Chapter 11

11

AMELIA

Ava was not exaggerating when she said this estate would fit everyone.

The house is huge.

As I walked through the double front doors, my mouth fell open as I took in all the surroundings. The white porcelain tiles are perfectly polished without a single footprint on the expensive floor. As for the styling, it is just like out of a magazine. Everything is purposely placed and matched to the theme of the room.

Beside me, Andy lets out a long-winded whistle.

“This place is next level.”

“I know, right? No wonder Ava wanted to spend the weekend here. It makes our place back home look so small.”

Andy chuckles, shaking his head to disagree. “Your place back home is probably the same size as this. You just think its small because you’ve lived there your entire life.”

“Maybe.” I shrug my shoulders until we are standing outside on the large patio overlooking the pool. I turn to point toward my left. “But we don’t have a helipad? Now that is next level.”

“Who the hell owns a helipad?”

“Someone I probably should have married instead of an actor who is supposedly on set with all these beautiful young men.” The familiar voice instantly brings a smile to my face.

“Eric!” I grin, throwing my arms around him. “You came.”

“Hey!” He pulls back, slightly annoyed I’ve embraced him as he flattens out the yellow silk shirt he wears. Eric never appears to age, though he is quite open with his love for Botox. It’s no surprise that his hair is perfectly styled, with Dolce & Gabbana glasses perched on top of his head. “This is Chanel, darling. Be careful.”

“Oh, look who is here.” Mom is walking through with Dad following her. I greet them hello, with my usual kiss and hug. “If it isn’t Mr. Kennedy and his million-dollar shirt. You know what’s going to happen later? Rocky will probably throw you in the pool once he’s gotten some alcohol into him.”

Eric gasps, pressing his hand to his throat. “He can’t do that. My Gucci loafers can’t handle the trauma.”

“What’s up party people!” Rocky struts through the door, wearing a T-shirt which say’s, “Real men don’t wear pink, they eat it.” With his sunglasses on, and a drink in his hand, I suspect he is already toasted with the possibility of throwing someone in the pool very soon.

“That shirt is something.” Mom winces.

“I love it.” Eric claps his hand with excitement. “I once had a friend, let’s just call him John. He hated eating pussy, said it was like eating a kumquat.”

Mom folds her arms while shaking her head, disgusted by his analogy. Dad, on the other hand, appears amused by Eric.

“For starters, your friend John was actually named John,” Mom points out. “And secondly, I am deeply offended that a man would say such a thing.”

Eric shrugs his shoulder. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I happen to like the taste of kumquats.”

I shake my head, willing this conversation to run its course. While Eric’s humor amuses me, all this pussy talk in front of my father is extremely awkward.

“Can we stop saying kumquats? So, when is everyone else getting here?”

The moment I say it, the rest of my family arrive. My uncles, Julian, and Noah, walked in first while Aunt Adriana and Kate followed behind them. I notice they have no bags accompanying them, then remember Ava mentioning that they chose to stay at my parent’s estate which is a few minutes away. It was all last minute apparently but comes as no surprise. All our parents enjoy expensive liquor. Their idea of fun is drinking around a fire and telling stories of the past. Eric is a bit of an in-betweener, depending on his mood.

As for Uncle Rocky, he prefers the loud music, endless shots, and bikini-cladded girls. Disturbing, yet equally entertaining at the same time.

Luna, Jessa, and Nash walk behind their parents. It’s been a while since I last saw them since all three had left for college. If I recall correctly, Luna and Jessa are attending California State while Nash goes to Berkeley.

Greetings and hugs are exchanged until my Uncle Noah pulls me aside.

“I can’t believe you’re studying law. When was the last time I saw you?”

“A while, but that’s not my fault.” I gently punch his chest. “Every time I visit, you’re traveling for work. You’re just like Dad.”

Kate interrupts, squeezing me tight before Uncle Noah places his hand around her hip.

“Are you calling my husband a workaholic?”

I let out a snort. “You guys are just as bad as each other. You’re both workaholics. I challenge you both to turn your phones off this weekend, you know, try to function without email.”

Uncle Noah and Kate turn to look at each other, amused by my calling out their addiction to work.

“That would be no problem if Sienna wasn’t with your grandmother and Alexandra. Lord knows that girl is something else.”

I hide my smile, remembering the stories Addison told of Alexa and Sienna’s adventures of a Friday night. Perhaps there is a truth to what Dad said in the restaurant; the babies of the family were babied. Sienna is Uncle Noah and Kate’s only shared biological child. For the longest of time, Kate was adamant she didn’t want kids given they had shared custody of Jessa and Nash. To add to that, the two of them have demanding careers. Kate did not hide the fact Sienna was a surprise baby. The surprise was from a drunk night in Vegas with too many shots and a poor attempt at inserting a diaphragm.

