Imperfections (2 page)

"I can't wait to tell you, Cat; you and everyone else!"

"You mean no one else knows why you're beaming like a one hundred-watt light bulb?"

"No, we wanted it to be a surprise."

"We?" Before I can ask who "we" are, the doorbell rings again. "Is everyone coming over to welcome me home tonight? Give me your coats I'll hang them in the closet while I get the door. You can get Mom and Dad from the kitchen and get everyone together so we can all hear about this surprise." I walk out of the living room, pull the door in a little and open the closet door. Putting the coats in I ask, "Who is it?" I get a welcome surprise from the other side of the door in the form of a deep, rich, smooth voice.

"It's Nick."

I run as fast as I can to the door in my three-inch heels and jerk the door open.

"What are you doing here? Your e-mail said you weren't going to be able to come over tonight."  I smile up at him and he's staring at me like he's never seen me before. He grabs me and pulls me into his arms. I throw my arms around his neck as he lifts me off the ground. He smells so good, like I remember, maybe even better. A clean, crisp, fresh scent, all male and sexy. I missed that too.

"Kitty Cat…I would never miss your homecoming," he whispers in my ear as he slowly lets me slide down his body. Smiling at me, his hand reaches up and gently tugs on one of the curls lying on my shoulder. "I'm glad you're back, I missed you. Don't stay away that long again."

He looks even better than I remember; six one, black hair, full lips that are totally kissable and grayish-blue eyes that are so intense at times. After all these years I still can't figure it out, his eyes are just hauntingly beautiful to me. And a smile you can't resist.

Damn, it's cold out here. I don't remember it being this cold earlier this evening. Good thing I don't have to look for a parking spot. Every time I walk up these stairs it brings me back to being a kid again. Some days I spent more time here than at my own house. My mother used to say, "Nicholas, are you going to your second home again? Tell your other mother I said hello." She always thought that joke was funny. I would smile and say, "Mom, you know I love you. I'll tell Mom number two if I see her you said what's up."

I ring the bell and wait. I can't believe Catherine's back for good. When she texted me and told me, I thought she was joking. Since she left New York we don't talk as much as we used to. We might e-mail and text each other once in a while but it's nothing like when she lived here. We would hang—at my apartment or go to lunch—least two or three times a week. Hit the clubs with some of her friends and mine including her brother but sometimes she didn't like that.

If she had more than two drinks or a guy kept coming on too strong, Chris always stepped in to let the guy know it was time to back off. Then he would lecture her about keeping her mind clear and that would put a stop to any idea she had about having a third drink. It used to bother me if a guy was all up in her face with his hands on her. At times I wanted to step in and say something to whichever guy was all over her but I knew she wouldn't like that. As long as they kept their hands to themselves and she didn't even think about leaving with any of them, I was cool.

The door opens and there she is. Looking like I've never seen her look before. Her hair was usually long and shiny straight down to the middle of her back with bangs. No bangs tonight, now it's parted in the middle with soft bouncing shoulder-length curls. I like it. Now you can see her almond-shaped warm light brown eyes better, her long eyelashes and perfectly arched eyebrows. Delicately high cheekbones, cute little straight nose, full pouty lips, heart- shaped face with a barely noticeable amount of makeup and shiny lip gloss. Damn, I missed her.

She used to be about ten pounds lighter, now she looks about one twenty-eight. I like it. The extra weight looks good on her, especially in this dress. Her smile is exactly how I remembered it, beautiful. I pull her into my arms and hold her; I hadn't realized how much I missed her. I hear Chris's voice as I'm taking my hand away from Cat's hair.

"Dude, you were out there for a while, how long does it take to park a car? It can't be that hard for you, you're one of the top lawyers in New York."

"I had to take an important call from one of my clients."

"Get in here, man, you two have all night to talk. Your girl's about to tell us something, she has everyone in the living room for some big announcement."

Shit, this fucking girl, I hope she isn't going to do what I think she's going to do. I should have told Cat about us but I didn't know how she was going to react…yes, I do, that's why I didn't tell her. Why tell her if she wasn't coming back? It would only have upset her. Then Kate tells me this shit days before Cat tells me she's coming back from Canada to live in New York.

I turn around when I hear Chris's voice. What does he mean by "your girl?" Since when has Kate been Nick's girl? The only time they used to talk is if they happened to see each other when he came over to the house. When we were kids they barely said two words to each other and those two words were hi and bye.

The three of us walk into the living room together like when we were kids. Chris on my left and Nick on my right. Everyone in the room except for Kate and my parents is sitting down. Kate is standing in the middle of the room with a smile plastered across her face and my mom and dad are standing next to her. I wonder what the surprise could be. By the look on my parents' face, they're wondering the same thing. Kate looks at me standing across from her and I smile back.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make."

