Party Night

Chapter 1

Mark and I had this bridal appointment all set, but then he bails on me. Again. All because of Lily.

Mark used to whine about her. “Your stepsister’s such a drama queen, not half as cool as you.”

But now, as soon as he hears Lily fainted, he’s running every red light to get back to her.

“Sarah, I still love you, but Lily’s just so vulnerable.”

I just laughed.

Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too. Get lost, you jerk.

…

1.

I came out of the dressing room, all done up in the gown, and Mark was nowhere to be seen.

The manager awkwardly shuffled up to me. “Mr. Miller got a call about half an hour ago and had to rush out.”

I nodded, walked over to the couch, and grabbed my phone.

Nothing. Not a single missed call.

I sat there from noon until night. The manager kept glancing over, like she wanted to say something.

“Ms. Jones, we’re about to close up.”

I blinked, focusing on the manager’s apologetic smile, and stood up, facing the full-length mirror.

The woman staring back had perfect makeup, but it couldn’t hide the dark circles under her eyes.

Mark kept saying he was swamped. Yesterday, he finally promised to come with me to try on dresses. I stayed up all night finishing my work schedule to make it happen.

And then Lily happened. Mark bailed. Again.

The staff were practically holding their breath. They clearly hadn’t seen a scene like this before. It was so awkward.

I smoothed out the skirt, one wrinkle at a time. The dress was gorgeous. I’d spent ages picking it out.

Guess it’s never gonna get used now.

By the time I left the bridal shop, it was dark.

I called Mark. It rang and rang, and then my brother answered.

“Lily fainted. Mark panicked and drove back. Don’t get all worked up, okay?”

I wasn’t worked up.

I just wanted to know if someone could pick me up.

But Ben hung up on me before I could even ask. Some girl was saying something in the background.

I stared at the black screen and almost laughed.

My childhood sweetheart fiancé and my brother forgot one crucial thing.

I couldn’t drive at night.

In the end, I had to ask the bridal shop manager to give me a ride home.

When I saw the sign for County General Hospital, it snapped me out of my daze.

I’d instinctively given her the hospital address when I got in the car.

Lily’s always fainting and ending up at that hospital. Ben works there.

Mark’s probably there, too.

Right in front of the emergency room doors, a group of people was coming out.

Ben, a couple of our friends, and Lily, all huddled in the middle.

Everyone was fussing over Lily, until they spotted me.

Ben frowned, clearly annoyed.

I played dumb. “Where’s Mark?”

Ben was not happy with my tone. He was practically shouting, “Lily’s your sister! Don’t you think you should ask how she is?”

That made me look at them.

Lily was standing next to Ben, clinging to him.

Like a scared little bunny, she whispered my name, “Sarah.”

I didn’t say anything, just stared at the blazer she was wearing.

It was Mark’s. I ironed it for him yesterday. And now it was on Lily’s shoulders.

2.

“Where’s Mark?”

I forced myself to look away and ignore all the thoughts swirling in my head.

A familiar car pulled up. Mark got out.

When he saw me, his face went tight. He started to turn.

He came over and grabbed my hand, pulling me close.

“How’d the dress fitting go? If you don’t like something, tell them to fix it. Your call.”

I’d been standing outside for a while, so I was shivering. Mark instinctively went to take off his jacket, but stopped, like he suddenly remembered something.

He glanced at Lily.

Then he rubbed my hand to warm it up. It was his go-to move when he wanted to smooth things over.

“That’ll keep you warm.”

I looked up at Mark. He was as handsome as always. But my heart was sinking.

Lily clenched her fists.

“Mark?”

That little, timid voice. Mark practically shoved me away.

I stumbled, almost falling. I had to take a few steps back to catch myself.

Lily, eyes red, grabbed Ben’s arm and took off the blazer.

“I just wanted to give you your jacket back. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

Mark wouldn’t look at her. He came back to me and held me, avoiding Lily’s gaze.

“Keep it. You wear it.”

I did my best to keep a straight face, trying not to meet Lily’s eyes.

