Elephant in the Room [Part 2]
Lola arrives to a wedding reception filled with old, mutual friends, ex-boyfriends, and must face her ex-bestfriend for the first time after their explosive friendship breakup.
There are two hours left of the drive to upstate New York for the wedding, and Lola is blasting affirmations through the speakers of her rented Tesla.
Last night, after a few glasses of wine, Lola began to investigate who would be at the wedding by going on a social media deep dive. It wasn’t long before she realized Marza, the bride, made her guest list public on her wedding website, and anyone could see who RSVP’d.
It’s confirmed that Sarah and Holly will be there. As well as Jordan and some of his teammates Lola met.
Then, just as she inhaled to take a breath of release, she saw that Nikita RSVP’d yes with a plus one. Lola damn-near spit her wine out.
Even though she knew Nikita would likely be there, the confirmation was still shocking.
Lola’s phone begins to ring; it’s a call from Marza.
“Hi, my beautiful bride!” Lola answers.
“Loli!!!” Marza responds.
Lola and Marza were roommates during their sophomore and junior years of college. They’ve had a solid, strong friendship for nearly a decade that’s only grown stronger with time, especially since Lola’s breakup with Nikita. Marza and Thomas decided against having bride and groom parties, otherwise Lola would be in it.
Marza moved out of the tri-state area nine months ago to start the suburban wife life with her soon-to-be husband, Thomas. Lola has gone upstate to visit them twice since they left the city.
“I am en route to Casa de Barker as we speak!” Lola says.
Everything Lola and Marza say to each other is coated in enthusiasm [i.e. the exclamation marks].
“Ugh, I can’t WAIT for you to get here! We got your room ready and everything. The one you love in the back corner, of course,” Marza says.
“You know I would pay rent to live in that room full-time if it were in the city,” Lola says.
“Yeah…” Marza says. Lola gets the sense that she wants to say something else, but she may just be overwhelmed.
“I saw the guest list last night. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little anxious,” Lola says.
“I actually wanted to talk to you about that. Nikita RSVP’d yesterday. I told the planner, Janice, to make the deadline for the RSVP list last month, but seems Janice is… forgetful,” Marza says stressed.
“This is your day! Nothing dramatic is going to happen—it’s just been a long time. And I know Janice has been giving you trouble. Please, do not worry about us. You seem stressed,” Lola says.
“I’m overwhelmed, but I just wanted to call you about that. She’s bringing a plus one and—”
“I saw! I’m not worried about Damon either. We can totally be cordial. Please don’t worry,” Lola interrupts.
“No, actually, they broke up six months ago.”
“What…….” Lola is taken aback.
“She called me last night, and I was in shock too! She’s fallen off the face of the Earth. On a healing journey. I just had no clue she was dating—”
“Oh, sorry, my mom is calling. I’ve been playing phone tag with her for days. I’ll be there in an hour. Can we talk when I get there?” Lola interrupts again.
“Of course. I’ll be finishing up with my nail tech, but I need to talk with you,” Marza says in a serious tone.
“Okay, friend… You okay?” Lola asks.
“Yes, I am. I just want to debrief with you,” Marza says [almost remorsefully].
“I love you. See you soon!” Lola hangs up.
Less than an hour later, Lola makes it to Casa de Barker, takes her stuff up to her favorite room, then goes to find Marza. Florists and caterers are running in and out of the house preparing for the reception dinner that starts in two hours.
Lola looks for Marza for 15 minutes, then decides to start getting ready so she won’t be late. She goes with the black sculpted mini dress, slicks her hair [to the gods] in a nice, low bun, and puts on a tiny, black kitten heel. She feels ready to face any interaction.
Lola goes to Marza’s room, where she finds Marza and her hairstylist finishing the final look.
“The most beautiful bride,” Lola says tearing up.
They hug for a long moment, they miss each other. Marza looks at the digital clock next to her bed.
“Oh, my gosh! The party starts in five minutes. How long have you been here? I need to talk to you!” Marza says.
“I looked for you when I got here, but I couldn’t find you. What’s going on?” Lola asks.
“It’s about Nikita,” Marza says.
“So, she and Damon broke up?! I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am,” Lola says.
“Oh… I know, but that isn’t even the craziest part—”
The bedroom door opens swiftly.
“Babe, there are like 12 guests here outside of the family. Are you ready?” Thomas interrupts.
“Yes, but.. we’re gossiping,” Marza says as if Thomas broke a law.