At that point, I left the room before anything else was revealed about Uncle Noah and his sexual appetite. Kate’s words, not mine. I recall hearing Mom warning Kate she didn’t want any more details given he is Mom’s cousin. Aunt Adriana, on the other hand, lapped up all the information until Mom ended up joining me in the den.

“Why are we all standing around here? Let’s get some sunshine and relax on the patio,” Nikki shouts over the noise.

Ava is already outside with her friends Gigi and Kylie. The three of them are wearing bikinis, and more notably, Andy is beside me staring directly at Gigi. Nash pulls up beside me, and I tug on my cousin’s arm while admiring how much he looked like a young Uncle Noah.

“Who is the blonde?” Nash asks in a complete trance.

“Gigi,” I tell him, “Ava’s bestie.”

“She’s something,” Nash murmurs, taking a sip of his beer even though he is technically underage. I wasn’t going to say something, though I suspected Mom might. I highly doubt Uncle Noah nor Kate would scold him either.

“Hand’s off, buddy,” Andy chuckles, jokingly. “I’ve been working on her for months.”

I turn to face Andy, crossing my arms beneath my chest. “What does that even mean? Working on her?”

“Flirtatious banter via socials.”

“Right,” I drag, rolling my eyes. “I’m going to leave you two players alone while I go discuss something more interesting.”

I walk past the pool where Uncle Rocky is standing with Dad, Uncle Noah, and Julian. He is cupping his hands like melons, talking animatedly while the men watched on in amusement. I hear the words “bazookas” fly out of his mouth before laughter follows.

Eric is laying on a lounge chair, dressed in gold swimming trunks while trying to sunbathe.

“Honey, pass me the tanning lotion.” He motions toward the chair a few over from him. “My chest looks like it belongs to a little Irish boy.”

I let out a loose laugh. “It’s not that white.”

“Well, it is. My spray tanner, Gerald, had a nervous breakdown after his boyfriend left him for a figure skater. Can you even compete with that? Turns out, you can’t. Gerald checked himself into rehab, and meanwhile, everyone on Melrose is walking around looking like Frosty the Snowman.”

I sit beside Eric on the empty lounge chair as Jessa and Luna join us.

“How did it happen that the only guys here are our brothers?” Luna complains.

“And look at them?” Jessa nods in their direction. “Like a bunch of lost puppies drooling over Gigi and Kylie.”

I laugh softly. “I think just Gigi. It won’t end well for anyone.”

“Where’s your man?” Jessa asks, taking a mimosa Luna hands her.

“You mean, Austin?”

Jessa looks at Luna until they’re both staring at me with curiosity. Beside me, Eric snickers. “Who else would it be?”

“Sorry, I’m just tired and hungry.” The corners of my mouth move up while I try to downplay my paranoia. “He’s back in LA for the weekend, so just me.”

“Just you, eh?” Eric mumbles with a playful smirk. “Now, isn’t that going to be fun?”

I’m contemplating throwing him into the pool. Ruining his perfectly styled hair and washing all his tanning oil off. But I refrain, remembering Mom’s advice, “With Eric, you need more patience than with a two-year-old in a candy store.”

“We are going to have fun, we don’t need men, anyway,” Luna says with a nod.

Jessa and Luna join their brothers in the pool with the intent of embarrassing them in front of Gigi. I choose to sit it out for a while and enjoy Mom’s homemade mimosa. I don’t know what’s inside it, but it tastes so good.

“So, just you this weekend?” Eric asks again.

My hands involuntarily begin to play with the ends of my hair. “Yes, we established that.”

“It’s rather interesting, don’t you think?”

“How so?”

“De Ja Vu. It’s the Lex, Charlie, and Julian love triangle all over again.”

In front of us, Andy dunks Jessa in the pool which causes her to scream. I turn my attention back onto Eric.

“How do you even know about that?”

“Um, hello! I was there from the beginning. When your mother lied through her teeth that nothing was going on, but her office reeked of sex.”

I scrunch my nose, not needing to know that my parents had sex inside an office.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right, okay?” Eric nods his head with his lips pressed. “We’re in the denial phase.”

“I am not in the denial phase!”

My raised voice catches my dad’s attention from across the pool. I lower my head, sinking back into the chair.

“Austin is in LA with family, and Will is on some business trip. They are not here for two very different reasons. As for your love triangle assumption, you must be in love with two men for it to be a love triangle. I’m marrying one man, end of story.”

“Hmmm…your mother once said that.”