Mark was obsessed with cleanliness. No one was allowed to touch his stuff, except me.

Lily used to be on that list too.

But now, it was like she was deliberately showing me that Mark’s jacket was draped over her shoulders.

I looked down, exhausted.

“Mark, I’m tired. Can we go home?”

Mark nodded real fast.

But Lily was holding out the jacket. Mark pretended not to see her. He walked me to the car without looking back.

But the hand on my waist was squeezing too hard, almost painful.

He opened the car door. It was already warm inside.

There were a few bags of Chinese herbal medicine on the passenger seat. Lily’s.

Suddenly, there was a commotion.

“Lily?!”

“Mark, come quick! She’s fainted again!”

Ben’s voice, full of panic. Mark was about to get in the car, but he spun around and ran back.

He was so frantic, he even bumped his head.

The cold air rushed in, along with Mark’s angry voice.

“Didn’t I tell you to keep the jacket on?”

“You know you’re not feeling well. Why do you always push yourself so hard!”

I watched Mark touch Lily’s forehead, his brow furrowed. Then he scooped her up in his arms and started walking towards me.

“Sarah, get out. I need to take Lily home.”

His voice was shaking. This wasn’t the Mark I knew.

I didn’t move. “Mark, I’m tired.”

I think I twisted my ankle. It was throbbing.

Mark was getting impatient. “Sarah, please. Lily’s your sister.”

It was a standoff. Then Ben stepped forward and yanked me out of the car. “Sarah, why are you acting so unreasonable?”

“Lily’s not well. Can’t you just be a little understanding?”

Ben shoved me aside.

Then he shielded Lily’s head as Mark carried her to the car. He gave me a quick look before going back inside.

“I’ve got surgery tonight. You can get home on your own.”

The wind whipped my hair around. I stood there, staring at the red marks on my wrist, feeling completely empty.

3.

I stayed up all night, but Mark never came home.

It was dawn when he finally walked in, smelling like perfume.

“Sarah, Lily was feeling insecure. She couldn’t sleep. I just stayed until she drifted off. I came right back.”

Mark seemed surprised to see me waiting. He rushed over, hugging me tight and holding my hands.

Mark has gorgeous hands. Long and clean. I used to love his touch.

But I just glanced at them and pulled away, going back to my work.

I really wanted to ask him why Lily needed her future brother-in-law to make her feel secure.

But I didn’t want to start a fight. I’d taken the day off, and I had work to do.

Mark sighed when he saw I was still working.

“Sarah, you don’t have to work so hard.”

“It puts a lot of pressure on me, being your boyfriend.”

I stopped writing and looked up.

“You didn’t used to say that.”

“Huh?”

I stared at Mark’s confused face. When I first started at the firm, I worked like crazy to prove myself.

Mark would stay up with me, rubbing my sore wrists.

He used to say, “My Sarah’s the most amazing girl in the world.”

He also said, “I’m going to work even harder so I can be worthy of you.”

I still remember how sincere and caring he was. But it was like he’d forgotten all of it.

The cloying perfume scent was suffocating me.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up and ran.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

I stepped into the hot shower. I looked at the clothes Mark had laid out for me: my favorite pajamas.

Mark, how could you do this?

Caring for me and forgetting me at the same time.

The steam was making me dizzy. I got out of the shower. Mark was on the patio, talking on the phone.

His voice was gentle.

Mark heard me and came over. He took the hair dryer from me, setting it to warm.

“Didn’t I tell you not to use the cold setting? You always get headaches. You need to take care of yourself.”

Mark carefully dried my hair.

His fingers brushed my skin.

“I forgot.”

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was so busy, I would just fall asleep without drying my hair.

It started to give me headaches.

Mark got so mad and told me I didn’t take care of myself.

I was guilty and asked for his forgiveness.

Mark was gentle and took the time to untangle my hair.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

“Mark, do you want to go to Yunnan for our honeymoon?”

