The Blender’s Bargain – Chapter 4

Garrick

The night is clear and crisp as I make my way up the walkway toward Clara’s new house, a bottle of wine in hand. I pause for a moment at the end of the path to take in the sight of the quaint two-story Craftsman bungalow with its low-pitched roof and wide front porch. Yeah, this place is definitely her style.

When I met Clara at school two years ago, her quick wit, vibrant spirit, and knack for creating a warm community amazed me. Since then, she has transformed our ragtag group of friends into a family. This house feels very much like a home.

As I climb the front steps, a flicker of nervousness stirs inside me. Archie will be here, and I still haven’t found the words to tell her how I really feel. Not that it matters now, I remind myself. By all accounts, she and the charming Lexington Callaghan are quite happy together. I’ve missed my chance, probably for the last time.

But tonight is not about me.

And so I lift the heavy brass knocker on Clara’s front door and let it fall with an echoing thud as I paste on a smile.

Come on, Garrick. Make it convincing.

The door swings open to reveal Clara, whose smile seems a tad too bright and broad. Inside, the party is in full swing, guests mingling and chatting over the thump of music, but Clara makes no move to invite me in. Instead, she reaches out, grabs my arm, and yanks me across the threshold, kicking the door shut behind us.

“Thank God you’re here,” she hisses, dragging me into a shadowy alcove under the stairs. Her manic grin has morphed into an expression of naked panic. “We have a situation.”

I blink down at her, alarmed. “What’s happened? Is everyone all right?”

“Physically, yes, but…” Clara runs a hand through her hair, dislodging her headband askew. “It’s Archie. She and Lex broke up, and now she’s… Um…” She winces. “Um, she’s been drinking since three, and she’s telling every one of my guests on the back deck all of her woes.”

I check my watch, and it’s seven. Uh oh.

“They broke up?” Archie and Mr. Perfect actually ended things?

Clara nods, eyes wide and imploring. “I don’t know what happened exactly, but you have to fix this, Garrick. You’re one of her best friends. I have a house full of guests and appetizers burning in the oven as we speak!”

She gives me a shove towards the back of the house, wringing her hands. “Talk to her. I’m counting on you to work your usual charm.”

With that, Clara spins on her heel and dashes off to the kitchen, pausing to right her headband and plaster on another camera-ready smile.

I stand frozen for a beat, thrown off script and flailing for the right line. Archie just dumped her dazzling boyfriend, who I was convinced was the elusive “one” for her, and is now drunkenly causing a scene on the back deck? Impossible.

All right, Garrick — it seems the fates have dropped the next chapter in your lap. At your leisure, old boy. The curtain is waiting to rise.

I pause outside the glass doors leading to Clara’s deck, watching in disbelief as Archie laughs too loudly, gesturing emphatically with her wine glass and wavering in her heels. A small group of guests stand frozen around her, mouths agape, unsure whether to join in her revelry or back away slowly.

This has to be a bizarre dream. The always-poised, professional Archie Sapnu does not cause drunken scenes or spectacles. And yet here she is, waving that glass like a beacon, drawing all eyes her way as effectively as any lighthouse warning ships off rocky shores.

“Another!” Archie crows, draining her glass with a dramatic tip of her head. My heart sinks. How much has she had already, and how far will she go to numb the pain Lex has left behind?

I can’t let her ruin relationships she’ll regret come morning. Taking a deep breath, I slide open the doors and step through.

Showtime, Garrick. This scene needs a rewrite before the final curtain falls.

Archie spots me, and her face lights up. “Garrick! You’re late to the party, darling. Come, have a drink!” She snags a fresh glass off a tray and thrusts it at me with a flourish, splashing wine across the deck at my feet.

I grasp her hand, holding the glass out of the way. Up close, the damage is worse than I feared. Her eyes are red-rimmed and shadowed, makeup in disarray.

“Whoa there.” My voice is gentle but allows no room for argument. I pluck the glass from her fingers, handing it off to a hovering waiter who looks relieved at my timely intervention. “Maybe we should slow this down a bit.”

Archie’s face crumples in protest. “But the party…” Her lower lip trembles, and before I can blink, tears spill down her cheeks.

