Man Detox: A Novel Page 3
“Looking forward to finding out more. Pick you up from your resort tomorrow?”
This wasn’t good. Irene was already late for the rehearsal activities, and she was on the verge of signing off on an invitation that would take her away from the wedding party. The ceremony wasn’t until 3 PM. In theory, she should be able to make it. She couldn’t possibly say no to him after all that he has done for her, could she?
“Kinda busy tomorrow, but if you insist, I can try to meet. Don’t know what time, though.”
“Yes, I do insist. Let it be known in no uncertain terms.”
Well, that settled it, Irene thought, “Okay, see you soon,” she texted returning the favor of the card message dropped in her purse.
A skimming of the article revealed Ethan Anderson is the CEO of a tech company in the process of filing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), valued at more than ten billion dollars, and another privately held company focused on the health insurance marketplace.
Co-founder of both companies, Ethan was apparently considered to be one of the fastest-rising titans of Silicon Valley, the new hub of astronomical wealth creation. All that accomplished at a tender age of twenty-eight years. She felt small and insignificant by comparison.
That feeling of insignificance was not new. The surgeons on the hospital floor did the same thing to her. Excessively type A and not having any qualm about giving her a hard time, including Dr. Caleb and all the good ones that might have gotten away.
The walk through Customs was more streamlined than Irene anticipated based on her assumption of a decrepit third-world infrastructure, and was soon ushered through the long corridor filled with salespeople advertising timeshare properties and all the promises of a fabulous tropical getaway at low cost.
Lauren had given her explicit warning not to slow down there and go straight through the exit to find the uniformed drivers to take her to the resort. Wouldn’t time share be a nice thing to have, she wondered? She decided she had no time to worry about that now. Already too late and she needed to figure out how to get to her destination
The one major surprise was the humidity as Irene stepped outside the doors. So muggy and sticky, worse than anything she had ever seen before. So much of this trip was turning out to be introductions to other forms of life in the world, away from the safety and predictability of her middle-class life.
It was easy to locate her transportation thanks to the distinct color different company representatives wore. Thank goodness, too, Irene thought, that they spoke English. It was an efficient system for the most part. She imagined most other tropical destinations would have a similar kind of setup. Everything optimized to maximize convenience and facilitate tourism. That didn’t take away from the relief of knowing she had successfully navigated the first stages of her stay in a foreign country.
In a way, the fact that she was here alone, away from her regular life, emboldened her more. More determined to continue on this new challenge she set for herself. Guys have been nothing but a source of trouble and heartbreak and mischief all her life. She had come too far to let her guard down now.
What she would do is assert her own personality, she affirmed to herself again. Irene Harwin, as her individual and whole self, fully capable of deciding what is right for her. She is the master of her fate and the captain of her soul, she said to herself, recalling the famous poem, Invictus.
The resort was a twenty-five minutes’ drive from the airport. On the way, instead of engaging the noisy conversation of other tourists and reading more about Ethan, she decided to text him.
“One question, and you must answer honestly. How did you know about me?”
“Have my ways,” he responded right away.
“I know something about you, too :)” She smiled. The emoticon didn’t do justice to her excitement.
“Do tell.”
“I’d rather keep you in suspense, Ethan ;)”
“I never imagined I’d be this grateful for an accident.”
“Me, too!” she said the words out loud as she typed on her broken phone.
The driver announced arrival at the resort. As the van pulled into the front entrance, the sight of Lauren bubbling with excitement assured Irene it was going to be a fantastic weekend. Putting her phone away in her pocket and hiding the magazine in her purse, she disembarked the van and leaped to hug her best friend of many years, finally happy to start her detox on a good note.
∫---∫
Chapter Four
A spicy mojito in hand, overflowing with the aroma of the tropical rum, Lauren welcomed her friend. Irene was the last of the wedding party to arrive, which had made Lauren worry if there was still lingering feelings between her fiancé and best friend.
They had come a long way since the wild college years. Sure, Tom had kissed Irene before he ever became interested in Lauren. It had taken years of therapy and positive affirmation to believe that Tom had no lingering feelings left for Irene. And yet, seeing Irene had reinvigorated the doubt inside her.
The dark clouds hovering in the distance, determined as they seemed to spoil what was to be a fabulous wedding in the tropical sunshine, had tampered Lauren’s excitement. The wedding rehearsal had been moved indoors, in Lauren’s mind, Tom had clearly not yet shown an ability to understand how big a deal it was to her while he continued obsessing about whether Irene had arrived or not.
So, everything had pretty much been on the verge of breakdown before Irene stepped out of the van into the tropical oasis that felt like a pressure cooker due to its intense humidity.
“I’m sorry I was late. Did I miss anything?”
“Well, where do I start? The weather has been a bitch. Tom has been stubborn. The family is busy enjoying themselves and forgetting all about me. I am running around trying to keep track of who is here and who isn’t.”
“I’m sorry, hun! What can I do to help?”
The two best friends hugged for an extended period of time. Their friendship had grown out of the years they roomed together in college, an equilibrium of two opposite personalities held together by a bond most didn’t understand or appreciate.
