A Summer to Remember

chapter Four

The next morning, I awoke early, showered and walked out to the pool area. Unfortunately, I hadn’t beat the early bird, Talia, who already lay out in a gorgeous white bathing suit that accentuated her gorgeous curves and looked stunning on her light olive skin which was already beginning to bronze.

“Jesus, how long have you been up?” I greeted as I laid in the lounger beside her and began to spray my skin with sunscreen.

“Good morning to you too,” Talia responded in a cordial tone. “I am having a bit of a time adjusting to the new time zone after being on Pacific Standard Time for so long. I awoke about five and read a bit before I took a shower and made some fresh-squeezed orange juice. You look like you need it. Feeling a bit hung over?”

I grabbed the carafe she’d set on the glass table between us and poured myself a generous helping in a Baccarat crystal glass. “Damn, is it that obvious I had too much to drink last night? This isn’t spiked with vodka, is it?”

My best friend looked at me like I’d just asked her for a hit of crack cocaine. “Of course not! I have been in California a bit too long. I made myself a smoothie for breakfast and then made the orange juice. I don’t do any of that shit anymore: no marijuana and definitely no ciggies. I quit cold turkey because all my bad habits were starting to affect my voice and make it a little too husky.”

“Husky is good. Think about all the great British neo-soul singers: Adele, Joss Stone, the late and great Amy Winehouse.” I finished spraying myself and set the sunscreen on the table before I swallowed half my orange juice in a few deep swigs.

“Yeah but I don’t do neo-soul. I do pop, remember? I’m trying to make it and I don’t want to be in a certain niche that doesn’t sell very well. I want to be a Mariah Carey or a Britney Spears—”

“With better pipes?” I cut her off. “Listen, how are you ever going to make it if you keep writing songs for established artists and the company you work for would rather use you as a song writer rather than an artist? I told you it was going to be a hard slog but you simply ignored me. Making it as a singer-songwriter is no joke. There is a reason why there are so few.”

Talia breathed deeply before she turned my way. “What was last night all about and you running off like your ass was on fire? Don’t you dare tell me it had anything to do with Paul or I will kill you myself.”

I shrugged and thought about it for a moment. Part of my behavior did have to do with Paul but the other part was all me. I didn’t want to hear about his perfect girlfriend or how they were so great with one another. I didn’t feel like explaining any of this to my best friend either so I just took the easy way out—I lied my ass off.

“I don’t give a damn about who Paul is dating and listening to Jude and him go on and on about Ashley made me want to vomit. It’s bad enough I will have to meet her…eventually.”

“True…” Talia trailed off before we heard a ruckus at the front door and we both stared at one another. She rolled her gorgeous pale green eyes and we both had the same thought. It wasn’t hard to guess what the issue was about. Another one of our best friends had arrived and she didn’t sound happy.

We stood and walked through the house until I opened the double doors. There was a stretch limousine and Autumn stood outside the vehicle arguing with the driver.

“Listen, I didn’t pay you just to look pretty and drive me here. It is your contractual obligation to help me with my bags so get your lazy, fat ass out of the car and do your goddamn job!” she exclaimed in a commanding yet icy tone of voice.

“Lady, I am already late for my next appointment—”

“It’s Ms. Jensen to you,” Autumn cut off, “and how is it my fault you booked two appointments too close together? I want help with my luggage or you will not receive an adequate tip!”

Paul and Jude walked out of the front door and began to unload all of Autumn’s bags while she continued to argue with the driver at a decibel higher than normal.

“Hey!” I suddenly said. “It’s been taken care of by our two resident men in charge. Why don’t you just sign off on the limo and let him be on his way.”

Autumn turned my way and her luminous gray-green eyes were bright with spunk and rage. “It’s the principle, Jerrica. You don’t think I am tired and this hasn’t been a long drive for me? I am just trying to stress to this…this person, how important customer service is and frankly, he sucks at it!”

Talia was the only one who could handle Autumn’s temper and she walked over to her and slid an arm around her waist. “The situation has been defused and your bags are safe and sound inside. Just pay the man so he can be on his way.”

Autumn, still angry, signed the slip and true to her word, gave the driver a five percent tip instead of her usual twenty percent. “You don’t deserve that but my parents didn’t rear me to be rude to people like you who are not of my social status. Have a nice day.”

I shook my head before we all walked back inside and before the door closed all the way, Autumn’s iPhone began to blow up with text messages she quickly began to answer.

“By the way, Savannah is delayed. She has an important client she has to take care of this morning so she’ll be in sometime this afternoon.” Autumn pressed the phone to her ear as her ring tone—“American Retards” by Winter’s Regret—went off and she answered it.

Paul and Jude were nice enough to set her bags in the room next to Talia’s therefore she already knew where she would shower and change.

She looked at us and indicated she was going upstairs as she continued to chat on the phone.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t you go back to your parents’ house last night?” I questioned Paul in a tone that was a bit rude yet I couldn’t help myself.

Part of me was pissed at myself for allowing the kiss to happen at all yet another side of me was completely and utterly jealous of the perfect Ashley who would probably end up his wife and the future Mrs. Paul Branson.

He looked a bit sheepish as his crystal blue eyes met my own albeit reluctantly. “I had a bit too much to drink and slept in the room Savannah will be using. Monique has already instructed a maid to change the sheets so I will be out of your hair soon enough.”

Talia stared from him to me and back again. “Your parents’ house is next door. You were too drunk to stumble over there in the middle of the night?”