My chest aches at this. Grief and vulnerability are two emotions I don’t see from Archie ever. I slip my arm over her shoulders and guide her away from prying eyes into the quiet of the deck’s far end. As we come to a halt at the railing, Archie pulls back, fire flashing in her eyes. To my surprise, the tears stop as abruptly as they began.

“That absolute coward. Who does he think he is, leaving me?” She paces, unsteady on those heels. “As if I weren’t good enough. I gave him everything, and this is how he repays me? He told me he loved me a week ago.”

I blink, stunned by this abrupt change in temperament. So the breakup was Lex’s doing, not hers. He left her, not the other way around.

“That’s a pretty shitty thing for him to do,” I affirm, watching every step she takes. If she goes down, I need to dive in and catch her.

“Shitty doesn’t cover it.” She throws her arms out. “That man just wasted four months of my life.”

“I’m so sorry, Archie. This really sucks.”

She waves a hand, cutting me off. “Forget him. He wasn’t worth it, anyway.” But her face tells a different story. Lex’s rejection has cut her, and no amount of anger or defiance can hide the hurt left behind.

I rake a hand through my hair, searching for the right words. Comfort is not something I’m good at, and in this moment, faced with Archie’s broken heart, I am ill-equipped to help her.

Humor. Go for humor.

“Come now, he was dull as dirt,” I finally say. “Always going on about his latest engineering project or geological whatsit. You deserve someone who knows life beyond algorithms.”

Archie lifts an eyebrow, a reluctant smile tugging at her mouth. “Are you suggesting I trade up for a poet or painter next time?”

“Heaven forbid. I rather thought a rapscallion or ne’er-do-well might suit you better. Far more interesting, yes?”

She utters a watery laugh. For a moment, the shadow lifts, and she smiles.

There. The show must go on.

I hold my hand out. “Please give me your shoes. I’m afraid you’re going to fall off the side of this deck.”

Archie sighs but slips off her heels, handing them over without protest. I set them to the side, against the outer wall of the house, where no one will trip over them. She tips herself onto an empty deck chair, her eyes lifting to the starry sky.

“Now, how about some water?” I ask, keeping my tone light. “Gotta stay hydrated.” She nods, and I fetch a glass, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves.

The night has taken a turn for the surreal, and though I longed for a chance to get closer to Archie, this isn’t at all how I imagined it happening.

I return, handing her the water. She takes a sip, staring out at the twinkling lights of the city in the distance. “Thanks. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

I sit in the deck chair next to hers. “Think nothing of it.” I shrug as if my heart isn’t pounding. “That’s what friends are for.”

“I’m going to be so hungover tomorrow.” She cradles the glass against her chest.

“Well, you’ll just have one of your smoothies and things will be right as rain.” She never shows up at school without a homemade smoothie in hand. When most of us are sucking down coffee like our lives depend on it, she’s drinking some concoction of berries and greens. It looks absolutely disgusting, but she seems to love them.

“My blender will get a workout in the morning, for sure. Did you just get here?”

I look over my shoulder at the people who arrive on the deck. No one I know.

“Yeah. I had to wait in a long line at the liquor store. Everyone is celebrating tonight.”

She smiles and looks back up at the sky with a sigh. I wait, sensing she has more to say.

“Lex left this morning,” she says at last. “He got a job offer on the West Coast, in Coralton, and didn’t think I’d want to move away with him. So, he decided ending things was for the best.”

I frown, anger stirring in my chest. How could anyone meet Archie and not want to move heaven and earth to keep her in their life? But aloud I only say, “He’s a fool then.”

Archie rolls her eyes. “Maybe. But the joke’s on me, isn’t it? I really thought he might be the one.” She lifts a shoulder. “So much for my instincts.”

My fingers curl into fists at my sides. If Lex were here now, pompous cad, I’d knock that grin off his face myself for putting doubt in her heart.

“Don’t say that. Your instincts are sound. You just had the misfortune of wasting them on someone undeserving, that’s all. His loss, not yours.”

“Hmmm,” she says, turning her eyes back to the stars. She checks her watch, leaning in and squinting her eyes at it. “I think the syzygy is coming up in an hour.” Her words are a little slurred, but at least she’s not crying anymore.

