waiting for us, Emily, Amber, and Rod.
 

“Prepare to be ambushed,” Alex said, hesitating to open the door.

“Yikes,” I breathed.

And as soon as I stepped out of the truck, I was attacked with a pink boa, a plastic tiara, and forced into a pair of black lacy panties, over my jeans.

“These are your last days of freedom,” Emily declared as she spun me around, taking pictures as I twirled.
 
“We must live it up before you’re tied down for eternity!”

“Why didn’t you make him wear a speedo or something?” I asked Rod, giving him a mock glare.
 
I could feel my face burning in embarrassment.

Rod raised one eyebrow at us, shaking his head.
 
“Unlike you ladies, I actually like my best friend, and am unwilling to submit him to this kind of humiliation.”

“You’re just not as creative as us,” Amber said, bounding over to press a quick kiss to his cheek.
 
He couldn’t help but smile.

“Rod,” I said as the Emily started dragging me into the house.
 
“No strippers, okay?”

He laughed out loud.
 
“Yeah, right.
 
Alex would have a heart attack as soon as the first bit of clothing was removed.”

Amber suddenly froze behind us, turning back toward the guys.
 
“Rod,” she said seriously.
 
“No strippers.”

His face suddenly turned serious.
 
“No strippers, baby.”

She blew him a kiss before helping to shove me into the house.
 
I barely managed a wave good-bye to Alex before he slipped into Rod’s car.

As soon as I walked in the door, I froze in horror.

“Oh my…” I trailed off.

Posters were taped to the walls everywhere, each of them dominated by a man wearing only a tight pair of underwear, each of them sculpted to muscular perfection.

“You guys,” I said as I shook my head, feeling my face flush with heat.
 
“This is humiliating.”

“Come on!” Emily said as she grinned mischievously and pulled me over to the couch.
 
“Enjoy looking at a few half naked men before you aren’t allowed to anymore.”

“Why would I want to look at any other half-naked men when I’ve got Alex?” I said as I raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’ve got a point there,” she said with a mock wistful sigh.
 
“But, the real point is that these men
aren’t
Alex.”

“They’re also two dimensional men,” I teased her.

“That’s enough!” Emily said in an authoritive voice, holding back her laughter.
 
“Amber, get me the box!”

A giddy laugh bubbled from Amber’s lips as she bounded to the bar and picked up a box.

“You aren’t going to do anything to embarrass me further, are you?” I cringed as Amber bounded back across the room with a black box that had a pink lacy pattern printed on it.

“We intend to educate you,” Emily said as she raised one eyebrow at me, a sly grin on her face.
 
Taking the box from Amber, she opened the lid and handed it to me.

As I looked inside, I flushed a scarlet that made my face burn.

Well, they were right.
 
This was one area I certainly had no experience in.

“What’s the occasion ladies?” the waitress asked as she brought us our waters.
 
“This wouldn’t be a bachelorette outing, would it?”

“What gave me away?” I said as I looked down at the pink boa and touched the crown on my head.
 
At least they had let me take the panties off.
 
Emily and Amber snickered in their seats next to me.
 
The waitress smiled.

“When’s the wedding?”

“Three days,” we all said at the same time.

“Congratulations,” she smiled kindly.
 
Getting back to her job, she took each of our orders and walked away.

“Guys, this place is way too expensive for what I know you make,” I said as I looked around the darkly lit restaurant.
 
I’d been there with Alex once upon a time and remembered the stack of cash he had to leave behind when we were done.

“Don’t worry about it,” Amber smiled slyly.
 
“Rod’s paying.”

“To Rod,” Emily said, raising her glass of water for a toast.

“To Rod,” Amber and I echoed, raising our glasses.

Taking a long draw, we set our glasses down with a heavy clank.

“I really do think you should wear your hair like that,” Emily said, fussing with the curls.
 
“Minus the crown, maybe.”

I touched the curls that were half gathered on the back of my head, half cascading down my back.
 
I’d never had my hair look so tamed.
 
The three of us had spent half the day fussing over my hair and makeup.
 
“I do like it.”

The waitress soon returned with our dinner.
 
My stomach turned as I looked at my salad and bread sticks.
 
I was liking to eat less and less these days.

“So are you ready for your parents to get into town tomorrow?” Emily asked as she swallowed a bite.

“Don’t remind me,” I mumbled as I picked up a piece of the hot bread.
 
“I just hope I survive ‘til after the wedding.”

“You’d just skip over the wedding and all the memories and go right to the…”

“Emily!” I cut her off, blushing again.
 
“You are terrible today!”

“Hey, ever since I stopped going out all the time and,” she took a hard swallow “Cormack left, I’m a little…”

“Horney?” Amber said as she broke a piece of her own bread and popped it into her mouth.

“Amber!” I shrieked, looking around to make sure no one could hear her.
 
I shook my head, chuckling at her.

“She’s such a prude,” Amber said to Emily, leaning into her side.

“So innocent,” Emily batted her eyes.
 
“Until Saturday that is.”

“Oh my gosh!” I gasped, covering my flushed face with my hands.

“Excuse me miss.
 
The man at the bar just sent these over,” the waitress suddenly said.
 
As I uncovered my eyes, I saw her set three glasses of what I assumed was red wine on our table.
 
“He said to tell you good luck.”

I whipped my head around toward the counter.
 
It was empty.

“Who sent it?” I asked the young girl before she left.

She searched the room, a confused look forming on her face.
 
“Oh, he was there just a moment ago.
 
He must have just left.
 
Enjoy though.”

“Oh,” Amber said.
 
“A secret, mysterious admirer.”
 
She reached for her glass.

“Don’t touch that!” I snatched it away before she could grab it, just a little too fast.
 
My heart was pounding in my chest, every nerve inside of me saying something didn’t feel right.

“You’re only eighteen,” I covered for my reaction.
 

“I’ll be nineteen in three weeks,” she wined.

“Still not old enough to be drinking,” I raised my eyebrows at her.
 
“And you,” I said as I pulled Emily’s glass away from her.
 
“You should know better than to drink things strangers give you.
 
Remember that night I picked up at like three in the morning?”

“True,” she said as she tipped her head to the left, giving a little nod.
 
“And you don’t drink.
 
What a waste of that guy’s money.”

Trying to be discrete as we started eating, I leaned forward and took a sniff at the wine.
 
I wasn’t familiar with how it was supposed to smell, but something didn’t seem right.
 
Then I noticed the tiny white granules at the bottom of the glasses, something not quite dissolved yet.

As I glanced up, I saw him, watching me through the darkening window outside.
 
A sly smile tugged at Jeremiah’s lips, and then he was gone.

He’d just tried to poison us.
 
Knowing the waitress wouldn’t have known which glass to give me, he had put something in every one of our glasses.
 
He would have killed all three of us.

“I’m not very hungry anymore,” I said as I pushed my plate away, along with the three glasses.

“Are you okay?” Amber asked.
 
“You look kind of… greenish.”

“It’s all of you and Emily’s sex talk,” I said, just a little too sharply.

My phone suddenly vibrated.
 
It showed a text from Alex.

“No phones during the party!” Emily said, quickly snatching it from my hands.

“Wait!” I shouted, just a little too loudly.
 
“I need that!”

Emily glanced at my phone.
 
“Alex can wait until we return you tonight.”

“His mom’s in the hospital,” I suddenly blurted, glaring at her.
 

“Oh,” was all she managed, looking at me with taken-aback eyes.
 
“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t exactly get a chance with everything you two have been putting me through,” I said, grabbing my phone back.