We decide that I’ll meet Will and Jude at their apartment on the night of the firm’s party, and we’ll all go together. I’m wearing the ultimate little black dress. It cost me a fortune at Barney’s but I don’t care. Well, I do care. I feel a little sick every time I think about what it cost. But I have to look amazing for this party, because everyone from Jude’s work is going to be there and I want them to know that his girlfriend is hot.
I also went for a Brazilian wax this week. In addition to clothing, getting waxed is another one of my indulgences. There is nothing like baby smooth legs. The Brazilian is more of a sacrifice because it hurts so damn much though. Usually I’ll try to drink a glass of wine before I go just to help dull the pain. Sometimes when the hairs are getting ripped out at the roots, I wonder why I go through so much pain for the sake of beauty. But then again, when I see the results, it’s totally worth it.
I arrive at the apartment door, tugging at the hem of my dress to make sure it doesn’t ride up too high and expose my (also black) thong. The door opens and Will is sitting there in his wheelchair. I can see his eyes travel up my body and I know I’ve chosen the right dress. “Jesus Christ, Libby,” he says. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks,” I say, totally casually. Like I just found this dress balled up at the back of the closet or something.
As I step inside, I notice that Will is pretty dressed up too. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s wearing a dark suit with a jacket and tie, and shiny black shoes. As he’s looking at me, I give him a once-over, and damn, he’s looking really good. I knew he was attractive and all, but I’m actually getting a few flutters in my chest looking at him now. I barely notice the wheelchair anymore and he’s just an incredibly cute guy in a nice suit. God, Michelle is lucky.
“What?” Will says, looking alarmed. He rubs his chin self-consciously. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No,” I reply quickly. “You just… look nice, that’s all.”
“What a shock, right?” he laughs.
I laugh too, but it comes out a bit strangled. “Um, where’s Jude?”
“Still getting dressed,” Will says. “Hey, do you think you can help me put on these cufflinks? I keep dropping them on the floor.” As if to punctuate his point, he drops one of his gold cufflinks on the floor. He reaches down and grabs it.
“Sure,” I agree.
Will wheels over to the dining table and I take a seat next to him. He holds out his wrists to me and I pick up the first cufflink. His hands are so warm, strong, and masculine. My hand brushes slightly against his as I secure it in place, and once again, I get that flutter in my chest. I look up and our eyes meet. “Will,” I murmur.
He leans forward slightly, almost imperceptibly. I can feel the heat of his breath. It smells like spearmint. “Libby, I—”
Of course, this is the moment Jude chooses to burst into the living room. I have no idea what Will was about to say to me, and I guess I’ll never know. The moment is passed anyway. And as handsome as Will looks in his suit, Jude outdoes him by about a million. Jude looks ridiculously good in a suit. I stare at him, my tongue practically hanging out of my mouth like those wolves in the cartoons.
“Libby,” he says, grinning at me. “Stand up, let me look at you.” I stand up and do a little twirl. “God, you look smashing. I can practically see your knickers.”
I gasp. “You can?”
“I said ‘practically,’” Jude says, pulling me close to him. He gives me the longest, most passionate kiss, and my knees start to wobble. Mmm, Jude.
After Jude’s kissed me a few more times, Will drives us over to his firm. There’s underground parking, and we get a spot right close to the entrance thanks to Will’s handicapped plates. Will has no idea that Jude and I have been plotting to get him and Michelle together tonight. Jude spoke to her at work today and she’s definitely going to be at the party. And if she’s a straight female, she’s got to like the way Will looks tonight. I just hope the wheelchair doesn’t scare her off.
I was sort of hoping to be the hottest girl at the party. I figured it’s a party for a law firm, so how attractive could the women be? How wrong I was. The women at this party are absolutely stunning. I don’t know if they work here or they’re rich lawyers’ dates, but my god. I feel hideous by comparison.
“Sheesh,” I murmur to Will as Jude runs off to schmooze. “There are a lot of pretty girls here.”
Will shrugs. “I guess. They’re mostly a bunch of boring, superficial airheads.” He eyes me in my little black dress. “Anyway, you look better than any of them.”
“Yeah, right,” I laugh. “Even Michelle?”
Will’s face turns red. “Uh,” he says.
“Is she here?” I ask him, maybe a little too eagerly.
“Uh,” he says again. “Why don’t we get a drink?”
He won’t tell me, of course. I won’t admit this, but I’m absolutely dying to see her. But I don’t want to be too obvious about the whole thing. So Will and I get drinks and I bide my time. Actually, I was a little worried about Jude abandoning me at this party and he totally has, but Will is keeping me pretty good company. People keep coming up to talk to him, but he’s including me in the conversation and doesn’t make me feel left out at all, which is pretty nice considering I’m not even his date.
