Avoiding Commitment (12 page)

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

They set off for the twenty minute drive out
of town. A vast array of music filtered through the speakers. Lexi
hummed along to what was playing as they pulled up to the gate of
the Club.

After being cleared by the overweight
security guard, they drove past the million dollar homes and around
the immaculate eighteen-hole golf course to a mansion of a Club
House. Jack parked his car into an available slot between a BMV SUV
and a tiny Mercedes convertible. Sauntering past the other
meticulously detailed luxury vehicles, they made their way towards
the daunting Club House.

Lexi took in the massive arching entranceway
and polished marble floors as her heels clicked noisily across the
surface. The room was over-air conditioned, and smelled strongly of
flowers. When she glanced around, she realized why. Hundreds of
flowers of various types and colors were scattered in prearranged
vases all around the entranceway. Lexi didn’t remember that from
the last time she had been there, and didn’t much like it either.
The whole thing made her want to sneeze.

She followed Jack through the foyer and up to
the receptionist seated behind a desk large enough to swallow her
whole and covered with similar vases brimming with carnations,
lilies, and tulips.

As they approached, the aroma grew stronger
and she did sneeze this time. Jack touched her arm briefly, smiling
in her direction. After Jack announced their presence, he ushered
her down the hall towards the colossal dining hall. Lexi glanced
around her at the couples sitting in overstuffed arm chairs sipping
on tea and reading the newspaper. She scoffed and several heads
swiveled to get a look at the interruption. She skittered down the
hall after Jack. Her hand instinctively went to her hair and began
threading it behind her ear repeatedly.

Jack looked over at her and stopped moving.
She took a few more steps before recognizing that he wasn’t
alongside her anymore. “What?” she asked turning to face him.

“Don’t be nervous,” he said taking her hands
away from her hair.

“Oh yeah, well, I’ll work on that.”

“There’s no need to be nervous.”

Lexi shrugged not wanting to have this
conversation in public. “I’m going to go to the restroom,” she said
seeing the blue sign behind his head.

“Alright, do you want me to wait?” Lexi shook
her head, anxious to be alone and calm. “You’ll be able to find
me?”

“No problem,” she said making a beeline
towards sanctuary.

After about five minutes staring
apprehensively at herself in the mirror, Lexi figured it was about
time to get out of there. When she walked out, she was caught off
guard by the man standing just outside of the bathroom talking to a
woman who couldn’t be a day under eighty. Lexi assessed the
gorgeous specimen standing in front of her. She was quite certain
he had one of the tightest asses she had ever seen. The suit he
wore was obviously tailored for his build. An extremely muscular
build, if she did say so herself. She figured he had to work out
with a personal trainer…daily. His hair was a sandy blonde. Not
that ugly highlighted look that so many guys were sporting, but a
color that seemed infused with sunlight as if he lived at the
beach.

A look of disdain quickly crossed her face as
realization hit her. It was pretty obvious that he was just another
asshole country clubber like every other person here. Of course he
was handsome. They bred them that way. His incredibly amazing
physique was likely mandatory. His blonde hair doubtlessly
was
from the beach. No. Now that she thought about it, he
probably owned the beach!

She crossed her arms uncomfortably. Whoever
this guy was she already didn’t like him. There was no way he had a
personality. Last time she had been here, Jennifer had been the
closest thing to a human being in the establishment, and God
that
was saying something. Just as she began to move away
from the attractive man in front of her, he finished his
conversation and turned around nearly knocking Lexi over.

“Oh, sorry. Excuse me,” he said reaching out
to steady her.

“No problem,” she said coldly, backing up a
step out of his comforting grasp. Her dark brown eyes shifted up to
his extremely handsome, apologetic face. He really looked
concerned. Strange. She turned away from his strong jaw line and
high cheek bones, ignoring his expression. When he didn’t seem to
get the hint, she returned her gaze to his face. “Yeah?” she asked
rudely.

“Uh…sorry…do I know you?” he skeptically
asked, his eyes roaming her face.

