“I’m so sorry this happened.” When she pulled back, she gave him a weak smile. “I’m here for you if you need to talk.” They were only eleven months apart and more like twins than anything, and he always turned to her for support but right now, he seriously just wanted to be alone.
When it was down to just Tyler in the room, Elliott sat back down.
“Man, that was…intense,” he murmured.
“Which part?” Tyler joked, sitting beside him. “Seriously, you okay?”
He shrugged. “I’m still a little shell-shocked.”
“I’m so sorry, Elliott. Really. Now I feel even worse about the things I said before the ceremony. Although, if you think about it…”
“Not the time for that,” he quickly interrupted. Because…yeah. He’d already thought about it.
They sat in silence for several minutes before Tyler spoke again. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. We’ll go grab a beer and a burger and just chill. What do you say?”
It sounded good, but…
“I appreciate it, but I really just want to go home and…be. Rain check?”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll drive you home.”
Right. Because he didn’t have his car here because he and Tracy were supposed to be taking a limo to the airport later to go on their honeymoon to Belize.
Daniel was probably buying himself a ticket and packing his suitcase right now.
The bastard.
Together, they walked out of the room and Elliott noticed the catering staff scurrying around cleaning up the room. Hopefully they all got paid and would be happy to be able to go home early rather than hanging out all day serving wedding guests.
Then he wondered how much the average server made. Did they get paid by the hour? By the gig? Were they getting shorted on their pay since there wasn’t a reception? His mind was spiraling but at least he wasn’t simply thinking of himself right now.
Unlike some people…
Damn Tracy and Mr. GQ.
No one made eye contact with him and he wasn’t offended. The last thing he wanted was more sympathetic glances. He had a feeling he’d be seeing an abundance of them in the coming days and weeks so if he could avoid a few right now, he’d take it. When they were outside by Tyler’s car, Elliott stopped.
“You know what? I think I left my phone back in the suite.”
“Want me to go grab it for you?”
But Elliott waved him off. “You go ahead. I’ll go grab it and I think I’m gonna just walk around for a while and then grab an Uber or something. Or maybe ask Josie for a ride. I’m sure she’s going to hang around with her staff for a while.”
“Dude, don’t just wander around the city in your tux. That’s just sad.”
“Yeah, well…kind of fitting, don’t you think?”
“Don’t do this,” Tyler pled. “Get your phone and we’ll get out of here. I hate thinking of you being alone right now. It’s not good for you.”
“Maybe not, but honestly, it’s what I need. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
With a silent nod, Tyler waved and climbed into his car, and for the first time in over an hour, he felt like he could breathe.
Pulling his tie from around his neck, he stuffed it in his pocket and opened the top button of his shirt before heading back into the catering hall. Making his way across the event space, he wondered if this kind of thing had ever happened before to anyone else. He was fairly certain it had, but…he kind of wished he had some idea of what he was supposed to do or how he was supposed to feel. Was there a support group he could join to find out what he should be doing next?
Other than being forced into an embargo.
He snorted at the thought. Embargo. It was ridiculous. No one could honestly expect him to just change who he was and stop wanting to be involved with a woman for a year, could they? Of course, there was some merit to the idea–after all, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to take on a new hobby or find something new to do. If anything, it would be a great way to meet someone new.
“Ugh…just stop,” he muttered, spotting someone walking into the groom’s suite. He saw the swish of a long, blonde ponytail and immediately knew it was Skylar. She was probably just doing her job–cleaning up another spot after an event.
When he stepped into the doorway, he stopped in his tracks. She wasn’t cleaning up.
She was looking through his phone!