Mark raised his eyebrows. “Why do you want to go to Yunnan all of a sudden? Aren’t you afraid of getting sunburned?”

My heart sunk.

Mark, have you forgotten? We had previously said that we would go to our favorite place, Yunnan, for our honeymoon.

You said you would take me to see Erhai Lake and take the best photos of me.

Mark put down the hair dryer. He went over to pinch my face before heading into the bathroom.

I moved away.

It was the first time I pushed him away.

Mark didn’t notice. He just thought I was sleepy.

“You go get some rest. I have to take care of some files.”

He walked into the bathroom.

He purposefully grabbed the phone, which was sitting on the table.

Soon, the water was running, and he was talking in a low voice.

I curled up in bed. I covered myself up.

I slowly started to cry. I looked at the bathroom and stayed up all night.

4.

The days that followed, Mark came home late every night.

“Didn’t I tell you to get to bed already? The company recently signed a big contract. I’m going to be busy for a while.”

The jacket smelled like the familiar perfume, but it wasn’t mine.

My throat was dry and it was hard to swallow.

I just couldn’t sleep.

The sweet aroma of perfume was too strong. I coughed.

“Do you have a cold?”

I think so. I nodded.

Mark touched my forehead. I had a fever.

“I told you not to work so hard. You never listen. Now you are going to suffer.”

Mark said, going to the living room to find the medicine cabinet and a glass of water.

“I will take care of you later. You are like Lily. Isn’t that great?”

The medicine was bitter.

I took big gulps of water and forced it down, but my eyes were still red.

Mark used to gently hug and comfort me when I was sick.

I looked at Mark and his dark eyes were full of impatience.

I couldn’t sleep even after taking my medicine.

I turned towards Mark in the dark.

Mark was far away from me, facing away from me and not looking back.

The weekend was the day Mark and I would eat together.

I had booked Mark’s favorite Jiangnan restaurant, but my hands shook when I saw Mark and Lily together.

“Sarah, Lily said she wanted to try this restaurant, so I brought her along.”

Lily was standing in front of me, restrained and not sitting like Mark.

“Sister, can I eat with you? I’ve heard that this restaurant is delicious. I couldn’t get a table. You are so good at it.”

Lily was putting on the same innocent look. I felt like I was suffocating.

I didn’t want to say anything to Lily. I looked at Mark and didn’t want to deal with this anymore.

“So, my stepsister is coming to have a date with her sister and brother-in-law?”

Maybe I was too sharp, so the two were stunned.

Mark was the first to react. He thought he was embarrassing himself in front of Lily. He was angry.

“What are you saying, Sarah? Lily is your sister. We are just eating a meal together.”

“We can eat anywhere. Why here?”

“Or do you not know how to book a table? I can book it for you.”

I took out my phone.

“Sister… I…” Lily looked scared at Mark.

“Sarah!”

I looked up from the phone and looked at the two across from me.

Lily was pathetic and envious. I looked away. I cared about Mark.

I had a rare temper. Mark sighed.

“Sarah is still so bossy.”

Mark then put food in my bowl and talked to me about the company’s recent collaboration projects.

It was like he wanted to apologize. No matter how much Lily wanted to be noticed, Mark didn’t say a word to her.

Lily bit her lip. She couldn’t sit anymore, so she ran away crying.

Mark’s hands paused. He continued to put my favorite spicy pork ribs into my bowl.

I ate by myself. I didn’t care if Lily was going to complain to Ben.

When I first entered the workplace, Mark was not happy that I was spending all my time at work and demanded that I take one day every weekend to spend with him.

On that day, Mark would stick by my side from morning until night.

He would turn off his phone and even post to social media ahead of time, telling everyone not to bother him on that day.

But this time, Mark brought Lily.

I thought Mark would have an affair. I wanted to ask Mark to confirm whether he liked Lily.

At that time, Mark held my hand tightly, looking anxious.

He said I was thinking too much, and Lily was just my stepsister.

I can still remember the anger in his eyes. Now, I looked at him.

Mark, are you sure you still love me?