“Must you remember everything?”

“Listen.” Eric sits up and places his hand on my leg. “You can fight it and tell yourself it’s nothing, but in the end, the heart only want’s what it wants. And no other person will ever fill the shoes of the man you’re in love with.”

I don’t respond to what Eric says, keeping my thoughts private. Everyone seems to have an opinion on my life and how I feel. The more I think about it, the more it angers me. Why doesn’t anyone believe my love for Austin? And why does everyone assume I am just like my mother? Sure, we have similarities, but she chose a certain path, and it doesn’t mean I will follow the same.

The rest of the afternoon is spent by the pool drinking mimosas and margaritas, courtesy of Mom. Ava hired chefs to serve us food, which of course—tasted amazing.

The sun becomes too much for my skin, forcing me to dive into the pool to cool myself down. It is only us younger ones now aside from Mom and Aunt Adriana who retreated to the kitchen. The older men opted to hit the golf course though Uncle Rocky looked too excited to be playing golf. I suspected something raunchier, but I wasn’t even sure if it were possible given the time of day.

Nikki isn’t one to care, mentioning to us that no matter what Rocky does, he is always the dog who waits at the front door for their owner. It’s comical—to say the least.

The music had been cranked up, the vibe mellow and chilled. Andy and Nash are still hovering around Gigi and Kylie like a bad smell, despite Jessa and Luna’s attempts to embarrass them.

Ava tried to start a game of volleyball, but it ended within a few minutes when the ball went flat.

The jar of mojitos is empty, so I offer to grab more from the kitchen. Unable to juggle my towel, I throw it back on the lounge and grab the jug along with an empty bowl of crisps. My hair has finally dried, still in a tangled mess as I walk back inside while humming the tune to the song which last played. I turn the hallway only to crash into a body; hands gripping my arms as the shock stills me.

Before I can even comprehend anything, the electric current runs through every part of my body, forcing me to breathe and glance upwards.

The ocean blue eyes are staring at me, deep and climbing into my soul where it once called home. Every nerve is firing all at once, unable to calm down amongst the frenzy building within me.

“Amelia,” Will murmurs, his voice so deep and etched in my memory. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head while swallowing the lump which formed inside my throat. My heart is racing like a pack of animals released into the wild, but I beg of myself to compose my actions in front of the one man I never expected to see at this moment.

“I’m fine, just surprised to run into someone,” I say, trying to even my tone and appear unaffected. “And that someone being you. What are you doing here? I thought you had some meeting in Hong Kong?”

Will lets go of my arms, and instantly—I feel the loss. He takes the bowl from my arms, until his eyes fall toward my chest. I’m unsure what to say, given I’m wearing a white bikini and suddenly feel very exposed. Will’s eyebrows pull together as he struggles to keep his expression hidden. The torment is evident in his eyes, but I can’t blame him—I would be the same if he walked out almost naked in front of me.

And then just like that, the memory of just how delicious this man looks naked comes rushing to my mind. My body begins to react, but I’m unable to cover my chest as my nipples harden. I raise the jug to cover my chest, the irony not lost on me.

Will clears his throat, breaking his gaze. “Plans changed.”

“Um, okay,” I mumble, unsure what to say since our last encounter didn’t end well.

“Look, Amelia, I’m here for my dad, and that is it. I’m not here to get in your way, in fact, you probably won’t see me much.”

“No.” I shake my head, suddenly disappointed. “I want to see you. In fact, come hang out with us at the pool. Just like old times.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be sure? Just because we dated years ago, doesn’t mean we can’t get along for the weekend, for the sake of family.”

“If you say so.” He hands me back the bowl with a delicious smirk on his lips. I can’t seem to pull myself away, drawn to the memory of them kissing every inch of my body. “I’m going to get changed.”

“I’m going to grab more drinks. I’ll see you by the pool.”

He disappears down the corridor as I continue to stand frozen on the spot. I didn’t plan for Will to be here this weekend, nor did I plan to invite him to hang out with us. What the hell am I thinking? Being friends with him is not as easy as I play it out in my head.

But just because feelings still lingered, it doesn’t make it a love triangle as Eric so eloquently put it.

The feelings are resurfacing because once upon a time, we shared our lives with one another and with that, we created untouchable memories.

We built a special type of bond and our friendship grew with it.

So, yes—I miss Will.

I miss the friendship we once had. And there’s nothing wrong with that, nor should I feel guilty. My relationship with Austin is not in jeopardy.

Yet even I knew deep down inside if I allowed myself a moment of truth, part of what Eric said is right.

Denial is a curse in itself.

How long I am able to keep lying to myself, I am yet to find out.