Page 67 of Broken Chords
Chapter Thirty-One
Hemiola:the imposition of a pattern or rhythm of articulation other than that implied by the time signature, specifically use of simple duplets in a compound meter
Damian
“Aren’t you lucky?” a voice says at my shoulder.
I turn to see a guy standing next to me with slightly too long brown hair that he brushes out of his eyes. “I’m sorry?”
He gives me a bemused smile and tilts his head to where Charlie is talking with Gabby, radiant in her simple cream wedding dress. We’re at the reception. The wedding was simple and sweet. The prelude and processional music was played by an eclectic quartet of violin, viola, guitar, and piano—local friends of theirs. It was a little unusual, but it worked, much like Jonathan and Gabby’s relationship. They each had two attendants—Gabby’s sister and Lauren as bridesmaids and Jonathan’s two brothers as groomsmen.
Unlike my sister’s wedding, their ceremony didn’t last long, and we’ve been at the reception for over an hour now. All the obligatory moments have been documented by a cadre of professional photographers—the first dance, the father-daughter dance, the mother-son dance, and the cake cutting, where they fed each other small bites and licked the frosting off each other’s fingers instead of smashing it in each other’s faces. Now, everyone is eating cake, people are dancing, alcohol’s been flowing freely, but not for long enough to do more than make everything looser and fun.
And apparently make this random guy start talking to me. I shake my head, giving him a confused look.
He huffs out a laugh. “You’re here with Charlotte James.” He blatantly looks me over. “How’d you manage that, anyway? No one’s seen her in months, and now here she is on your arm. Who are you?”
“I’m Damian,” I answer woodenly as I try to figure out what he’s saying. “Wait a second. You think that girl over there”—I point at Charlie—“is Charlotte James?”
“Damian.” He repeats my name like he’s trying to place it and gives a slow shake of his head, his eyebrows pinching together. “I don’t think I’ve heard of you.”
“I’m not sure why you would have.”
His eyes widen. “Is that false modesty, or are you being serious?”
I raise my eyebrows, inviting him to come to his own conclusion, because I’m ready for this farce of a conversation to be over. I’ve learned that being quiet is the quickest way to either get people to spill their guts or decide to move on. Hopefully this guy will go for the second option, but if he chooses the first, it could be entertaining.
He looks at me expectantly for a moment before sipping his drink and looking at Charlie again. “To answer your question, yes. That girl over there is Charlotte James. You can drop the act. I know she’s trying to fly under the radar, but I’d recognize her voice and the way she moves anywhere. I’ll admit the weight gain threw me more than the hair change, but after watching her today, I’m sure it’s her. Plus, the way Jonathan treats her is a dead giveaway. Those two have been close for years. Surely you’ve seen them in the papers.” His eyebrows raise, like I’d be a moron to admit otherwise.
And I have seen Charlotte James’s name paired with Jonathan’s. Or at least his stage name, Jonny B. I remember Gabby talking about them last year before she dropped out. Something about being annoyed that the press kept making it seem like he was going to get together with Charlotte when they’ve always been like brother and sister.
I look closely at Charlie, watching the way she’s interacting with Gabby and Jonathan. He stands and hugs her again, leaning down to say something in her ear. Gabby watches them, a smile on her face. No trace of jealousy. Like she knows their relationship is close and approves of it. Meaning it’s no threat to her. Like Jonathan and Charlie are like siblings.
Jonathan’s eyes meet mine as he releases Charlie from their hug. He says something else, and she whips around, her face panicky before her expression shutters behind that mask I hate. Now more than ever. Because I saw that panic, and I want to know what it means. Why is she panicking? Because she’s worried I’m finding out the truth?
I bend my arm, bringing my glass to my numb lips. Swallowing hard, I never take my eyes off Charlie as she says something to Jonathan and Gabby and starts making her way across the room.
“So how do you know Charlotte James?” I manage to keep my voice calm as I ask the question, and my companion doesn’t seem to notice that anything is amiss.
“Oh, we dated for a while. Nothing serious. Something our publicists set up. Is that how you got this date with her?” He asks the question like he’s asking what I thought of the cake. Normal small talk.
I move my head, a single gesture of denial. “No. In fact, I asked her to come with me.”
He lets out a low whistle of appreciation and claps me on the shoulder. “Good for you, man. Just being photographed with her helped my career, getting me more attention, which meant more album sales and more radio play. Hopefully you’ll get the same kind of boost.” His smug congratulatory demeanor changes as Charlie approaches, and a smooth smile takes over his face. The transformation from self-important blowhard to unctuous schmoozer happens before my eyes.
He holds out a hand to Charlie, who comes to my side, her arm sliding around my waist. “Charlotte. So good to see you again.”
I look down at her, wondering how she’ll react to this guy. Say she doesn’t know him? Tell him her name’s Charlie? But I know that Charlie is short for Charlotte. She’s told me that. Her full name is Charlotte Baxter.
She glances at me, that false smile on her lips, her eyes scanning my face. Whatever she sees must help her make her decision, because she turns back to the guy holding her other hand. “Sam. So good to see you. How have you been?”
“Great,” he gushes, his other hand now covering hers, as though to hold her in place. “You helped me out so much last year. Thank you for that.”
She lets out a soft laugh, gently trying to tug her hand out from between his. “Don’t mention it. You also helped quash the rumors that I was getting together with Jonny B. As we all can see, nothing could have been further from the truth. I don’t like being the source of my friends’ distress, so being seen with another guy helped take the attention off him and I together.”
“It was my pleasure,” he says, placing a kiss on the back of her hand before finally releasing it.
I grind my teeth together to keep myself from blowing up. She knows him. She dated him.
