Good Men Are Like Unicorns

Chapter 1:2: Don't Do It

Japheth

The only reason I was at the Grand Hotel was for my cousin Garth’s wedding. Normally, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a fancy place like that. I’d somehow gotten roped into being Garth’s best man, and his new, very rich in-laws were putting the whole wedding party up in this ritzy, expensive mountain ski resort for three nights. I had just come from my final fitting, and I was still wearing the damn custom-made suit.

I sure hadn’t put this much expense or effort into my wedding. I’d rented a cheap suit from a men’s shop, and my beautiful young wife had bought her dress at a second-hand boutique. We had set up a pergola by my father’s trout pond, and set out folding chairs for our few family and friends in the grass. We borrowed the folding chairs from the local church, where we also held our pot-luck reception. My aunt Patti had baked our wedding cake as her gift to us. The whole thing, start to finish, cost us $500.

But we were so happy.

Or so I thought.

Thinking about weddings in general, and my failed marriage in particular, was putting me in a foul mood. I needed to go back to my room and put the damn suit away until the rehearsal dinner tomorrow evening. The big event was going to be held on Sunday. However, with my ex-wife on my mind, I somehow found myself wandering toward the bar.

I stepped in and took a moment to let my eyes adjust. Big floor to ceiling windows looked out at the mountain, and the brilliant sunlight glinting off the snow was almost blinding. A long bar was to the right, and small tables and booths were situated around the rest of the space. I was just glancing around casually, trying to decide if I wanted to sit in a booth by myself, or take a stool at the bar, when my eyes fell on the table in the back corner.

I resisted the urge to rub my eyes, because I couldn’t believe what, or rather, who I was seeing. It was like my morose thoughts had conjured her up and brought her to life. I hadn’t seen her in five, long years, but I would know her blindfolded. Her long mahogany hair was twisted up into a fancy bun and held in place by two Chinese hairpins. She wore a crisp black business suit with a skirt. She had kicked her pumps off and had her feet propped on the opposite chair. She might have put on a few pounds, but she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on.

It still hurt to look at her.

Some little voice in my head warned me that I should let it go. I should walk away. But I couldn’t. I took a step closer.

“Hello Regina.”

Her head swiveled toward me, and her brow wrinkled up. I saw her amber-colored eyes widen, both with surprise and recognition.

“Japheth. What are you doing here?”

Nobody called me Japheth, except my granny, and Regina. But I had always loved the way my name rolled off her tongue. It made something go warm and soft in me, even at that present moment.

Don’t do it, that little voice of reason argued. Walk away!

I didn’t. I took three strides closer until I was standing right beside the small round table. “What a surprise to see you here. May I sit down?”

She considered the question a little too long, and then she slowly used her toes to push the chair out in silent welcome. I pulled the spindly thing out and folded my body onto it. “To answer your question, I’m here for a wedding.”

Her plump lips parted in surprise. She set her glass down on the table with a thump. “You are getting married?”

I shook my head, “Nope, not me. My cousin Garth.” I watched her closely. Did it bother her to think I might be getting remarried? Did that mean she still cared, at least a little bit?

I should have kicked myself for entertaining such asinine thoughts. For Christ’s sake, it had been five years.

I saw her shoulders relax slightly. “Oh, Garth. Did he and Lulu finally settle down?”

“Nope. Lulu moved to New Jersey. He’s marrying a lady called Mercedes.”

“Oh,” she hiccupped. “Good for him. I hope they will be very happy.” She lifted her glass and waved it at the bartender.

She didn’t sound happy for my cousin; she sounded a little bitter.

“What about you?” I asked, pretending it was just a casual, by-the-way question. “Have you remarried?”

She laughed, but it wasn’t the musical, joyful sound I remembered. It was more like a harsh, short bark. “No, I haven’t remarried. I don’t have time for relationships.”

“Some things never change,” I grumbled under my breath, just as the waiter arrived to place a fresh, full drink on the table, and take away her empty glass. Luckily, she was distracted by the waiter, I don’t think she heard my comment. She wrapped her lips around the straw and took a long draw of the drink.

“Mmmm, this is really good. Would you like one?”

“No, thank you.”

I’d been thinking about ordering a beer to drown my sorrows in when I stepped into the bar, but now that I had found Regina, the desire to get drunk had fled. I needed to be as clear headed as possible.

It seemed like fate had brought us here. How else could I explain that the two of us had ended up in the same hotel so far from home, on the same day, even in the same bar. It was as though the Universe had purposely thrown us together again.

I never used to believe in that woo woo stuff. Regina was the one who had convinced me otherwise, so many years ago.

“So, what brings you here,” I asked, leaning my elbows on the table so that I could inch closer.

Her lips pulled downward. “Work. North East Region Publishing Conference.” She sighed. “I was a presenter.”

“Oh that sounds–” I searched my head for a polite adjective.

“Boring.” She supplied it for me. “Totally, f.ucking boring.”

She pushed her drink aside and leaned across the table, until we were almost nose to nose. She licked her lips, and my eyes were drawn to the way her pink tongue traced around her sweet mouth.

I still remembered what it was like to taste those lips.

She breathed in deeply, and her eyelashes fluttered. “Japheth…”

“Yes?”

“You smell really good.”