Eastern Lights (Compass 2)

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I’m sure you have better things you could be doing, more important things.”

I didn’t say a word. It was clear she was feeling lost, abandoned, alone, and I knew if it were me, I’d hate to be by myself. So I refused to leave her there on her own. I saw it in her eyes each time she told me I could go, a small hope that I’d choose to stay. She just needed one person who wouldn’t walk out on her that afternoon. Therefore, I stayed.

Her knees were bent and pulled into her chest as she hugged them, staring forward into the distance. “The reception would be starting right now,” she whispered. “There would be music, and dancing, and happiness…wine. Gosh, I could go for some wine. Couldn’t you go for some wine?” she asked, tilting her head in my direction. Her eyes were bloodshot, puffy, and covered in mascara.

I didn’t reply.

She hopped up. “I think I’ll go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“To the reception.”

“What?”

She nodded her head, obviously in a state of shock because she was talking insane. “Yeah, you know…just to check it out.”

“What? No. That’s crazy.”

“Yeah, it is. Can you drive me?”

“Huh? No,” I flatly stated. “Of course I won’t drive you there.”

“But earlier, you said you’d drive me anywhere I wanted to go. You swore you would.”

Women and their impeccable memories.

“I don’t think that’s a healthy choice…”

“But it’s a choice, and I’m sure you’re sick of sitting here, so we should go there.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Connor.”

“What?”

I looked at her eyes and the roundness of her shoulders, and she gave me the most pathetic puppy-dog-Sarah-McLachlan-commercial-eyes. “Please?”

For Christ’s sake.

“Fine. Just go change out of your dress.”

She gathered up her ridiculously long train in her arms and started full speed ahead. “Nope, no time. Let’s go.”

14

Aaliyah

Everything was perfect, from the gold vase centerpieces filled with roses to the floodlights used to make the dance floor shine. The place settings were beyond stunning, and the dessert table held all of my favorite things.

Brownies.

Cookies.

Lemon bars.

A cake that took my breath away. Gold ribbons dancing across the tiers of fondant, the letters J and A written in the most beautiful frosting. One layer was red velvet another deep chocolate. His favorite flavor and mine…

All of it was perfect, a reception built for a forever kind of love story, and all of the workers were tearing it down. How was I ever going to be okay after this?

I stood frozen in the doorway as Connor stayed near me, staring as they all took the pieces away. My chest tightened as two individuals were about to recklessly place the fifty-pound masterpiece onto a cart with wobbly wheels. They’d probably push the cake into the back room, grab a fork, and dive in like animals.

“Wait! No!” I shouted, rushing into the space with my long train following me. “Don’t touch that!”

They turned to me with narrowed eyes. They looked like dang teenagers, obviously too young to be handling such a prize. “Uh, what?” one muttered.

“I said don’t touch that cake!” I probably looked wild in the eyes because I felt completely wild in my heart. “Don’t move it.” I turned toward the other caterers and ordered them to stop breaking down the place settings. I shouted for the DJ to stop unplugging his equipment. I cried for the bartender to stop wiping everything down.

I just needed the perfect room to stay that way for a little bit longer.

“Aaliyah…” Connor’s voice was low and sad. Not his normal sad but a new kind of sad for me.

I cringed at the sound. It’s worrisome when Eeyore feels bad for you.

I must’ve looked crazed.

“Connor, make them stop. Please. I just—make them stop. Make them stop,” I pleaded, staring his way as if he was my only ally.

“They have to do their job…”

I took a deep breath and swallowed hard as tears began to fall down my face. “I just need more time.”

He narrowed his eyes. He didn’t understand me. He didn’t know where my irrational emotions were coming from. If there was anything Connor didn’t understand, it was others’ emotions. He never stayed around long enough to witness them.

“You’re being unreasonable,” he told me. Not rudely, just matter-of-factly. It seemed Connor didn’t have a rude bone in his body.

“I know, but please.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, and defeat deflated his shoulders as he turned to the crew. “Leave everything as it is,” he told them.

“But sir, we were ordered—”

“Everything is paid for,” Connor said quickly. “The room, the time, your services. So the least you can do is let the bride partake in the festivities.”

“But…she’s not a bride,” another said. “The wedding was called off.”

She’s not a bride…

I hadn’t known words could sting until I heard those ones fall against my eardrums.

Connor gave that individual a look and then narrowed his eyes. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I’ll pay you each three hundred dollars to continue the reception activities.”