Across the room from her to her right, Jay says, "We know that, cut the suspense. What is it?"

Everyone laughs and I look up at Nick standing as still as can be next to me and he's just smiling, looking at Kate.

"I'm getting married! Nick and I are engaged! Surprise!"

In the amount of time she takes to say those words I go through ten different emotions and the biggest one is a shocked, WTF did she just say?

It is a surreal experience. It's like I'm floating out of my body and watching the whole scene. Like, what the fuck just happened here, am I hearing right? I don't even see when Nick walks away to stand next to Kate. Everyone is smiling and congratulating the happy couple. My mother's beaming from ear to ear and my father and brothers are shaking Nick's hand. Someone takes out a bottle of Rose Moet Champagne. It's flowing everywhere in crystal flutes. I see Chris look at me and I make my way over to the newly engaged couple. I put a smile on my face looking at Kate then at Nick and tell them, "Congratulations."

I lean in to kiss my sister on the cheek. "So when's the big day?" Kate starts talking and puts her left hand on Nick's right arm.

"We're not sure, but I think in January."

"Wow! That soon?" my mom says. "That's only three months away. I think you're going to need more time than that to plan your dream wedding."

Kate lets go of Nick's arm and places her hand in my mother's. "Don't worry, Mom, I have it all under control. Planning things like this on short notice is what I do for a living."

"I remember when you were little and you had your wedding all planned out from the roses down to the dinner menu. You would get dressed up in your white satin dress and pretend to walk down the aisle. You were beautiful then and I'm sure you are going to be even more beautiful now. Now that I think about it, you probably already know exactly what you want. You always knew what you wanted. If anyone can pull off the most fabulous wedding in such a short time, it would be you."

Kate gives her a kiss on the cheek and lets go of her hands. Mom looks at Nick with a smile still on her face. "You were here so much when you and Chris were younger it was like I had a fifth child, but now it's going to be official. I have to call your mother so the four of us can go out to lunch."

"Thank you, Mrs. Reed, she'll like that."

I can't stand this want-to-be Norman Rockwell painting come to life anymore. "Excuse me, guys, I'm going to get a glass of champagne, I'll be right back." Not if I can help it I won't. The forced smile slides away from my face. I walk toward the kitchen picking up a glass of champagne from the table and finish it off in one shot. I was never much of a drinker but if there was ever a night to start it would certainly be tonight without a doubt. It's a night of one too many surprises. I can't wait till it's over. I hate surprises!

At this point my mind is blank. I have nothing to say, I'm just trying to hold it together. I go into the kitchen, take a cold beer out of the fridge, and walk over to the counter. I lick my lips, put my bottle on the marble counter top, close my eyes and let out a deep breath. I open my eyes then open my beer taking a long drink, feeling it slide down my throat cool and wet. I lean against the counter with one hand down on the cold hard marble putting the bottle down on the counter. I don't even know what to feel. There's a tightness in my chest. I push myself back off the counter, take my bottle of beer and slowly walk to the stairs in the kitchen that leads me to my old room. Maybe I'll find an old Mary J Blige CD "My Life", "My Life", "My Life". It might tell me how to feel.

I'm standing next to Cat and she's staring at Kate and the smile on her face is gone. She doesn't even look at me. I walk over to Kate, give her a quick smile for everyone to see, and stand next to her. What I really want to do is drag her out of this room and wring her neck.

Everyone in the room is smiling and congratulating us. I should have told Cat; this is not the way I wanted her to find out, in a room full of people—her family. The look on her face is unreadable, she's standing as still as a statue except for the deep steady breaths she's taking. I can tell by the rise and fall of her chest she's upset. Jay comes over to shake my hand.

"Congrats, soon-to-be brother-in-law, this was unexpected. When did it happen?"

"About three weeks ago," Kate says for me.

"Man, and she was able to keep news like this to herself for that long? That's a miracle. She's been waiting to get married since the day she was born. I'm happy for you two." He turns to his sister, gives her a kiss on the cheek and hugs her.

"Thanks, Jay, and for your information I can keep a secret."

"I'm sure you can, but you've been waiting for this for years. I thought you would be shouting it from the rooftops the day it happened."

Kate smiles and rolls her eyes, I'm not sure. I think her cheeks turn a little pink when she says, "Be quiet, you guys are making me sound desperate, which I am not."

"You know I love you, I'm only joking. Like I told Nick, I'm happy for you two; hopefully your marriage will last longer than mine. I'm going to get a drink to toast the happy couple."

I need a damn drink myself. I turn to get one and I see Cat move. She walks straight up to us and stands in front of Kate. She doesn't look at me. She has a smile on her face but it doesn't reach her eyes. Being this close to her I can tell it's not real, and anyone who really knows her and looks at her can tell. Her eyes, they always give her emotions away.