Jude rolled his eyes. “Listen, it was my fault. I suggested he stay here since all of the guests haven’t arrived, okay? We’re only staying the weekend and then we have to head back to the City Sunday afternoon because we both have work on Monday.”

I tried to smile but fell short. A whole goddamn weekend with Paul in my vicinity and me feeling the way I did about him? What was I going to do?



Savannah arrived shortly after four in the afternoon.

By that time of the day, we’d had a light lunch at two served by the resident chef and everyone was well on their way and firmly into cocktail hour. I was on my second Belvedere and Perrier though I was trying to pace myself. Autumn sipped on a dirty martini in the shade of the pool area and also wore a wide-brimmed hat. Of the four of us, she couldn’t tan very well and she would rather keep her creamy complexion than burn.

Talia joined the guys and they all drank imported and domestic beers though their tastes went from the mundane—Beck’s, Carlsberg and Heineken—to the downright eclectic—to homegrown lagers from the Brooklyn Brewery.

I tried to keep Autumn company though she didn’t make it easy since she received a string of calls every time we broached a subject.

Savannah arrived with her dark brown hair frosted with lighter brownish-blonde highlights in a bun. Her cerulean blue eyes were her best asset but they were covered by a pair of blacker-than-black Ray-Bans and she looked casual and comfortable in white jeans and a black tank top. Her beautiful skin, naturally golden though not over the top, sparkled in the sunshine and she smiled brilliantly.

“I am so sorry I’m late. I had this impossibly wealthy client who needed to be outfitted for her upcoming cruise to Spain and it was a god-awful mess!” she greeted before we embraced one another.

I held her at arms’ length and looked her up and down. “You look beautiful and I have missed you so much. Don’t you think it is a bit ridiculous we live in the same city and never see one another?”

Savannah, always the pragmatic one, shrugged her shoulders. “Not really. We both own businesses and if we want them to flourish then the first few years are the most important. I already hear so much about your gallery and I need to catch up. Yes, I have a small, wealthy clientele but it is barely enough for me to afford the whole ‘Manhattan’ lifestyle. I need to do better and that means working my ever loving ass off.”

Her right fingers tilted my chin before she smiled. “We all couldn’t be born with golden spoons and rich brother’s who know how to play the stock market. Not that I grew up poor or anything but my parents certainly didn’t leave me with a trust fund either. One of us had to start from scratch and it just happened to be me.”

I helped her with the few bags she brought and showed her to the suite that would be hers for as long as she wanted it. “It’s clean but if it smells like a man that is simply because Paul got too drunk last night and stayed here at the house.”

She set her bags down before she turned toward me and slipped her sunglasses from her face “You still carrying a torch for him after all this time? You only mentioned him and your face went beet red.”

I slid several stray strands of hair behind my left ear. “That isn’t true. I don’t do relationships anymore, remember?”

Savannah studied me with cool blue eyes. “We both know that is a lie and you know it. You don’t have a relationship with Kevin any longer, and that is certainly a good thing. Are you seriously going to tell me you have cut yourself off from all men in general and you would never do another relationship ever again?”

I glared at one of my best friends. “I didn’t say forever…but not right now. The pain is still too fresh.”

Jude suddenly interrupted our conversation as he strolled into the suite and handed Savannah a Heineken. She smiled shyly before she thanked my brother. “I didn’t realize you remembered.”

“What? One of my sister’s best friends’ favorite drink?”

Her happy expression fell slightly. “Of course you would. Thanks, Jude.”

“Any time,” he replied before he began to walk away but it didn’t stop him from turning and checking out Savannah again.

“Well, someone is red as fire but it sure as hell isn’t me,” I murmured before I swigged from my Belvedere and Perrier.

She pulled her strappy sandals off and sat down on the bed before she swigged from her lager. “Please. Talia and Autumn are much more gorgeous than I am…Jude isn’t looking at me like that. He’s too hot and he can have any woman he wants. Why would he settle for a hamburger when he can have the finest slice of filet mignon?”

I rolled my eyes. “Jude has never been that vain and he has dated some very interesting women in his time.” I set my drink down and laid down next to Savannah. “Remember Greta, the German exchange student?”

We both laughed out loud. “Oh wow…I almost forgot about that. She was a very sweet young woman but she was just—

“—so plain, you looked like a superstar next to her. Jude isn’t nearly as shallow as he comes off. He’s a very complex human being. I should know…we grew up in the same household together.”

Savannah looked down at her iPhone. “So, what is on the agenda tonight? A party on the beach?”

“Nah. Paul suggested the Beach Bar so that is where we’re going. He’s driving since he’s the most sober of us all and we’ll all just pile into my dad’s Hummer.”

She checked her phone again out of nervousness. “I don’t know if I brought any party clothes per se—”

“It’s a bar, Savannah, not the freakin’ hottest club in Manhattan. If you really are that hard up, you can borrow something from me. Come on, let’s go up t0 my room and see what we can find.”

We both stood at the same time and walked to my suite together. I couldn’t help but wear a huge smile because all my friends and I were under the same roof again and I knew we would have a great time if nothing else and plenty of memories to take us through the rest of our twenties.

Life was so fleeting and times like this—just taking a stroll through my family’s summer home in the Hamptons—took my mind off Kevin and what happened at Vassar. It also erased that huge hole in my heart. I was still loveable and there was someone out there for me. Perhaps I would meet him tonight.

That made my heart beat a bit quicker even if the only person I was lying to was myself.