4: 4
Over the next two days, I buried myself in the work handover and the arrangements for Grandma's funeral.
I never reached out to Percival again.
On the third day, he showed up outside my office building.
"Laurie, let's talk."
He took me to the restaurant where we'd had our first date.
I'd mentioned once, offhand, that I liked the place, and he'd gone straight out and gotten a VIP card so I could come eat whenever I wanted.
When we reached our usual table, there sat Deidre, plain as day.
Percival said, smiling,
"I was racking my brain over how to win you back, and in the end it was Deidre who came up with the plan. She'd get you out, she'd do the coaxing, and I'd pick up the tab."
"If you ask me, you could stand to learn a little of her thick skin. Stop keeping score over every little thing. Otherwise, once we're married, I'll be spending every single day trying to smooth you over."
Deidre took a red velvet box out of her bag and opened it. Inside lay a crystal bracelet.
"Laurie, this is the best-friend bracelet I made Percival buy. One for each of us."
She covered her mouth and gave a deliberately wicked little grin.
"I really soaked him for it, too. Consider it me teaching him a lesson on your behalf."
Watching the two of them play off each other so smoothly, I felt strangely like I'd woken up in another lifetime.
The Percival I used to know had, the very first time he met Deidre, written her off as the loose, bad-girl type.
Because of it, he'd kept me on the tightest leash, terrified she'd drag me down with her.
Every time the two of them were in the same room, it was either an argument or an all-out fight, like they'd been enemies in some past life.
And now these two, who'd never been able to stand the sight of each other, had somehow become allies.
After the meal, I went home with Percival.
He looked a little startled at the suitcase by the door.
"We're getting married any day now, and you're going on a business trip?"
I made up an excuse on the spot. "Going to keep Grandma company."
Something seemed to click in him, and a flicker of awkwardness crossed his face.
"Right, Grandma's out of the woods, isn't she? Honestly, those critical-condition notices from the hospital are just routine. She pulled through the last few times, so this time's no different. We get married tomorrow, why don't we bring her home to stay with us for a few days?"
I wanted so badly to tell him Grandma was never coming back.
But right then my phone rang.
Deidre's irritated voice came through the line.
"Harding, what is wrong with you? Laurie's new wedding dress and jewelry are still sitting here with me. You planning to have her walk down the aisle tomorrow with nothing on?"
Percival scratched his head, embarrassed. "Ah, I forgot. I'll come get them right now."
Once he left, I wheeled my suitcase out the door.
At the entrance to the complex, I suddenly saw his car drive past.
Curiosity pulled me after it.
I never expected him to go to the apartment he'd given me before the engagement.
At our one-year anniversary, he'd bought it outright, cash, saying he wanted to give Grandma and me a home.
Later I moved into his big open-plan place, and I rarely came here anymore.
He got out his key to unlock the door, and the door swung open from the inside.
Deidre, in a fiery red dress, grabbed him by the tie and kissed him hungrily.
I froze where I stood, biting my lip until it bled.
On the way to the train station, I called the real estate agent.
"I need you to sell this apartment fast, even below market."
...
In the morning, Percival woke to his alarm.
He sent Laurel a message, reminding her to get back to the apartment and do her hair and makeup, that they'd be coming for the bride at ten-thirty sharp.
But Laurel didn't answer.
She was probably already washing up and getting ready, he figured, so he didn't push.
Yet when the group arrived at the apartment to collect the bride, there was no sign of her at all.
Instead they found the agent walking a few people through the place, sizing it up.
"Who let you in? Don't you know there's a wedding happening here today?"
The agent hurried to explain.
"Ms. Lyons hired me to sell this apartment fast."
Percival, refusing to believe it, called Laurel. No one picked up.
Then he called the wedding planning company and learned the wedding had been cancelled three days ago.
The color drained from his face. He turned and rushed to the hospital.
He ran to Grandma's room, and the nurse told him the patient had passed away days ago.
"That's impossible. She said just yesterday she was coming to be with Grandma. How could—"
The nurse cut him off, her voice gentle with sympathy.
"The patient took a sudden turn for the worse. Ms. Lyons said she could get the new special drug Harding had developed, but for some reason she came back empty-handed in the end, and the old woman didn't make it..."
In his mind, Percival heard again the choked sound of Laurel's voice on the phone that night.
His legs gave out, and he sank down onto the floor.
