FicWad

The party was in full swing when we parked the car on the road about a block down from the house. Gerard grabbed my hand as soon as we got out of the car and started explaining to me how much he was to introduce me to his friends. Mikey and Alicia followed behind us.
“I haven’t seen some of them in so long but I just know they’ll be here.” He sounded so happy. We were greeted by so many voices as soon as we reached the yard.
“Gerard, Good to see you. Where the fuck have you been?” asked a man I was guessing to be about Gerard’s age. He had a beer in one hand and his arm around a much younger girl who stood at his side.
“Chris” Gerard greeted him warmly. “How the fuck you been?”
“Good.” Chris said. He looked over at me. “And this must be the wife. Heard you got married.”
I smiled, “Yeah, I’m the wife.”
Gerard put his arm around my waist and introduced me. Now “the wife” had a name. I noticed Chris didn’t even bother to introduce the girl at his side.
“So how come you’ve stayed away so long?’ Chris asked before taking a swallow of his beer. You could tell good old Chris had already had quite a few.
I glanced over at Gerard to see how he was doing. Not even in the house yet and the beer was obviously flowing freely. I could feel my husband’s body tense at the question.
“Just been busy.”
Chris wasn’t gonna let it go. “Man, that’s no excuse. Mikey’s been back lots of times. You too big of a rock star now?”
Okay, I officially didn’t like Chris. Yeah, he might just be making small talk but he was asking a question I knew Gerard didn’t want to answer.
“Look.” I said suddenly “There’s Frank and Jamia.”
Gerard gave me a squeeze. “Yeah, I gotta talk to him. Chris, I’ll catch up with you in a few.” We walked away before Chris could say anything else.
I leaned close and whispered as we walked away, “So was that his daughter?”
Gerard burst out laughing. “Oh, for sure. Hey, he’s not a bad guy.”
“Just drinks a lot and likes much younger girls.” I said rolling my eyes.
“I used to be him.” Gerard said losing his smile.
I threw my arm around his waist. “Used to, not now.” I noticed Mikey and Alicia has already disappeared into the crowd. Frank looked up and saw us approaching.
“So how’s the new apartment?” He asked.
“Perfect” I answered. I looked at Jamia. “You guys need to come over for dinner so you can see it.”
She smiled, “Sounds good. Alicia told me about your place. She said she told Mikey they should move over to your building.”
Gerard did a fake shudder. “No, too close.”
“Hey, Toro’s here.” Frank said. I noticed he had a beer can in his hand but held it down at his side. Jamia did the same.
“Shit, are we all here?” Gerard asked looking around.
“All except for Bob who flew home yesterday.” Frank answered.
Jamia leaned closer to me, “Hey I need to find the bathroom. Wanna come?’
I hesitated but Gerard removed his arm from my waist. “I’ll wait here with Frank.” He said looking into my eyes. He understood I was reluctant to leave him alone.
Jamia and I made our way towards the house. The front door was wide open and people were pouring in and out. We skirted around groups of people and made our way inside. “I’m guessing there’s one upstairs.” She yelled so I could hear over the blaring stereo. I simply nodded instead of trying to answer. We finally pushed out way up the stairs and got in line. It was a bit easier to talk up here.
“So how’s married life in your own place?” Jamia asked. I understood she was asking about Gee and his drinking mindful of the people all around us.
I smiled, “It’s good. We have most of our furniture now. We hung some artwork and are waiting for our big screen TV.” I laughed, “It’s all good.”
She nodded, “Glad to hear that.” A girl stumbled out of the bathroom obviously wasted. I was beginning to get a bad feeling. I started tapping my foot impatiently when the next person in line entered the bathroom.
Jamia noticed my nervousness, “He’s with Frank. It’s okay.” She whispered.
I nodded that I understood. Still the nagging feeling wouldn’t leave me. I wanted to be back at his side. “You guys enjoying the break?” I asked trying to engage in a normal conversation.
She laughed, “We’re always so busy it’s kinda hard to enjoy it, you know? Tomorrow we got meetings set up all day for Skeleton Crew business. I just wish we could have some down time.”
