He always loved her in red.
“Are you Tessa?”
Tessa turned towards the beautiful woman in front of her and gave a dazzling smile.
“Hi, yes.”
“I’m Ana, Craig’s girlfriend. It’s so nice to meet you!”
“Oh my Gosh, I’ve been dying to meet you! Everyone says such nice things about you. Thanks for having me.”
“Of course! The more the merrier. What’s your drink of choice?”
“I’ll take wine if you have it.”
“Girl, of course I do.”
Tessa, Brinley, and Ana spend a majority of their time drinking and talking, and eventually eating as the food starts coming around. All the players are sitting around the large table, either deep in discussions with each other, or with their plus ones. And although Tessa is having a great time, she can’t help but notice that Tristan hasn’t shown up.
“Is Tristan not coming tonight?” She asks, leaning into Brinley.
“He’s not here?”
Tessa looks around the room once more before shaking her head, “No.”
“That is weird, actually. Hey Phil! Where’s Trist?”
Phil looks around before shrugging, but then his eyes lock in on Tessa, and he remembers the relationship that her and Tristan once shared, and he can’t help but wonder if it’s Tessa that’s looking for Tristan.
“Him and Kiana are probably fighting,” he says, trying to give Tessa some ammo. Phillip has always hated Kiana and has never been shy to tell Tristan about it. He knew the deeply toxic web that the two of them have spun together and was desperate to get Tristan out of it.
“Ugh,” Brinley grunts. “Well someone tell them to stop and come have fun.”
“You do it,” he says. “She’s your friend.”
“She’s not really my friend,” Brinley says, leaning into Tessa. “She just makes it nearly impossible to not include her. It’s exhausting.”
Tessa doesn’t answer, but instead takes a long sip of her wine, when she sees Tristan and Kiana saunter into the party.
Tristan looks like he’s ready to punch a wall he’s so tense, and Kiana looks perfectly put together and ready to be seen.
“Sorry we’re late!” Kiana says, circling the table and saying hellos, making sure not to acknowledge Tessa. Tristan doesn’t say anything to the group, and instead takes a heavy seat next to Phillip, directly across from Tessa.
Their eyes lock and she tilts her head at him, mouthing the words “You okay?”
He subtly shakes his head no, and then looks away from her, asking the waiter for a drink.
“Yep, definitely been fighting,” Brinley whispers to Tessa.
Kiana eventually sits next to Tristan, and a decent amount of time passes without any tension or drama, which Tessa appreciates, but she makes a point not to look in the direction of Tristan and Kiana, not wanting to see them together in any capacity.
She knows she shouldn’t be feeling this way; knows that Tristan is not hers to be jealous about and that so much time has passed that her feelings should have dissipated, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“Hey,” she hears a familiar voice and the chair next to her being pulled out before she glances over her shoulder and sees Caden taking a seat, and her body tenses. Not from discomfort from Caden, but because Tristan is directly in front of him with a front row seat.
“Hi.”
“You having fun?”
