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I Did Not Break Up Claire and Jeremy(continued) Over the next three years, the five of us would feel like a family,
in our own way. There would be many more games of chess. Aidan got rather
good. Claire hoped that Glory would join her in her disdain for the
chessboard. Instead, Glory acquired a love of the game and some coaching
from her brother. At times they asked us why Mama and Dad didn't live
together anymore, particularly when the separation legally became a
divorce and we all had to go to court. There were no tears, though. And yes, there would be a few more awkward moments when Jeremy and
I were alone together. There was the time he went to the Czech Republic
to film an adventure movie, Half to Death. He came home with
pneumonia. In the grip of a very high fever, he told me that, quite
frankly, all he really wanted was to see me naked, and then he passed
out. With his English accent, it almost sounded charming. A year later, Claire agreed to appear in a movie called Miss New
Jersey. It was the beginning of the end. Making a movie about a
beauty contest, she met the owner of City Girl Cosmetics. She introduced
me to him at one of the cast parties. I could tell that Glen Stinson
was smitten with Claire. He had a fat face and was smiling at my elegantly
dressed lady like a Cheshire pig. But he had some interesting stories
to tell. He was the head of the world's largest cosmetics company, after
all. I kept one hand on Claire, possessively, as we went back and forth
between Glen and the bar. "Crystal," Claire whispered to me as Glen laughed at his
own joke about a Japanese cosmetics firm, "do you have to cling
to me like that?" And she pulled her arm away. "Isn't Glen fascinating?" she said to me in the car, when
the party was over and she was a little drunk. "No," I said. "He seems like an arrogant asshole. I
guess that's how he got to be in charge, but as a person it makes him
a little... what's the word I want to say here?" "Powerful," she said. "You like power?" I said in my customary way, joking to relieve
the tension. "I could slap you around a little bit." Her eyes got big. "Ooh, spank me." We were being facetious, but underneath the tension and the jokes,
the attraction between us was real. We made love in the car. From that
moment, though, I understood that this Glen was a threat to everything
I held dear. When Claire was sober again the next morning, I asked her about it.
She was in the shower. I took off my clothes and stepped in beside her. "Did you have fun last night?" She shrugged, and smiled her adorably crooked smile. "I think
I had a few too many Midori margaritas. I didn't do anything that's
going to end up on the cover of the National Enquirer, I hope."
Her fingers worked shampoo into her yellow hair. "No," I said. I grabbed a sponge and washed her back in
slow circles. She rinsed, and I moved down to her lower back. "Do
you remember meeting some guy who owns a makeup company?" "Glen," she said. "Wasn't that his name? I was kind
of hoping he'd offer to send us a gift bag or something. You're the
only woman I've ever met whose entire makeup kit consists of one tube
of lipstick. Not that you don't look beautiful." At the end of the week, Claire's agent called and said that Glen was
trying to get in touch with her. Claire returned his call, and he invited
us to lunch. "Did he use my name?" I asked her. "He couldn't remember it. He called you my friend." "And did you accept the invitation?" She didn't that time, but Glen turned out to be persistent. One night
when we had Aidan and Glory, Claire got dressed and told me to do the
same. "Are we taking the kids somewhere?" "No, we'll drop them off with Jeremy. Glen's taking us to this
club... " I laughed, making her frown. "Sorry, sweetie, but your ex is in
Dublin. We're supposed to pick him up from the airport on the seventeenth,
remember?" She didn't remember. But she had a plan. "Stay here with Glory and Aidan, just this once. I'll make it
up to you when I get home, I promise." Now I frowned. But Claire was very charming, and convinced me that
everything would be all right. She didn't get home until seven thirty the next morning. We had a big argument. When she stormed off "to get some air,"
I called Jeremy. Jeremy sounded worried when I finally got him on the phone. When I
told him why I was calling, he laughed. "Thank God," he said.
"I thought you were going to say Glory was in the hospital or something." "Don't laugh," I said, gritting my teeth. "I'm telling
you that Claire is sneaking around with a man behind my back. This is
serious." "And you think I'll know how to deal with it, as I've already
lost her." Honestly, I didn't know why I thought it would be reassuring to call
him. Maybe subconsciously, I thought that if he could tell me what Claire
liked in a man, I could be that for her. My cause was doomed. Still,
at that moment, Jeremy and I had one more thing in common. We were slowly,
painfully breaking up with Claire Hamilton. When Claire and Glen decided to get married, someone had to bring Aidan
and Glory to the wedding. Jeremy and I agreed to do it, together. We
sat the kids in the front row of the spacious church, then slunk to
the back. He smiled, the hardest acting job he ever had. Not being an
actor, I choked on my tongue through the ceremony. I bit my lower lip
so hard it bled. As the ceremony ended, I went to hide in the bathroom.
Jeremy was waiting outside the door when I came out. "Where are Aidan and Glory?" "Claire's sister said she'd take them to the reception. I said
we'd be there by ten. Now, there's a little British pub not far from
here. Do you feel like a Guinness?" "I'll never drink warm beer," I sniffed. "They have a chess board," he said. I thought for a split second. "Well, I guess I would appreciate
the company." We picked up the kids at ten, as promised. On the way home, Aidan observed,
"Now I've got two moms and two dads. Too bad you're gay, Crystal.
You and Dad could get married, and then I won't end up with four
moms and two dads." We went back to Jeremy's penthouse. I crashed on the couch. Before
going off to bed, Jeremy looked as if he had something to say. But he
changed his mind.
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