The Last Wife

eleven

• the little party •

The graduation ceremony was a success.

Alex couldn't miss it! He was with me the whole time till I was awarded my certificate. I was a little skeptical about him coming and someone spotting him but hey! This is a big day for me and he's my brother.

A sea of students leave the hall with their loved ones. Alex is walking behind me, saying something about my ass looking a little too big in the red dress.

"Is it plastic?" He asks with a smug grin.

I respond with a glare.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just jealous of that fat ass."

I roll my eyes, finding my way out of the hall.

"Cole!"

I burst with joy when I see him walking towards us, a guitar hanging on his back. He has this huge smile on his face as he pulls me close for a hug. A long hug.

"I've missed you!" He says. "Been trying to reach you for months. How have you been?"

"Great!"

"Sorry for your loss," he says with sympathy.

"My loss?"

"Your husband's death. Saw it on the news a few weeks ago..."

Stupid of me! I keep forgetting that Harvey's death broke the news and that my face is all over the place now. I'm a little embarrassed, wondering what Cole must think of me now... his best friend's girlfriend marrying an old and wealthy tycoon.

"I don't know your relationship with your husband well," he goes on. "But I know that dealing with someone's death is not easy. Reed taught me that."

A frown sweeps across his face, his eyes filled with sadness.

"How's Erik by the way?"

"Erik?" I force a laugh. "Why would you ask me about Erik? We broke up months ago."

"I know. But I also know that you work at the same company and he's the head of Ford Fird now."

"I see that you've been keeping up..."

"Because I miss you all!" He sighs. "You and Erik and Reed! I really wish she was here... I miss her..."

He's clearly still grieving the loss of his girlfriend. I miss Reed too. She should be here with us...

It gets a little tense when Alex cuts into the conversation and stretches his hand to Cole.

"Alex Morales."

The two men shake hands.

"I'm a friend of Ruby's from work."

"Cole."

"Nice to meet you, Cole."

"Pleasure."

"What are you doing after this?" Alex asks him with a grin.

"Nothing. Why?"

"You could come over. I have a little party at my house."

I throw Alex a questioning glance. What the f**k does he mean by a 'little party'? He didn't even tell me there's a party.

I force a smile.

"A little party?"

"Yeah. For the new graduates."

"Is Ruby coming?," Cole asks.

"Ofcourse." Alex sighs. "It was supposed to be a surprise for her but I guess it's out now."

"That's sweet of you." He says.

"Is that a yes?"

"How could I say 'no' to hanging out with Ruby? I've missed her terribly."

I giggle nervously.

"I'm flattered, Cole. But what about your mom? I'm sure she'd want to celebrate this special day with you."

"She would. But unfortunately, she's out of town on a business trip."

"Sorry." I feel bad for him. "You should definitely come and celebrate with us then. We have a lot to catch up on."

He nods in agreement as we walk to the parking lot.

"Is that Erik!" Cole blurts out.

"Where?"

I look in the direction but it's just a mass of people, talking and turning as they hop into their cars. No sign of Erik.

"I swear he was there." Cole insists.

"It's fine... just get in the car."

Through the entire ride, I find myself thinking about who Cole saw.

Erik.

Was it really him? And if it was really him, why did he come to the graduation ceremony? How did he feel watching us receiving the certificate and he didn't? He quit school and made it clear he didn't want anything to do with music. So, why would he just show up at school? On the graduation day? Does he miss school? Does he miss music? Does he regret quitting on something he was so passionate about?

In a little evil part of me, I hope he does.

I hope he regrets it every single day.

And I hope it kills him...

****

The moment Alex opens the door, a bunch of people scream in delight.

"Congratulations, Ruby!"

They are strangers. All of them are strangers. I look for a familiar face until my eyes land on Tony. The bubbly girl at the wedding who became my friend overnight.

"You said it was a little party." I grit my teeth, whispering to Alex.

"Tony must have missed the memo."

"I'll kill her."

Tony pulls me in a brief hug and cups my face in her hands.

"I know it's just been a few days since we met but I'm so proud of you, Ruby. Congratulations!"

"Thankyou, Tony."

"I made a cake for you."

"You're such a sweet girl."

"The cake is sweeter, trust me."

I get a taste of the cake and it's sweet indeed. Cole also agrees.

A few minutes later when everyone is busy moving around and eating, I grab Alex's hand and drag him to the kitchen.

I slam the door and cast a sharp gaze at him.

"Cole is straight!"

"I know."

"Do you? Inviting him to the party?"

"God! I can't invite straight men to parties for f***s sake!" He scoffs. "Plus, your friend looked lonely and sad. He's clearly still mourning his girlfriend. He's going through a rough time, I can tell."