“Nothing. I’m so happy you’re here. You freaked me out for a second. What happened?”
Irene started formulating the thought process in her mind. She was late for her flight because of Dr. Caleb’s insistence she scrubs in a complicated surgery when she had already found a substitute to cover for her. Last minute, she had to scrub in with him because he liked to have her on his team. He made it a point to give her a hard time. Much too obvious for all to see, making it extremely uncomfortable for her.
She knew where it was heading. Soon, the proposition will come along. She will either agree to his request or stand her ground. If she were to choose the latter, she knew that might mean a transfer to another division in the hospital and starting all over again.
With less than twenty minutes to pack and an hour to make it to her flight, she had hopped into a taxi no knowing it was careening forward into an accident. Her life was spared somehow, and she happened to run into the god awesome gift of a manly sight.
She missed her flight, but then was magically booked on another flight and upgraded to first class. And all the rest. It was too long a story to talk about without giving the details about Ethan. All she wanted to do was go into her room and open the magazine and…
The tropical breeze, the waves crashing in the vicinity, walkways lined up with floral beds and palm trees had invigorated a romantic sense she had ignored for a long while. It was part of the detox. But that was before Ethan showed up and shook the foundation of that commitment.
“Nothing to worry. It was a crazy mishap.” Irene said, deciding to withhold the details of her adventure.
“Thank god you’re here. Tom has been asking about you nonstop…”
This was a signal, Irene thought. Something wasn’t right. Lauren didn’t talk about Tom in those terms unless they had a fight.
“What’s up?”
“Sshh… Sshhh… Lauren, don’t say that! It’s going to be an amazing wedding! I’m here now. You are the bride. You are supposed to enjoy this weekend. Where are Ann and Emma?”
“I think they are…” Lauren started to tear up. “They are all acting like they are doing me a favor by being here. I mean, this is supposed to be my time. They are here for me, not to chase after guys. They were going crazy last night, I have no idea where they are now…”
Irene took large gulps of the mojito and hugged her friend. This was going to be a dramatic couple of days, and she needed to brace herself for it. The first task was checking in and finding her room, which she did quickly. Lauren tagged along and sat on her bed as Irene tried to unpack the little possessions she brought with her.
“Is that all?” Lauren asked.
“I had almost no time to pack. At least I brought the dresses.”
“Ann’s luggage was delayed and came in this afternoon. I was going crazy here. Who checks in a bag when you know you can’t absolutely lose your luggage? Remember how I explicitly said to put all the dresses in a carryon? Right? I don’t know why nobody listens to me!?”
“It’s alright. It’s here now, isn’t it? You let me take care of everything. Where are the guys?” Irene asked purposefully avoiding the topic of Tom.
“Golfing. Some kind of male bonding. Whatever else they did last night, I mean it’s just crazy. It’s like everyone is going after their own selfish interest instead of trying to spend more time with me… Mom and dad are stressed out like hell about the weather. It’s so stressful. It’s not like I don’t have anything to worry about myself.” Lauren said, with nervous ticks, which made Irene wonder how her friend managed a career as a Lawyer when she was this easily rattled.
“I know. People are selfish, Lauren. You know that, don’t you? You used to say that all the time, remember? Nothing changes. Everyone is here, and we are going to have an awesome time celebrating your wedding. How are Tom’s friends?”
Irene knew Lauren enjoyed talking about hot guys in general and was eager about trying to hook every one of her friends in the hope of discovering their bliss. In this gloomy state, it would be the perfect distraction.
“Oh, my God! You should have been here. You know I don’t know a whole lot about his guy friends, right? Met them a couple of times, all at weddings. They are so sweet, though. I mean, Jared, especially, I am so freaking determined to hook you two up.”
“Slow down, girl! Can’t hook me up with any random guy.”
“But he is so sweet and handsome, and kind of boyish, you know what I mean? It is not an act. I have been studying him. He is clueless in an adorable kind of way. He has a dimple and…”
The wistfulness with which Irene spoke made Irene wonder about something. It wasn’t like Lauren to talk like this.
“Lauren, what’s going on?”
“What? Can’t I say something nice about other guys?” She said, her expression effused with guilt and self-consciousness.
“Oh, my God, Lauren! Don’t tell me you…”
“It was just one time. I mean, I didn’t know anything about him. I don’t know, it’s crazy. I swear. It was the last wedding we went to. I left Tom to get my coat from the walk in closet. Jared walks in unannounced, and he grabs me and… I swear, I didn’t ask for it. I couldn’t stop him. He was incredible… I mean, he kissed me so freaking good before I knew it we were on the floor in the locked closet… I had no idea he was that close to Tom…”
“Are you kidding me, Lauren? How can you do that?”
“I was drunk. I didn’t know what was happening. Plus Tom and I had a fight about a stupid dance just before then, and I was trying to get away. You know how he hates to dance? I wasn’t myself. But it was one time. I hadn’t seen him until like two days ago. I know it was wrong. He knows it was wrong, I think.”
“Does Tom know about this?”
