CHAPTER 4–DINNER BEGINS TO GET INTERESTING

               Damien entered the lounge that served as a waiting area for the dining room in search of Neil. They found one another. “Damien, over here. April will be following, I assume?” He asked after the server took Damien’s drink request.

               “Yes, she insisted on resting and changing for dinner. She promised to meet us for dinner.” He said as he accepted his drink and sat down across from Neil.

               “Good, then I’ll ask, after that incident in the tearoom. What is your plan, Damien? You’ve Caro worried. How does April work into them?” Neil asked his friend. He despised it. The stakes were high. Damien was his friend, but April was Carolyn’s. Need I be concerned about any confrontations?

               “No, not yet. But I can’t make any guarantees. You saw what he did. Neil, I should have him removed. Arrested for assault if she’ll allow it. I’ve resisted finding him and having a chat. But that’s because your wedding events start in mere hours, and he shouldn’t be a part of them.” Damien grimaced after taking too big a sip of his drink. He let the alcohol burn his throat as it went down.

               “Please my friend, try to avoid any violence with David, for Caro. If you can’t do it for April.” Neil said. His request is as much between friends as gentlemen. What he hadn’t expected was the look in Damien’s eyes shift and telegraph through his body. It’s subtle, but Neil knew his friend better than anyone.

               “What do you mean can’t do it for April? Nothing’s being done for April.” Damien halted what he said then, but Neil suspected he’d heard from Carolyn at least some of April’s situation.

               Neil turned to Damien and blinked at his angry reaction. This wasn’t what he’d expected from his friend. “I’m sorry Damien. I didn’t know you felt like that.” He’d forgotten about Damien’s old interest in April, before the incident in the tearoom.

               “Neither did I. Not until I saw the state of her arm. Such treatment of someone you vowed to cherish, Neil? Who would do that?

               “David Moore, it seems. But how did I never know my best friend was interested in my fiancé’s business partner? Don’t you think that’s something you’d mention to me?”

               “I don’t know. Opportunity never arose; she wed another. By then it was too late. Following that, it appeared we never attended the same event together. If I was, then we were in different rooms.” Neil watched Damien do something he’d not done in years. The man pouted into his drink, unhappy with his thoughts of April and the years that he’d missed.

               “Are you still interested in her?” The answer was obvious to Neil. He looked at Damien and could see his reaction. Damien never acted differently with women. Now Neil understood why he didn’t. Damien had fallen for April years ago and hadn’t realized it. Her uniqueness made him fall for her at first sight.

               Neil pretended to scratch an itch on his nose to hide his smile. This was a fine mess his friend was in. Even if it’s not a laughing matter.

               “I don’t know.” Damien said as he pondered his thoughts and the ripples the ice made in his drink. “Yes, maybe. I think so.” He looked up and studied the ornate ceiling tiles as he continued to come up with a plan that didn’t include murdering David Moore.

               “You think so.” Neil asked him. Before he gave him a rueful smile. “God, you’ve got it bad. She’s married to a creep. Prioritize addressing that issue before moving on to anything else. Remember, she’s struggled with a reputation worse less than a beggar’s. You’ll have to deal with fools and idiots.”

               “I plan to. Don’t worry and he’s making it easy to lose him. Dealing with haters and their toxic comments is something I approach similarly to my other endeavours. They won’t know what hit them.”

               They received the signal that the dining room was ready to seat everyone for dinner. Damien received a text from the wedding planner, asking the wedding party to attend a dinner to plan tomorrow’s events and rehearsal.

               The wedding guests and the wedding party members filtered into the hotel’s dining rooms. The wedding party kept the smaller dining room for themselves, while the guests enjoyed themselves in the larger dining rooms.

               Damien was assisting Carolyn’s mother to her seat when April entered the intimate dining room. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Carolyn, why is she here?” Beatrice Roy asked her daughter in a furious whisper. Her eye narrowed as she looked from April to Carolyn.

               “Mother, please be kind. Remember you’re not the one who’s paying the bill, I am. I can invite whomever I like. April is my business partner and best friend. I want her as my bridesmaid.” Carolyn asked her mother. No, she felt she pleaded with her mother not to start something in front of Neil and his parents. But her mother ignored appeared to her pleas.

               “Isn’t she married to that Moore fellow? Where is he? I don’t see him. You could have invited him and made it worth our suffering her presence.” Beatrice clung to the old families’ wealth beliefs. Carolyn knew she’d never change this part of her mother. Beatrice would never see April for the business savvy entrepreneur she was. Carolyn represented their brand with her face.

               “David Moore’s attending and claiming to be April’s plus one. However, he’s not on the guest list and April does not have a plus one. David’s a party crasher, Mother. I’m confident you will turn it into a redeeming quality.” Carolyn knew she was relying on the Bridezilla title too much. She was using it to ensure her mother understood she was a married woman and no longer under her thumb.

               “Carolyn Roy, how dare you be rude like this?” In a snippy manner, Beatrice questioned Carolyn about teaching her to put on such a public exhibition. While she ignored April’s presence as if she wasn’t there.

Many blamed April for problems she didn’t cause. It’s hurt her reputation. At least the wine was decent. From Carolyn’s rebellious behaviour to poor colour choices. If it doesn’t fit within Beatrice’s idea of the perfect wedding, that is incorrect and it’s a form a corrupting influence. The corrupting influence has a name, April Moore.

               “Mother, I’m the bride. That’s my right. Welcome to my party.”

               April hadn’t greeted her hosts or sat down at her seat yet. But she’d started a scandal by entering a room. “Good evening, everyone. I hope I’ve not started anything by walking into a room. Can I assist you, Carolyn, in fixing this?”

               “You can leave.” Beatrice demanded in a sharp voice.

               “No, April. You know how my mother is. Just sit and relax. My mother will have to take a pill and relax also. She’s being rude for no reason at all. I’m sorry Mr. and Mrs. Stone. Sometimes my mother forgets herself.”

               “Carolyn, it’s not our place to say anything on the matter. But for the sake of peace. Let’s step back, relax, and try to have a pleasant time. We are here for Neil and Carolyn to help them celebrate their coming wedding.”

               “Thank you, Mr. Stone.”

               “Where is your husband April?”

               “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen him since we arrived.”

               “Aren’t you concerned?”

               “It’s not unusual for Mr. Moore. He loves to find his entertainments without me.”

               “Oh, I see. That doesn’t bother you?”

               “It has served its purpose and allowed me to enjoy more honest entertainment and develop our business without his interference. I won’t complain just now.”  

               “Mrs. Roy, I like you. You know that, right?”

               “I like you too, Damien. I always have.”

               “Good. Then please I want to give you a piece of advice no one else has. Currently, avoid involvement with established family matters. Don’t take sides. Wealth will change hands, and you won’t need to worry about anything. Others will, however, let them succeed or fail independently.”

               “Damien. What are you saying? What do you know?”

               “I am saying nothing else.”