After we’re there for an hour, I excuse myself to go to the bathroom, but instead I find Jude. He’s talking to three of the most attractive women I’ve ever seen. If these women are lawyers in addition to looking so amazing, I’m going to kill myself. “Jude,” I say. “Sorry to interrupt…”
“Darling,” Jude says, grinning. He’s drinking something fruity-looking and has obviously gotten kind of buzzed. “I’ve missed you! Where have you been off to?”
“I was just hanging around with Will,” I say. “And I was wondering… is Michelle here?”
“Michelle?” Jude’s brow crinkles. I swear, he has the worst short term memory of anyone I’ve ever met.
“The woman that Will likes,” I remind him.
“Oh, yes.” Jude nods. “I did see her, actually. She’s right over there, by the cocktails. In the purple dress.”
I follow where Jude is pointing and I see a woman standing next to the bar. Maybe I’m being picky because it’s Will, but I can’t help but feel kind of disappointed when I see her. He described her as “stunning” but this woman Michelle isn’t very pretty at all. Her hair is permed into something that might have been in style back in 1985, but now looks horrible. And I can see even from here that she’s painfully overplucked her eyebrows. Not only that, but she’s got to be a good ten years older than Will is. Also, she is wearing the absolute tackiest purple dress I’ve ever seen in my life. It makes me dislike her instantly.
“Are you sure?” I say. “Are there any other Michelles?”
“That’s it, Libby,” he confirms. “She’s the only Michelle.”
“Oh,” I say.
I’m crestfallen. I thought Michelle was going to be just like me and we were going to become best friends or something. But maybe I’m just being a snob. If Will says he’s in love with this woman, who am I to judge him?
“Shall I introduce you?” Jude asks.
“Yes,” I say, jutting out my chin.
We walk across the room together and I can’t help but notice the way Michelle’s face lights up when she sees Jude. It seems like he has that kind of impact on all women. I need to learn to fight the jealousy, I guess.
“Jude!” Michelle exclaims. She leans in to kiss him on the cheek, which he tolerates with a smile. “How are you?”
“I’m well,” Jude says. “Michelle, love, this is my friend Libby.”
His friend? Friend? Is that how he’s going to be introducing me tonight?
“Hello, Libby,” Michelle says, making it quite clear that she’s not my friend.
“Hi, Michelle,” I say.
Jude is beaming, totally oblivious to the icicles shooting out of Michelle’s eyes. Come on, Michelle, you don’t really think you have a shot at landing Jude, do you? I plaster a smile on my face. “I’ve heard so many nice things about you, Michelle.”
The icicles melt a bit and Michelle looks delighted. “Really?”
“Yes,” I say. “From Will.”
Michelle gives me a blank look. For a second, I’m sure I got it wrong and Michelle wasn’t the girl he was talking about at all. But then at that moment, Will wheels up to us, and touches the back of my arm. “Libby,” he says. “I got you another beer.” He takes a bottle of beer he’d placed between his legs and holds it out to me.
“Thanks,” I say and step aside so he can see Michelle. “By the way, we’re just talking to Michelle here.” And his face goes white like a sheet and I know I have the right person.
“Michelle,” he murmurs.
“Hi, Bill,” she says.
“It’s Will, actually,” I almost say. But then I wonder if maybe he goes by Bill at work or something. Obviously, he and Michelle know each other pretty well, so it seems crazy that she shouldn’t even know what he likes to be called. Or maybe I misheard.
Michelle and Will are just looking at each other, Michelle smiling fairly pleasantly. I tug on Jude’s arm. “Well,” I say. “I guess we’ll leave you alone then.”
I wink at Will, then I leave to let love blossom. And all that.
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I’m taking some food from the buffet when I feel someone grab me roughly by the arm. I startle and see that Will is behind me. “Libby,” he hisses. “What the hell was that?”
“What happened?” I ask. My eyes scan the room. “Where’s Michelle?”
“Why did you do that?” He looks as angry as I’ve ever seen him. “What I told you, that was between you and me. I didn’t expect you to… to set me up with her. I mean, Christ…”
“Look, I’m sorry I betrayed your trust,” I say. “But… what you said about Michelle, that was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. It almost made me cry. If you truly feel that way about her, then you need to go after her, no matter what. I don’t care if she’s with someone else. I’m absolutely sure she’d want to know how you feel about her.”
Will stares at me for a minute, rubbing his knees. He’s got kind of a nervous smile on his face. “You think so?”
“Yes, definitely!” I exclaim. “Will, I just want you to be as in love as Jude and I are.”
Maybe it’s my imagination, but I almost see his face fall. The smile is gone, in any case. “You’re really in love?”