Lexi rolled her eyes. Was he really playing
this game? That had to be the most overused line ever. Why would
she know him? “Um…no, I don’t think so,” she said diverting her
attention again. “I have to get to brunch.” Lexi attempted to
side-step him, but he cut off her path.

“No really, I think I know you from
somewhere.”

“You’re in my way,” she pointed out to him.
She couldn’t help how rude she was being. She wasn’t really sure
why he was eliciting such a reaction either. It’s not like he had
been rude to her, but Lexi didn’t want to give him the chance.

“Oh yeah, sorry, but really we’ve met
before.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Have you ever been here before? I think it
was here. Actually, I’m almost certain it was here.”

“Just once a long time ago, but really I need
to leave, and you’ve blocked my path.” Lexi didn’t want to have
this conversation. She didn’t want to remember anyone she might
have met that day when she had come with Jennifer.

“Okay, yeah, I definitely remember you now,”
he said cheerfully. “You came with one of my sister’s friends. But
she wasn’t here, of course. I mean you wouldn’t know that. My
sister went to Duke. So she wasn’t here. Which I already said. But
you were here with her friend, I’m pretty sure. And man, she’s
really annoying.” Lexi looked back up at him skeptically. Had he
just called Jennifer annoying? Of course, Lexi thought Jennifer was
annoying, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to think that.
“Oh no,” he said staring down at her apologetically, “I mean she’s
your friend. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” She stared at
him longer unable to believe what she was hearing. This guy was
babbling. She was certain there was an unwritten rule somewhere
preventing this from happening. “Wow, this isn’t coming out right
at all.”

Lexi looked up at him incredulously. “Right
then, I’m going to go,” she said attempting to dodge him again.

“Oh right,” he said seeming to step out of
her way, but only blocking her path further. She sighed heavily,
stepping in the opposite direction. He had the same idea and moved
in front of her once again. He laughed heartily. Probably a little
too loud for the environment. The people she had been attempting to
remain invisible from turned in their direction and began staring.
She cringed and pushed her hair behind her ears.

“Okay, stop,” Lexi commanded, reaching out
and grabbing his arm to prevent him from moving farther. “I’m going
to go right. Just…don’t move.”

“Who are you here with?” he asked, ignoring
her demand.

“That’s none of your business,” she snapped,
extracting her hand from his suit.

“You’re right,” he said sheepishly. “It’s
just I don’t know if you remember me, which I guess you don’t, but
I remember you.”

She wasn’t sure what that meant and didn’t
plan on finding out. “That’s great,” she stated sarcastically.

“Is Jennifer here?” he asked glancing over
her shoulder to see if Jennifer was about to appear at her
side.

“I don’t know, but I’ll send her your way if
I find her.”

“So, you didn’t come here with Jennifer
then?” he asked. She flinched, realizing that she had
unintentionally given away a piece of information.

“No, I didn’t. What’s it to you anyway?” Lexi
demanded getting more flustered the longer she stood in front of
him.

“I’m just curious about you is all. You’ve
been here before, and you came back,” he said in disbelief. “That
never happens.”

“Right, well, I see that I’m a fantastic
spectacle for you to wonder about, but once again, you are in my
way. I’m going to be late for brunch, and frankly, I’m starving.”
Not to mention she was sure to be humiliated if she arrived a
second behind schedule.

“Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about that,” he
said, bringing his hand up and scratching the back of his head
thoughtfully.

“Well, I haven’t. So…yeah…nice meeting you,”
Lexi said offhandedly, finally getting herself around his solid
figure.

“But you didn’t. I didn’t even tell you my
name or get yours for that matter.”

Lexi turned letting her loose curls trail
down her back. “That’s alright. I’ve survived this long without
it.” He walked forward towards her. “What are you doing?” she asked
throwing her hand out to stop him from walking further.

“I can escort you to your seat,” he offered,
his perfectly straight white teeth appeared as he smiled brightly
at her.

“Absolutely not.”

“Do you even know where you are going?”