"Girl, I’m sleeping here. Let’s talk tonight,” Lola chuckles.
Marza still looks like she has something to say, but Lola is basically pulling her out of the bedroom.
The first person Lola sees when she goes downstairs is Jordan. He looks [tf] good. They lock eyes, and he smiles (his pearly white teeth glisten under the chandelier) then walks straight up to her.
“You look really good. What is this? Cult Gaia?” Jordan flirts.
It is, in fact, Cult Gaia, and that’s another thing that puts Lola off about Jordan. He knows too much about what’s going on in the world of women. She wonders if he saw this dress while shopping for one of his many love interests, or even bought it.
“Wow, good eye. That must be why you did so well this season” Lola flirts back.
They stare into each other’s eyes for a good, long while.
“You’re a tough one to get ahold of',” Jordan says, still fiercely staring into her eyes.
“Sorry,” Lola says staring back.
“What do you want to drink?” Jordan asks.
That’s something Lola does like about Jordan. He has good manners and takes action.
“I’m going to do my rounds, but I’ll let you know in ten,” Lola says.
As she’s walking around the room, she wonders if Jordan is worth giving attention to. He’s pretty fashionable himself, maybe he knows it’s Cult Gaia because he’s invested in the world of fashion.
“Lola!!!” Someone screams.
Lola turns around to find Peyton cheesing at her.
“Oh, Peyton. Hey, girl,” Lola says, surprised Peyton is being so welcoming.
“How are you? It’s been so long!” Peyton says.
“I know. I’m great. I was just thinking about you the other day,” Lola says. She was specifically thinking about how immature Peyton used to be.
“I’ve been following your journey, and I just want to say you’re so inspiring. I would love to pick your brain about screenwriting. I have an idea I am trying to turn into a show,” Peyton says.
While Peyton was negative, she’s always been ambitious, disciplined, and successful, which is why the friendship lasted so long.
“Oh, my god! I would love to chat about it. Let me do my rounds, would you want to talk before the night is over?” Lola asks.
“Oh, my god, of course! And I just want to say, I know we ended on a weird foot, but I now know why it had to happen,” Peyton says hugging Lola.
Lola walks away thinking about how sweet that interaction was. She hasn’t seen Nikita yet, but she’s two-for-two.
For the next twenty minutes, Lola is catching up and sharing laughs with the people she once knew. It was sweet. Everyone was happy to be together and mingling. Marza and Thomas looked happy, and Nikita was nowhere in sight, so Lola felt calm.
Lola feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around.
“Are you ready for that drink yet?” Jordan asks.
“I’m so parched. How did you know?” Lola says.
They walk up to the bar, very close to one another, and look at the menu.
“You know, I haven’t had a cinnamon stick shot since the last time I saw you,” Jordan says.
“Then we must get one for old time’s sake,” Lola says.
“We’ll have two cinnamon sticks and two of the blackberry refreshers,” Jordan tells the bartender.
They sit at the bar, drink their drinks, and flirt. Lola is slowly getting sucked back into the trance that is Jordan Weatherby, and she likes it.
“I’m going to run to the restroom, can you watch my drink for me?” Jordan asks.
“Yeah,” Lola says.
She turns to face the bar and continues to sip her refresher. She starts thinking about what her life would be like if Jordan were in it again. Would she feel anxious all of the time? Has he grown up? What does their chemistry mean? Is it worth it to be thinking about Jordan like this? Lola orders another shot to avoid having to answer the questions forming in her head.
“Lola.” Someone says as they tap on her shoulder.
Lola turns around and it is none other than her long-term ex-boyfriend, Jaden.
“Jaden? What… What are you doing?” Lola asks almost shitting her pants.
“Oh, um, I thought you knew I’d be here,” Jaden says.
“I didn’t know you were friends with Marza and Thomas,” Lola says.
“I’m actually here with—”
“Lola… Hey.” Nikita says wrapping an arm around Jaden.
“Hello?” Lola says confused.
Jaden cracks a crooked smile at Lola. It seems remorseful like he didn’t think something through.
“The line was so long. You want some hors d'oeuvres, baby?” Jordan says walking up to Lola.
No one responds, Lola keeps staring at Jaden, and then back at Nikita. Jordan is bumping to the music, not fully aware that there is, in fact, an elephant in the room.
Wow, you continue to put a loop and twist . This is truly a soap opera.