“Hey, Jamia.” A tall blond said passing us in line. “I heard Gerard was coming. He here yet?’
I took in her outfit and automatically warning lights went off. Wow, was this chick on the prowl. Her skirt was so short and tight I wondered how she walked. Her shirt was cut so low I wondered why he had bothered at all wearing it. Yeah, I was totally being catty but she was asking about my husband.
“Hi, Carrie.” Jamia said. “How have you been?”
I noticed Jamia hadn’t answered her question. Carrie noticed too. “Been great. So have you seen him?”
“He’s here.” I said speaking up.
She looked over at me. I could tell by the look she was sizing me up as competition. Oh this was fun because I could tell by her look she didn’t consider me to be a threat. “So did you know where he is?”
I nodded, “Well last time I saw him he was outside with Frank.”
“Really? Thanks.” She smiled. “I can’t wait to see him.” She leaned closer to me and I could smell the alcohol on her breath. “Did he come alone?” She whispered.
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Jamia trying not to laugh.
“Alone?” I asked
She tossed her hair back and smiled, “Well I heard he got married. Someone told me he had to because of the label.”
Crap, if this girl wasn’t drunk I wondered if she’s be this stupid. Yeah, I think she still would be clueless. “Really? He had to get married?” I asked.
She nodded. It caused her to sway slightly. “Yeah.” She confided in a loud whisper. “Troy told me the label wanted to stop the rumors about his preferences.” She laughed.
So now I wanted to punch her in the face. The line moved as another party goer came out of the bathroom. Jamia put her hand on my arm. I’m sure it was done not just to move me along or to stop me from tearing this girls head off. Suddenly a warning bell went off in my head. “Troy?”
“Yeah, Troy.” In her intoxicated state I guess she thought everyone should know Troy. “He used to work for MCR.” I didn’t know if everyone in the world knew Troy like she assumed but I sure the fuck knew who he was.
“Not anymore?” I asked trying to gather information. What the fuck had Troy told this bimbo?
She laughed, “No, he said he had a falling out with Gerard.” She leaned closer to me and it took all my control not to shove her. “I think it was a lovers spat.”
Once more Jamia grabbed my arm. I looked over at her then back to Carrie. “But what did Troy say?”
“He was sorta vague.” She said. “But I know he hates Gerard’s wife. Said she’s a real cunt. I’d like to offer Gee some comfort.” She said with a smile I wanted to remove from her face.
Once more the line moved and Jamia pulled on my arm. I could tell she was wondering how long I was going to play this game. I wasn’t quite done yet. I feigned innocence, “But if he had a loves spat with Troy do you think you can comfort him?” I knew I shouldn’t be doing this but the bitch had set me off.
“Oh honey, Gee swings both ways. I’m a close friend of his so I know.” She told me with an all-knowing smile.
“Laura,” Jamia said in a low warning tone. I wasn’t sure who she was worried about, the bimbo or me. I could tell her she should worry about the bimbo I was pretty sure I could take her.
“Oh, I didn’t know.” I said.
She was so oblivious to what was going on. I wondered again if it was because she was wasted of just because she was stupid. Actually I didn’t care.
“I’m gonna go find him.” She had grown tired of talking to me.
“Sure.” I smiled, “When you see him tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”
Carrie who had started to move away stopped. “What?’ Her confusion was funny.
“Tell him his wife will be there in a minute.” I said slowly sounding like I was talking to an idiot. Hell, I was talking to an idiot.
“His wife?” she squeaked.
I smiled, “Yeah, his wife.”
She swayed again. “You’re his wife?”
The bathroom door opened. Jamia saw this as her opportunity to get me away from Carrie. “You’re up.” She said pulling on my arm.
“You go first.” I smiled. She looked at me a moment then walked into the bathroom.
Carrie was still staring at me. “You know on second thought I really don’t need to go.” I explained. “Think I’ll just go back to Gee now.” I gave her a death stare. “I’ll tell him you said hello.” Even in her messed up state I figured she’d understand what I was saying. I walked off leaving her standing there.

“Hey” Gerard greeted me with a hug when I reached his side. He and Frank were exactly where we’d left them. Several other people stood talking to them. He introduced me to the newcomers. One was Tony the party host. I liked him immediately.