“I didn’t tell him. You know how he would blow everything out of proportion… I mean, I am not about to destroy my life for one mistake. It’s not fair.”
“This is crazy, Lauren. I mean, how can he agree to be the best man knowing what he did?”
“I didn’t tell you exactly for this reason. I thought you of all people would understand me.”
“Who else knows?”
“No one. You and mom.”
“If it were up to me, I would tell Tom about it. If he finds out you have been hiding this from him, he won’t take it lightly. That’s all I’m saying. But I am here to support you any way that I can as your good friend.”
Irene now understood what had been behind Lauren’s anxiety leading up to the wedding. This was more drama than she signed up for, but it was also the burden of friendship.
“See, why I think you should hook up with Jared? Maid of honor and best man, it’d be perfect. Plus I won’t have to worry about him doing anything crazy. I know he’d fall head over heels for you, as every guy has done until now, it’s just that you don’t know the gift you have, Irene. You act all clueless about it, and you don’t know how it sucks to feel like someone settled for you…”
More tears and consolations would mark the rest of the hours until wedding rehearsal. Lauren was understandably worried, and Irene thought it was her responsibility to calm her friend down and get her through the wedding.
Was she colluding in doing something unthinkable now that she learned about the secret Lauren had kept from her fiancé? This immediate concern was sufficient basis for Irene’s own adventure to be deprioritized for now.
In the intervening period between arrival and the gathering inside a modest sized hall, they spent time walking around the resort with drinks in hand and flannel summer dress. It was an ideal vacation atmosphere outside of the drizzling rain.
When they walked into the rehearsal hall, the two of them were the first to arrive from the wedding party. Irene did her best to calm Lauren down. The men came together with the two girls who had been hard to get a hold of, giggling about something.
“You are all late!” Lauren berated them.
“Sorry, honey. Got caught up at the bar with the guys,” Tom leaned in and kissed Lauren on the lips.
“And welcome to you, stranger,” a gentle admonishing to Irene before kissing her on her cheek. It felt wrong and indecent, but also good at the same time. It had been a while since a guy kissed her anywhere.
Ann and Emma were the same old girls Irene had barely known in college, but tolerated because they were friends with Lauren. They giggled and spoke as if they were still in school, with an exaggerated Californian accent. They were both wearing bikinis, barely leaving anything for imagination.
Jared was every bit as charming and handsome as Lauren had warned. Joe, the second man, was short and stocky. He seemed agreeable, but certainly not Irene’s type. David, the last in the wedding party was quiet, understated and married, judging by the relatively large wedding band he was wearing.
It was immediately clear to Irene Jared had the undivided attention of Ann and Emma with Joe trying to wedge himself in the dynamic. She was already self-conscious seeing how aggressively Lauren was touting about their friendship in front of the group, which had the effect of triggering Jared’s uncomfortable stare.
Tom didn’t look as energetic as Irene remembered him to be as a multi-sport athlete. He was the first guy to kiss her in college, leaving her confused and destroyed from a crush that took her more than a semester to overcome.
Here she was in the middle of a chaotic situation wondering how everything might turn out. This wasn’t the place for a man detox any way she looked at it. If anything, the situation was setting up to be one of man-trouble all around, and her secret adventure was only beginning to take shape.
∫---∫
Chapter Five
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�Don’t go, please,” Lauren begged Irene at the end of the fifteen minutes rehearsal, which had gone without a hitch.
The only concern had been whether the weather would cooperate or not. The next day was going to be quite eventful. Lunch with the wedding party was slated to start at 1 PM, followed by preparation for the wedding and picture taking, and the actual ceremony. It was abundantly clear it was going to be a big problem for Irene. Could she bring herself to skip the lunch in favor of meeting Ethan?
“I want everyone to hang out together. This is the day before my wedding…” The suggestion has been for the girls to have a night of celebration away from the guys, which Ann and Emma weren’t particularly pleased about.
“Can’t we just hang out together? It’s not like the guys are going anywhere, right?” Ann said, loudly enough to be heard by the whole group.
“That’d be great. I know Jared here is anxious to get to the club,” Tom interjected.
Irene could see the disappointment on Lauren’s face. Torn between siding with the majority of the group and spending the rest of the evening hearing Lauren pout about her supposedly terrible fortune, Irene decided to add her vote to the group.
“I say it’s time to get to know one another,” Jared said. With those words, it was as if he spoke for everyone. Tom took Lauren by the side and had some kind of talk, soon enough, Lauren was plenty excited to join in the celebration.
First, a stop at the poolside bar where shots of vodka and tequila were consumed briskly. From there, a walk to the Club Violet along the winding walkway fitting of romance, softly lit by the overhead full moon. As the group headed forward, accompanied by jokes and laughter, Irene wondered if there would come a time when she would share this kind of moment with someone. Who could it be? At that moment, Jared, with his boyish exuberance and the half buttoned shirt, was closer to reality than the vision of Ethan that was so burned in her imagination only a few hours prior.
Jared didn’t wait until they went past the entrance of the club to start dancing, and the other two girls followed right behind.