Page 48 of Sway

What did I get myself into? I turn and look for Diana and—Oh Lord! Eric and Nicole and their baby are posing for family pictures with Jared, Benny, Vika, and Karen. There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, ballroom’s version of the Addams Family. Poor baby Rebecca! Her father may be living a lie, her grandfather is married to a woman younger than her mother, and her uncle is dancing with her step grandmother. Is this my future if I stay with Genya? Create some screwed up family to get the best competition results?

Diana is still mobbed, but Jenny is done with her interview and coming toward me. A voice inside my head shouts, ‘Run!’ but my feet don’t hear it. Jenny jerks her head toward the trail of mayhem Genya left in his escape. “What was that about?”

“What? Oh, with Genya? We were just catching up, that’s all.” Man, can’t a girl get a break?

“That’s it? You two seemed kinda cozy.” Jenny looks me square on. “You’re not back together with him?”

Uh-oh. I never lie to Jenny. Well, almost never, and definitely not to her face. Only when she nags me about vomiting. But God, I’m not even sure what’s up with Genya and me. I’m not ready to tell her, yet, and that’s just how it is.

I meet her gaze. “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly? What the hell does that mean? Did you hook up with him?” Jenny’s animated voice booms.

“Good gawd, Jen, stop shouting. The whole room doesn’t need to know.”

“You did!”

Ack, I can’t hold it. I look down at my shoes, unable to hold her gaze, acting like a loose rhinestone on my strap suddenly caught my eye. “We kissed. At the end of the rumba on opening night. And we’ve hung out a couple of times when you were in San Francisco with Tim.” I glance up at her. She’s got her hands on her hips, staring me down. “Don’t be mad. It’s nothing serious yet. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I wasn’t sure what was going on and we were dealing with the Diana situation and with all this show craziness and everything...”

Her chest heaves and she remains quiet. I feel like a jerk, but she doesn’t sense my guilt. Finally, her body relaxes. “I’m not mad,” she says. “It’s not like you’ve slept with him or anything.”

Uhm actually . . .

“Truth be told,” she continues, “I’ve been so busy too I haven’t told you all about me and Tim, either. You’re so right there’s a lot going on. And Diana not telling us about Robert—I swear, she should have brought us in sooner! I’m worried about our baby girl. Oh, the stress.” She rubs her eyes and scans the room. The crowd is thinning. The reporters are still huddled around Diana, though, so at least we don’t have to worry about her breakdown for another few more minutes. “Thank God I can always count on you, Sal. You’re our rock, you know?”

She points to Diana, “Baby,” then to herself, “Stress-Case,” and then me, “the Anchor.”

Yeah, the Anchor who is up to her eyeballs in a Sea of Lies of Omission. “Jenny, I need to tell—”

“Ooh, I have to go.” She just spotted Tim motioning for her to join him. “Luv ya, girl.” She kisses my cheek. “Tim and I are going to the Asian-American film festival tonight to see the new Justin Lin movie.”

Excuse me? “How’d you pull that off?”

“Never underestimate Asian kismet, Sal. After that whole Abercrombie thing, we had a breakthrough.” At my doubtful look, she laughs. “I told you, there’s been progress I haven’t been able to update you on. Tim’s been so open and trying to listen to me. He told me he tried so hard to fit in with the other basketball players that he suppressed his identity.”

“And then he tried to get into your pants.”

“Sal!”

“Oh, don’t get all twisted, Jen. I’m just saying, it sounds like he’s working you.” Jenny’s brilliant, but she never could spot a smooth talker.

She stomps her foot. “Uh, uh. Not true. I told Tim I’m saving myself for marriage. He thinks it’s great.”

I laugh. “And he believed you?”

“Oh, shut up.” She looks over at him. He stopped to pose with Xavier for a photo. “I gotta admit, the guy’s smile melts my cha siu bao. And when he dropped his pants the other day . . .” She nods slowly. “I think he might be the one.”

Cha siu bao? She’s comparing Tim to her favorite pork-filled steamed buns? Well, the guy does have nice buns . . .

My eyes snap back to my friend. Since I’ve known Jenny there have been ten “the ones.” Oh Lord. “Listen, Ms. Stress-Case, take it from the Anchor—you’re nuts. Don’t you see? You’re just a challenge to him.”

She flicks me on the forehead then smiles. “Nothing’s even happened yet. But trust me, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Jen, honestly, there’s something I need to say—” But she doesn’t hear me. She’s already moving away. I grab her hand. “Jen . . .”

She gives my hand a quick squeeze then lets go and bounds over to Tim. “Got to go, I’ll call you later,” she calls over her shoulder. From behind his back, Tim presents her a bouquet of pink stargazer lilies, her favorite. Delicate, bold, and fragrant.

Just like her.

***