“I’m glad you could make it.” He said to me. “It’s good to see Gee back home.”
I smiled, “Thanks for asking us.”
Tony told Gerard he’d talk to him in a bit and moved away. The other two people who had been standing in the group moved off with him.
“Where’s Jamia?” Frank asked.
“She’ll be right here.” I turned to Gerard, “Oh, Carrie says hi.”
He looked confused. “Carrie?”
I nodded. “Tall, blond, huge boobs.”
He was still drawing a blank. Jamia walked up.
“What’s Carrie’s last name?” I asked her.
She started laughing. “Shit, Laura. That was funny. I was afraid I’d come out of the bathroom and see her on the floor.”
“It was tempting.”
Gerard and Frank both were confused. “What?” Gerard asked.
“Carrie Long.” Jamia said.
Reorganization appeared on Gerard’s face. “Oh, her.”
I narrowed my eyes, “Yeah, her. How well do you know “her”?”
He laughed, “Not that well. What did she say?”
I didn’t want to bring up Troy’s name so I sorta left that part out. “She was telling me how she was a close friend and couldn’t wait to see you.”
“I’m guessing she didn’t know you were my wife.” Gerard said smiling.
“I didn’t mention that at first. Think I should have?”
He took out his cigarettes and lit one. “Is Little Laura being bad?”
I loved to hear him call me that. “Yeah, Little Laura was being bad.” I said snuggling up to him.
He leaned over and kissed me gently. Against my lips he said, “Keep that thought in mind for when we get home.”
I nodded. “Oh I will.”

The four of us wandered through the yard stopping and talking to groups of people along the way. I have to admit every time he introduced me as his wife my heart did a flip. When we got inside we saw another group of people Gerard wanted me to meet. Several were guys he’d gone to Art School with and they seemed really nice. I liked hearing them tell stories about their time together. John seemed particularly nice.
“Hey, I still tell the story of you showing up that day dressed as a chick.” He laughed.
Gerard shot me a look. I smiled, “He dressed up like a chick?” I said with a laugh. Man, I hadn’t heard the story but it didn’t surprise me.
“Yeah” John said, “He did.” He laughed, “It took us a few minutes before we figured out it was him.”
I played along. Turing to my husband I said, “Bet you we’re very pretty. No I bet you were beautiful.”
He tightened his hold on my hand. “Yeah, I was.” He looked directly into my eyes.
Bobby took a long swig of beer then laughed, “I totally would have done him.” He kidded.
Gerard’s eyes grew larger at the comment. I brushed my body closer to his and our eyes were still locked. “Yeah” was all I said.
“Gee I need to talk to you.” Ray said joining the group. Both Gerard and I looked over at him. We could hear something in his voice. We excused ourselves and moved off to another corner of the room that was a bit less crowded following Ray closely.
“What’s up?” Gerard asked.
Ray frowned. “Troy’s here. I just saw him talking to some guys outside.”
“Fuck” Gerard said loudly.
A girl walked up to where we stood. She was holding a tray with several drinks. “Anyone want just ginger ale?” she asked.
I nodded and took the plastic up she offered me. Gerard was looking around the room obviously looking to see if Troy had come in the house.
The girl lifted another cup off the tray and handed it to Gerard. He took it from her and nodded his thanks. Taking a sip of my drink I too looked around the room. Suddenly I had the strangest feeling. I looked over at Gerard. What the hell, I wondered. Then it hit me. I reached over and took his still untouched drink. He gave me a puzzled look. I set my own glass down on a nearby table and lied. “I’m still thirsty.” He was so distracted by the news Troy was here he didn’t notice my cup wasn’t empty. Raising his cup to my lips I took a small drink. Yeah, it was full of alcohol. Quickly I glanced around the room looking for the girl who had given us the drinks but she was nowhere to be seen. Fuck, what was going on? I sat the cup down and put my arms around Gerard’s waist. He put his arms around me but I suddenly felt his body go stiff. I turned my head to follow his gaze. There was Troy coming through the door with a group of people. Shit, this wasn’t gonna be good.