“
You
don’t know where I’m going,” she
reminded him. “And I’m sure I can find my way just fine, thank
you.” She took another step forward and he followed her. She
clenched her fists. “Jesus, why don’t you back off?” she exclaimed
raising her voice for the first time. She regretted her actions
almost instantly. The obnoxious middle aged members, who had only
been half-listening to their conversation, now went silent and
turned their full attention to her, making her cheeks burn bright
red. It didn’t help that she had taken the Lord’s name in vain in
the Bible belt. Goddamn it, New York had changed her! She took
three calming breaths before glancing back up at him and smiling
through gritted teeth.

His smile had never wavered. Country Club
manners through and through. “Well, if you are sure I can’t be of
any assistance, I’ll just let you find your own way,” he said
politely.

Lexi watched him purposely walk off in the
opposite direction. Clenching and unclenching her hands several
times calmed her down enough to allow her to search for Jack. To be
honest, she had no idea where to begin. She should have let that
guy help her. But after he had been so goddamn pushy, all she
wanted to do was get away. She searched around unsuccessfully
before noticing Jack quickly approaching her.

“Where have you been?” he asked concerned and
a little annoyed.

“I ran into someone and they wouldn’t stop
talking to me,” she complained.

“Well, let’s hurry up. We should get in there
before they start taking orders,” he said smiling down on her, his
annoyance dissipating the longer he remained in her presence.

Her throat caught as his hand rested gently
on her elbow and nudged her in the appropriate direction. She had
wanted things to be like this for so long. It hurt to know that the
only reason she was here, the only reason he was even talking to
her, was because of his girlfriend. His perfect girlfriend whom he
intended to marry. His perfect girlfriend that she was about to
meet. She sighed, mentally preparing herself, and followed his lead
into a side room with a large gold plaque labeled Anderson,
Bridges, and C. Brown.

The dining room that Lexi entered opened onto
a balcony overlooking the ninth hole fairway. Cream-colored walls
and blue patterned carpet decorated the large space. Three elegant
oak tables filled the area with matching cushioned chairs placed
around them. Nearly all the seats were occupied, and roughly thirty
people glanced up from their prearranged silverware to stare at
Jack and Lexi as they entered the room. Lexi smiled repentantly and
ambled after Jack to their assigned seats.

“Sorry we took so long,” Jack said taking his
seat across from his girlfriend.

“Uh...hi,” Lexi said adding a tiny wave
before scooting into her seat and tucking her dress underneath
her.

Lexi pulled her eyes from the table and let
them rest on Bekah. She knew that she didn’t like her as soon as
Lexi laid eyes on her. Bekah was definitely beautiful in a
cookie-cutter sort of way. The pin-straight blond hair, Lexi had
predicted she would have, was all one length cut to the middle of
her back. Chunky bangs covered her forehead. Big blue eyes popped
out from Bekah’s naturally beautiful face which was hardly tainted
by make-up. Lexi felt sick upon realizing that Bekah had as nearly
flawless skin as Chyna. Her pale yellow, square-cut sundress was
modest yet fashionable all the while accentuating her best
features. Eleven millimeter white pearls dangled from her earlobes
and matched the thin chain of pearls draped across her neck. What
bothered Lexi the most wasn’t that she knew that this woman was one
hundred percent Jack’s type, but rather that she had something that
Lexi had never appeared to have.

Innocence.

Okay, to be fair, Bekah probably wasn’t all
that innocent either. After all, she was dating
Jack
. But
she sure as hell gave off the appearance. Lexi, on the other hand,
had never given off that appearance. Something about Lexi’s dark,
tangled, curly hair, the way her eyes looked smoky without make-up,
the way her characteristically bold personality tended to
intimidate strangers, and the way she almost always felt completely
comfortable in her body gave off the impression not that she was
easy, but certainly that she was
not
innocent.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Bekah said. A row
of brilliant, white teeth were revealed as she smiled across the
table from her. Something in that smile held a secret. She had no
idea what it was. But when she looked upon her full for the first
time, Bekah looked at her as if she had seen her before…as if some
light bulb of recognition had just gone off in her mind.