“I am,” I say. “I adore Jude. I’m completely in love with him. I really feel like… you know, he’s the one. I feel so happy when I’m with him. And that’s how I want you to feel.”
Actually, to be honest, I don’t know if I quite feel that way about Jude. Sometimes I do. But sometimes I think he’s a total ass, and I don’t even like him, much less love him. But Will doesn’t need to know about that. I’m just trying to give him a pep talk.
“I see,” Will says. He isn’t meeting my eyes. “Maybe I’ll go find Michelle then.”
“Yes!” I say. “Go after her! You know, I think she seems like a really nice—”
“Great,” he says in a flat voice, cutting me off.
Will wheels off, leaving me alone. I’m feeling less like Cupid and more like a nosy bitch. But honestly, it seems like Will is much too shy. Even if he’s angry at me, I’m doing him a favor. Seriously, I don’t even understand why he’s so angry to begin with.
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This party sucks.
I’m miserable. Jude keeps running off and talking to women who are orders of magnitude prettier than me. And he keeps introducing me as his “friend.” Every time he says the word, I want to hurt him a little worse than the last time he said it. I guess I could try to mingle on my own, but this crowd seems so far off from my type of people. I don’t even know what I’d say to anyone.
When Will was with me, it was fine. Fun, actually. But ever since our discussion, he’s been talking to Michelle. I know, because I’ve been so bored, I’ve been watching him. First, I watched them talking. Then I watched them drinking. Eventually, I watched her climb into his lap and start making out with him.
Oh, yes.
I nearly died when I saw that. Yes, I wanted things to work out for Will. But I didn’t think he’d just start kissing Michelle like that. I thought there’d be a courtship period and… I don’t know. I do know that watching them made me feel even lonelier. Will adores her. They’re going to get married probably and I’ll never see him again. No more Nintendo Wii. No more superhero movies. No more zoos or museums. No more Will.
Eventually, I hole myself up in a corner stuffing appetizers into my mouth. I’m probably eating billions of calories worth of food, but I don’t care anymore. I just want to get the hell out of here with my boyfriend. If I still have a boyfriend after tonight.
“There you are, Libby,” Jude’s voice comes from behind me. There I am? He knew exactly where I was all night. He just didn’t care. “I’m going to go fetch a cab for us.”
“Will isn’t driving us home?” Maybe he wants to be alone with Michelle. Oh, god.
“Will is pissed,” Jude says.
My heart skips a beat. “He’s still angry at me? But why—”
“No, I mean, he’s ‘pissed’ as in drunk,” Jude says. “He’s too drunk to drive us home. And I can’t work the hand controls on his car. Bloody irresponsible of him if you ask me.”
Will wheels over to us now, his arms straining a bit under the extra weight of Michelle on his lap. She’s got his arms wrapped securely around his neck. His cheeks are flushed and he’s smiling. “We getting a cab or what?”
I’ve never seen Will drunk before and I notice his words are slurring a bit. I watch his fingers slipping under the hem of Michelle’s awful purple skirt, and as she giggles, I wince. I want to beg him to stop. I wish I had never tried to get the two of them together.
Jude hails a cab on the street. Michelle gets in first, then Will follows. I guess he forgot to lock his wheels or something because as he tries to transfer into the cab, his wheelchair slips backward and he’s on his ass on the street. The cabbie looks horrified, but Will is just laughing. Damn, he’s wasted. Jude moves the wheelchair out of the way, then lifts Will into the car himself before storing the chair in the trunk.
I’m stuck in the back with Will and Michelle. Unfortunately. No, actually, I love it when two people are practically having sex right in front of me. I especially loved it when Michelle kicked me with her high heeled (purple!) shoe. Or when Jude kept looking back and winking at me.
When Michelle and Will disappear into his bedroom after we finally get upstairs, I almost start crying. The thing is, I’m not even sure why. I wanted this. I want Will to be happy. And I’ve got Jude, after all.
Jude comes up behind me and puts his arm around my shoulders. “Well done, Libby,” he says.
I blink back tears. “I don’t like Michelle.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” Jude rolls his eyes at me. “Michelle is lovely. Anyway, Will is going to get laid tonight. I’m happy for the bloke. He’s had a long dry spell.”
“What if they get married?”
Jude laughs. “Libby, they’ve only just gotten together. I’m sure that’s the last thing from Will’s mind.”
“I’m not so sure.”
Jude puts his hand up my black dress and cups my ass. “Are you coming to bed or not?”
I follow Jude to the bedroom, and yes, we have sex. But for maybe the first time, I’m not into it. All I can think about is what’s going on in the next room.