"And can you tell that it was stupid of you to invite him here!" I hiss. "What if he finds out that we are siblings! That my name is actually Isabel Morales!"

He pours me a glass of mango juice.

"You need it."

"And I need you to use your f*****g brain!" I grab the juice from him. "And, who the f**k are all these people? And why the f**k did you throw the little party? You know how much I hate stupid surprise parties."

"That's a s**t way of saying thank you."

He walks away with a glass of champagne, leaving me soaking in guilt. I take a gulp of the juice and follow him to the living room to apologise. But he's already busy talking to some guy with glasses.

I quickly rush to the door when the doorbell rings.

"Ruby!"

I'm shocked to see him standing at the doorstep, two suitcases behind him.

"Miles???"

****

"Miles! Don't go! I can explain!"

Alex begs as Miles drags the suitcases back to the cab. He's furious that Alex threw a graduation party for me without even telling him. He thinks that we have something going on and we've been hiding it from him all this time.

"It's really not what you think, Miles!"

"Ofcourse it's not what I think!" Miles says in a dangerously calm voice. "It's what I just saw with my own two eyes. My boyfriend and my best friend betraying me."

"Come on, Miles. I have better taste in men."

They both glare at me.

"Bad joke." I mutter.

After dumping the suitcases in the trunk of the car, Miles stands still and stares at us in disbelief and disappointment.

"You know what sucks?" He says bitterly. "I wanted to surprise you two with the visit. Didn't know I was the one in for a surprise myself."

Alex tries to explain but Miles hops into the car and slams the door. My brother stands in the cold until the cab completely disappears.

"I'm sorry..."

"What are you sorry for?" He scoffs. "Are you sorry for being such an ungrateful b***h or for ruining my f*****g relationship?"

"Are you seriously blaming me for Miles dumping you!"

"Yes! Yes! I'm blaming you! If I didn't throw the f*****g party for you, this wouldn't have happened in the first place! I don't know why I even bothered throwing a stupid surprise party for you! You made it pretty clear you hate them!"

"I didn't mean that, Alex. You know I didn't mean that."

"And the worst part is, you weren't even trying to make the situation any better! You didn't even try to talk to Miles or explain to him! You just kept making stupid shitty jokes that are not even funny!"

"I admit. That was wrong but-"

"You keep saying how shitty Erik is." He pauses. "But I kinda get why he hates you now."

That cold statement feels like a stake drilled into my heart.

Back at the house, Alex calls off the party and everyone is forced to leave instantly. Both Tony and Cole seem reluctant to go but Alex doesn't spare them. He doesn't spare me either.

"I'll give you a ride home," I offer.

"Thankyou for everything, Ruby." Cole beams as he climbs into my car and waves Tony.

When Tony turns around to go back to her house, I stop her.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Can I have a minute with you?"

"Sure."

I take a deep breath and sigh.

"Tony, I know you like Alex. I see the way you look at him. The things you do for him. The cookies you make for him. The cakes you bake for him. Pleasing me to impress him. It sucks to tell you this but it won't work."

"I don't understand..."

"Alex is gay."

She's shocked, tears forming in her eyes.

"What! It can't be true! But he likes me too..."

I watch in silence as she cries, giving her the time to process the information.

"Men are shitty. Sometimes they just like the things you do for them..."

"Not all men!" She snaps. "If anyone here is shitty, it's you! You're a liar! And you're jealous that Alex likes me! And that's messed up! Really messed up!"

She storms away, cussing and crying.

I feel sad for her. She's so crazy for him she's literally blind. She can't see what's right infront of her. My little evil brother is just using her for his own personal benefits. Just like he used her to set up this party...

"The party was nice." Cole says as I start the engine. "Really nice."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it..."

"I did. I hardly make new friends but tonight, I did."

"I see you even made friends with Tony."

He beams.

"I did. She's so much fun. And full of life. And aggressively passionate about things. Everything."

"She sure is."

He stays silent for a moment before he turns and gives me a hard stare.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Thankyou."

"For what?"

"This is the first time since Reed that I've felt like... like I could be happy again."

And I'm glad that Cole is happy. He seems to be doing great, despite the tragedy months ago.

But I'm far from happy. My life is a whole f*****g mess. And the worst thing is that every day keeps getting worse.

And I'm pretty sure tomorrow won't be different. Infact, it might be worse than today.

I'm going to be Erik's date at that stupid party.

I have a feeling it will be pure hell!

****

Hey guys, I had a school project that I've been working on. Sorry that I wasn't able to post for the past few days. Glad to be back. I'll be posting daily from 1st March. sorry for the inconvenience.