We sit in companionable silence for a time, lost in our thoughts. The sounds of the party drift out to us, raucous laughter and off-key singing mingling with the ever-present thump of music.

After a while, I turn to Archie. “Feeling up for some food to soak up all that wine?”

She nods. “An excellent idea. I could do with something to eat.”

I help her to her feet, waiting until she’s steady before letting go of her arm. We make our way inside, where the festivities are still in full swing. Clara spots us and rushes over, confusion and concern mingling on her face.

“Is everything all right?” she asks Archie in an urgent whisper.

Archie nods, giving Clara’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Just needed some air and some water, that’s all.”

Clara blinks, relief washing over her face as she glances between us. She pulls Archie into an impulsive hug. “What are friends for? Now go, eat, enjoy the party! The potato salad is to die for.”

With a laugh, Archie allows me to lead her into the kitchen, where we fill our plates and find an empty spot along the wall to stand and eat. Between bites of short ribs and potato salad, fragments of conversations swirl around us, and Archie seems content to listen and observe, the color returning to her cheeks.

Good. She deserves a night of fun, not a drunken nightmare she’ll regret in the morning.

I hope the summer doesn’t end too quickly. Maybe in the time away from school, I can find the right words, the perfect gestures… Is there a chance for redemption in the second act?

Sigh. I read too many books, teach too many classes on story.

Not every book or play has a happy ending, Garrick.

Clara arrives with two flutes of champagne. “The syzygy is coming up in five minutes! I hear the fireworks show is going to be spectacular.” She hands us each a glass and jerks her head at the door. “Come on. I didn’t get the house with the deck for nothing.”

Archie takes my arm with a smile, leaning against me as we make our way onto the deck. The harbor glitters under a canopy of stars, and guests cluster along the railing, glasses in hand and faces lifted to the sky.

Clara wasn’t exaggerating — the display of planets and constellations tonight is dazzling. A murmur of delight ripples through the crowd as someone points out Zephyria and Neptis drawn into alignment, glowing ruby and topaz. Archie glances up at me, eyes shining, and my heart clenches, having her so close, yet still…

The countdown to the syzygy begins as moonrise approaches. Archie slides her arm around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder, and for the space of a breath, the world narrows to just this: the warmth of her body close to mine; her perfume mingling with the briny sea air; the rhythm of her breathing in time with the countdown.

This evening did not turn out how I expected. I figured I’d be watching Archie and Lex make out in the corner while I drank and tried to ignore them. It’s selfish, but I’m grateful that Lex is gone. I’m going to take the win, even if this never goes any further.

The countdown nears its end. Her upturned face is luminous in the moonlight, and she smiles at me.

I look away or else I’ll do something I shouldn’t.

Remember, Garrick. She’s drunk. She’s just been dumped, and I’m her friend.

The countdown reaches zero. Fireworks erupt over the harbor, blossoming red and gold against the velvet sky. The crowd gasps and someone on the far end of the deck cheers.

But the deck rumbles under our feet for a sustained few seconds.

Huh?

Archie and I both glance down.

“What’s that?” she asks, stepping away from me. My side is empty without her there.

Snap out of it, Garrick!

“Did you feel that?” I ask her.

We look around and no one else seems concerned. Everyone is watching the sky and the fireworks display.

Archie blinks and looks around. “Yeah. Huh.” She turns to face the front of the house. “Maybe it was a truck going down the street?”

I don’t know. It felt like an earthquake to me.

“Archie! Come here!” Clara calls from the deck’s railing.

Archie smiles and leaves me, joining Clara.

I watch as Archie joins Clara by the railing, arm in arm, their faces alight with wonder at the fireworks show in the distance. But a strange feeling has settled over me, a prickling at the back of my neck… Something about that tremor was off.

I take a sip of champagne. No one else seemed alarmed. We’ve all had quite a lot to drink tonight, right?

Still, something weird just happened. I can feel it.

Sigh. Hasn’t there been enough drama already tonight?

I turn my eyes back to the sky and do my best to lose myself in the spectacle of light and sound.