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For once, I wake up before Jude. He’s lying peacefully in bed and I slip out from under the covers and wrap myself in the housecoat I bought for the times when I spent the night. I use the word “housecoat” lightly because I bought it at Victoria’s Secret and it’s possibly the sexiest housecoat that exists without being outright risqué. I needed something I could wear in front of Will, yet didn’t make me look like a frumpy housewife. It’s a delicate balance.
I see that I’m not the only one awake. Michelle is at the dining room table, sipping a cup of coffee. Her hair is an absolute fright, sticking up every which way, and she doesn’t look any younger after a night of heavy drinking. She’s wearing a wrinkled version of her dress from last night and her mascara is smeared under her right eye. I glance at my watch and see it’s not quite six in the morning. Why is she up so early?
“Libby, right?” Michelle asks me.
I force a smile. If Will likes her, then dammit, I’ll like her too. “Yes.”
“I’m so hungover,” Michelle moans.
“Me too,” I say. Although actually, I didn’t drink that much. I probably should have.
“I always do questionable things when I’m drunk,” Michelle says and she glances in the direction of the bedroom.
Questionable things?
“Well, it wasn’t that bad,” Michelle says. “But I wouldn’t have minded switching places with you, if you know what I mean.”
Oh, god. She’s talking about Will. He’s the “questionable thing” that she did.
“Actually,” she goes on, taking a sip of coffee. “Between you and me, he gave me some award-winning oral sex. That was… Christ, that was good stuff.”
I’m staring at her. I can’t believe she’s saying this to me. I barely know the woman. Is she seriously talking to me about oral sex?
“Anyway,” she says. “Bill’s a nice guy and all, but I’m not into that whole… deal.” She drains her coffee and stands up. “Hence the early sneak out.”
“Oh,” I say.
She stands up and stretches a bit. “Well, I think I’m going to take off. Are you coming? We can split a cab.”
I clear my throat. “No, Jude and I…”
Michelle laughs. “Got it. Honey, I wouldn’t run out on Jude either.”
She grabs her purse off the table and she’s out of the apartment with a slam of the door behind her. I don’t know whether to feel miserable or relieved. The love of Will’s life doesn’t even know his name. But on the bright side, I’ve got my best friend back.
Before I have time to give it much thought, the door to Will’s room opens and he comes wheeling out. He looks awful. His hair is sticking up and he’s got purple circles under his eyes. He’s dressed in an undershirt and just has boxers on. His feet are bare in the footrests. “Is she gone?” he asks.
“Will, I’m so sorry,” I say.
Will groans and holds his head. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this hungover. I feel like I’m in college.”
I try to smile. “Can I make you beer eggs?”
“You won’t make ‘em right,” Will says with a tiny smile.
“Will,” I begin slowly, “can I just say something? About Michelle?”
“If you must.”
“I just…” I bite my lip. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t think she’s right for you. She’s seems like kind of a miserable person. And it would be one thing if she wasn’t pretty, but she’s just so…. awful. And not really very much fun, if I’m being perfectly honest. I really don’t see the two of you together at all.”
“Yeah,” Will says. “I know.”
I didn’t expect him to agree quite so easily. “You know? Since when?”
“I don’t know. Since forever.”
I stare at him for a second. Suddenly, I get it. “When you said all those things the other day, you weren’t talking about Michelle, were you?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Dammit, Will,” I say. I’m definitely relieved now, but trying not to show it. “Why didn’t you tell me her real name?”
He shrugs. “I think last night made it fairly obvious why I didn’t tell you.”
I sigh and plop down in Michelle’s old seat. “Fine. Be that way.”
Will wheels over to the table next to me and smiles. “So what did Michelle say about me? Did I rock her world? I’m sure I did, considering she’s gone by a record six AM.”
I laugh. “Actually, she did mention some pretty amazing oral sex.”
“Ah, my specialty.” Will winks at me.
“Your specialty?” I raise my eyebrows at him and I can see that he’s completely serious.
“Well,” he says. “When you’re a paraplegic, you have to perfect things from the waist up.”
I stare at him. Oh my god, that never even occurred to me. He’s paralyzed from the waist down. Doesn’t that mean that Will can’t…?
“I can have sex,” he says quickly while I blush. “I don’t want you to think I can’t. I can.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything,” I say innocently.
“Yeah, right.”
Actually, what I’m really thinking is that I haven’t gotten eaten out in a long time. I wonder how Will does it. Does he stay in his wheelchair? Does he touch her inner thighs? Does he watch her face? Does he move his tongue slow or fast? Or slow, then faster and faster at the end, moving in quick circles as I come closer to climax?
And by “I,” I don’t mean me, of course. I mean whatever girl Will is having sex with. I’m not even sure why I said that.