"Thanks." She was beaming with pride when she separated from him and turned to me. I had to give my own obligatory hug, much as I hated it. Try as I might, even after five years of a dead marriage, I still felt jealous when it came to her. I could never be her. Carey would never look at me the same way he looked ather, and that hurt. I clamped my jealousy down and plastered a smile. "Looks like it's going to be a hit."
"This is all your husband's doing." Gemma lightly punched Carey in the arm. "He's the one who suggested we invite bigger celebrities. The committee didn't want to spend more than was necessary, but even they have to admit it's going to be money well spent." Her enthusiasm was infectious. No wonder he liked her. I didn't care about the fundraiser, but suddenly I wanted to see it succeed. Gemma was a tough person to hate and the more Carey and her talked about the event, the less I wanted to be in their presence. That awful feeling of being a third wheel sat in and when I no longer could pretend that I was part of conversation I excused myself.
I scanned my gaze around the room and saw a familiar face. My heart warmed, and I immediately made a beeline towards the only person here who could make me feel good any day. Darcy Watson was fidgeting with the train of her dress with one hand while she balanced a ruby jeweled clutch and a wineglass in the other.
“Need help with that?” She jerked her head up, frowning, then beamed. She dropped her train and spread her arms wide open. “Hey you!” We greeted each other with air kisses. “Where’s the man of the hour?” she looked around and her eyes narrowed when her gaze landed on the Carey and Gemma.
“You don’t keep you man by leaving him to the vultures.”
“The vultures can keep him. I have filed for divorce.” A server passed us and I grabbed a drink from the tray. "As long as they're not making it obvious in public, it's whatever."
Darcy almost spit her drink. “What! When?”
“Last week. He hasn’t signed it, and thinks I am tricking him or whatever.”
“That's…big news. Are you sure about this?”
Carey felt stiff beside me as I held his arm. I wondered what he was thinking. We barely spoke since I presented him with the divorce papers and a week later, he hadn't done or said anything about it. If he was talking to a lawyer, I wouldn't know. He was discreet. He knew better than to act foolish in a matter like this.
"Stop fidgeting," Carey said after another quick glance at my phone.
My gaze went to him. We were still locked arm in arm."I ama not looking forward to staying here all night, just so you know."
"You don't have to stay. You can leave whenever you want."
"Now even?"
He chuckled. "Know your obligations, wife."
"Soon to be ex-wife," I muttered.
He swung me to his side in a sudden move that shocked me until I realized he was sidestepping a waiter with a tray full of glasses. My heart raced and quickly, before I realized it, I had my hand on his chest and my arm around his waist. My cheek rested against his heart and I could hear it beating fast.
"Are you okay." His voice was tender and made my heart clench. I slowly withdrew from his embrace and cleared my throat, shameful for clinging to him like that. I nodded. It should not have felt like this, not after all these years, but here I was feeling shaky at being embraced by him. I was about to thank him when his attention turned away from me. His eyes glinted, and I followed his gaze. As soon as I realized who he was looking at, my stomach dropped.
His girlfriend. He would never admit it, but I knew. They had been seeing each other for the better part of a year now. I shouldn't be mad. It was part of our agreement that we see other people as long as we don't make it obvious. The only problem was that she was too beautiful. Every time I was in her presence, I felt how little I measured up as Carey's wife. She had an easy sophistication I could never pull off, and it sucked toacknowledge why Carey liked her. I watched her as she glided across the room, greeting and hugging people until she saw us.
Gemma waved and waltzed over to us. Better give the lovers space, I thought as I tried to disentangle my hand from Carey's arm, but he held me closer to him until it was too late to leave and not make it seem awkward. "Hi!" Gemma flashed a bright white smile. "I was looking for the two of you. I didn't know you were already here."
Make that one of you. I doubt Gemma cared I was here or not. However, she was very cordial for a mistress and never tried to claim her territory in public. "So what do you think," she said gesturing at the crowd, "quite an attendance don't you think? Kelly thinks this is going to be our biggest yet."
Carey hugged her. "You've really outdone yourself."
"Thanks." She was beaming with pride when she separated from him and turned to me. I had to give my own obligatory hug, much as I hated it. Try as I might, even after five years of a dead marriage, I still felt jealous when it came to her. I could never be her. Carey would never look at me the same way he looked at her, and that hurt. I clamped my jealousy down and plastered a smile. "Looks like it's going to be a hit."
"It's all your husband's doing." Gemma lightly punched Carey in the arm. "He's the one who suggested we invite bigger celebrities. The committee didn't want to spend more than was necessary, but even they have to admit it's going to be money well spent." Her enthusiasm was infectious. No wonder he liked her.
Gemma was a tough person to hate, and the more Carey and she talked about the event, the less I wanted to be in their presence. That awful feeling of being a third wheel sat in and when I no longer could pretend that I was part of conversation I excused myself.
I scanned my gaze around the room and saw a familiar face. My heart warmed, and I immediately made a beeline towards the only person here who could make me feel good any day. Darcy was fidgeting with the train of her dress with one hand while she balanced a ruby jeweled clutch and a wineglass in the other.
“Need help with that?” She jerked her head up, frowning, then beamed. She dropped her train and spread her arms wide open. “Hey you!” We greeted each other with air kisses. “Where’s the man of the hour?” she looked around and her eyes narrowed when her gaze landed on the Carey and Gemma.
“You don’t keep you man by leaving him to the vultures.”
“The vultures can keep him. I have filed for divorce.” A server passed us and I grabbed a drink from the tray. "As long as they're not making it obvious in public, it's whatever."
Darcy almost spit her drink. “What! When?”
