Chapter 14

Alex sits at the bar and keeps his eye on the opposite end of the room. He can’t hear anything. He notices Charlotte’s nervous habits. The way she bites her thumbnail and grasps at the fabric of her dress. Mel leans back in her chair, most of her legs exposed, holding Toby’s leash. It’s hard to make out her expression but she appears to be grinning.

Then, he watches Charlotte move forward. Their lips meet. He expects them to separate after a peck. They don’t. It doesn’t seem like their lips part, but he can’t tell for sure. He sees them hold themselves together, and Charlotte’s body goes rapidly from stiff to loose. The energy shifts from nervous to intimate. Mel puts her arms around Charlotte’s shoulders.

“I’ve seen that kiss before.” Lily’s voice interrupts Alex’s train of thought. He looks behind him to see her. “That there is the kiss of a girl who just figured out she likes girls. And it ain’t gonna be the last.”

Alex would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t feel jealous at all. But it’s only a trivial feeling, because he knows how important Mel is to Charlotte, so to see them intimately together doesn’t make him nervous. He knows he should have more thoughts, more concerns about the woman he’s about to marry suddenly showing signs of arousal in the arms of a stranger. But instead, his mind goes quiet, save for one sentence shouting itself over and over: My girlfriend is so hot.

Charlotte and Mel finally break, and Charlotte stands motionless, breathing heavily, before looking back towards Alex. She’s deeply red, and she comes bounding towards him, her dress flowing and the slit exposing her whole leg. She leaps onto his lap and pulls him in for a ferocious kiss. Her tongue dances with his and her hand wraps into his hair, reminding both him and herself that whoever else she may share a moment with, she only wants him.

“Holy shit, Alex.” Her forehead rests against his. Her eyes are still closed. “I can’t believe I just did that.” Her lips forcefully meet his again. She kisses him like she lovingly owns him and wants to show it.

The kiss might make the whole world disappear if not for the sudden silence. The band stops and conversations vanish. Charlotte catches a glance at a mirror, seeing herself on Alex’s lap with the crowd gone. And then, she sees the people again, on all sides of her, all watching Minerva in her bright green ball gown tap her glass on the stage.

“A toast?” Charlotte asks.

Minerva clears her throat. Her tone is suddenly bright and she raises a glass. “Welcome to Lotus Valley.” The crowd roars, and behind her, the drummer starts a drumroll. She waits until she has their attention again. “Well, what does everyone think of 1926? Emily, do you remember, was it in May, when you and Felix first came here? And the things you did during your first party?”

“He still hasn’t been able to sit down right,” responds a female voice, to much laughter.

Minerva continues. “There was also that blizzard. Raise your hand if you were amongst the ones snowed in.” About half the crowd raises their hands. “Nobody ever say what we did to survive.” Another round of laughs runs through the crowd. Her monotony has suddenly transformed into a sense of humor and an emotional warmth. Charlotte’s heart moves. She sees nothing of the heartbroken woman she spoke to in the bathtub.