How Times Change

“Well”,   Eve stretched it out, “They do have this thing called email…”

“I know , I know- Gran Cecile keeps trying to get me to use it- she tweeted just the other day –“

“Cecile tweets?!” Eve let her honey laugh go at that and put an arm around Jade’s shoulder. “C’mon lady, let’s catch up- you have to meet Richard…”

From that point the afternoon became a blur. Jade did meet Richard, and she was right, he was pretty well put together for mid-fifties, ex-Navy and still doing the upkeep.  She also met and re-met probably a thousand of the Danbury coast’s finest. That scene never changed- it wasn’t keep up with the Jones’s, it was politely bury the Jones’s and then build your condo on their land. Jade could have lived on the coast alone forever, but that New England snark is what sent her out to Cali in the first place- there was room to breathe.

Not with Eve though. Eve was a breath of fresh air that spent a lot of time being talked about and not caring. She said it came from her Maine roots. “Nothing really matters there but what you do”. Jade had always remembered that, even after Eve and her father had split and Tony had taken the job with the accounting firm in Baltimore.

Now, in the present though, what Jade was listening to was sore feet. By the time another couple of hours had passed Jade was worn out from keeping up with Eve and her much longer legs, which seemed to forget they were wrapped in a floor length wedding dress.  After one last stop, Jade pulled her best ‘would you look at the time’, while her heels dangled from her hand

“Phew Evie- I didn’t know it was already getting to be seven- I’ve got a plane at , oh lord, eight am…”

Eve stopped, as if suddenly realizing herself how late it was getting. “Oh goodness. I do keep going don’t I? Sorry honey- this is just so…” She waved her hands in a gesture that took it all in. “You know.”

“I do.” Jade let how tired she was show through her smile. “I’m so happy for you. But…”

“- But, you need to get moving. “ A thought ran across Eve’s eyes. “Oh! There’s one more person you have to see! I’ll be right back, k?” At that, Eve Peters- Simons made off between the tables, heading for a knot of socialites just past the buffet table.

Jade watched her go, and then realized it had been a long time since she’d done any eating herself.  Eve won’t make it back from that that crowd anytime soon- I need a bite! She plopped her shoes on the table and made her way over to the spread in her stocking feet, loving the cool grass up against nylon. It made her want to spread her toes in it like she had when she was little.

The line was constant at these big gatherings, so she joined the end and started gathering a plate. By the time she reached the half point, picking through all the crab puffs and shrimp, she realized her eyes had been bigger than her stomach. She twitched her mouth to the side, wondering what the polite way was to put shrimp back on a serving dish without getting caught.

Next to her, a smooth New England tinted baritone spoke up right by her ear.  “You can come back for seconds, it’s allowed-“

Jade jumped and half the shrimp on her plate hit the table cloth. When she turned to lay into whoever it was that was heckling her though, the words stopped. All she caught the impression of was Clark Kent Glasses on a strong wind tanned face. That and the green eyes staring out of the frames.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to –“

Snap out of it Jade! “Didn’t mean to what? Scare me out of my mind? Leave me wondering where all that sauce ended up on this dress?“ She checked, for effect, already knowing it had missed her. Who was this guy anyway?  Probably one of Case’s friends…

“There you are!” Eve’s bubbly voice broke through her thoughts, and Jade turned, wondering what it was that had brought her right here, right now. “I see you found each other without my help.” She rounded on the tall man, “And where have you been hiding?”

“I told you it’s not hiding when it’s business…”

“And I told you to leave that thing, “ she pointed at the smart phone that was poking out of his pocket, “at home!” There was a smile in the sass.

Something was nagging Jade about this tall, tanned and golly shucks. The glasses, the green eyes, the – “Oh my god, Gnat?!”

An easy smile rolled up his face and he pushed and adjusted his glasses. “Hi JJ. I didn’t mean to make you lose your lunch.  Really, I thought you’d recognize me!”

Jade leaned back with a hand on a hip and tried to find the Gnat in the man in front of her. There was none of the gawk she remembered, none of the sing song in the voice. There was a dark haired stranger straight off of a GQ cover.

File that thought JJ. This is Gnat we’re talking about…

“And how would I? There’s no tape on your glasses.” She let the smile work its way past her suspicious lip twist. “You grew up, Gnat!”

Lucas ran a self-conscious hand through his wavy black hair, chuckling. “No one’s called me that in a long time.”  He looked at her a second time. “You look good JJ- Cali must be kind.”

Not hardly. California was anything but kind. When she first hit out there she wasn’t prepared for the hordes of sun bunnies and their micro bikinis. Summer on the beach in the O meant a constant reminder that her Dad’s genes had given her life curves, not photo shoot ones.  It had bothered her at first, but now she was comfortable in her skin and her JMS jeans.

Before Jade could respond, Eve broke in. “I’ve got to catch up to Richard before he catches on I only threw this party to wear the dress.“ She winked at Jade. “ You two catch up, and I’ll catch you both later. Oh, and Luc?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean it. Hand me the phone.”

Jade looked hard at anything but Lucas trying to say no to Eve on her wedding day.  Finally, he sighed and gave in, dropping the S4 into his mother’s fine boned hand.

“Alright mum, fine, but if it goes off-“

“- I’m dropping it in the punch.” With that Eve was off, weaving through the dancers and other hazardously happy guests.

A moment of silence seemed even louder as the band shifted sets for the final run. Jade wasn’t sure what to say, so she examined the decorations closely. Lucas chuckled.

“That lady. Hard to say no to.” He turned back to Jade, and pointed at the plate. “Looks like you snagged enough for two- feel like sharing?”

That was more like the Gnat she remembered. She eyed the plate, and then nodded. “Lead on eating machine- some things never change.”

Lucas offered her an arm and they moved off to one of the empty tables surrounding the dance parquet.

Lucas dropped her there and slid off to grab them both some punch. She watched him go, noticing the easy way he moved. Well, that’s different. Gnat from the nineties strode around with all the grace of a hung over lawn flamingo, his legs having taken control of his growth somehow. At twelve, he’d always seemed like he was running on cheap stilts. This Gnat, this Lucas, moved through the crowd with a sense of purpose.  With a start, she realized she was staring. 

No more champagne for you JJ girl.

“Jade- Jade Brawley, is that you?” There was no mistaking that voice. A silk sheathed blonde slid down next to her. “It is you! I didn’t know you were coming for the wedding.”

It’s because I didn’t tell you Claire- Lucas, hurry that punch up! Claire was one of the reasons Danforth high had been such a special experience. She’d taken Jade ‘under her wing’ to make sure she fitted in properly. Properly according to Claire. It was also Claire that had stolen at least two of Jade’s high school beaus.

“I didn’t know I was coming myself Claire- Daddy convinced me.”

“Wasn’t the ceremony marvelous?”  Claire dragged the word out, piling on the Vassar girl snobbery in the drawl, something Jade hated. “And that Lucas- phew!”  She turned her head, and Jade found herself hating the look she was draping on Luc from a distance. Mostly because she’d been doing it herself a moment ago.

“I don’t know. To me he’s just Gnat.”