The Marriage of Nathan West

The Engagement

He was drunk. The minute he left Maxie at the hotel and arrived at Chelsea's apartment, he headed to her wetbar and helped himself. He was currently working his way through a bottle of whiskey, trying to numb his anger at himself for hurting Maxie. He kept reminding himself that he had done it for her. Marrying Chelsea to keep Maxie out of prison was his only option right now. Even if he hadn't agreed to Chelsea's demands and let her lie play out, there were too many factors going against Maxie.

He ticked them off mentally sitting on Chelsea's couch and staring at the wall. An unfriendly lead detective, numerous witnesses to Chelsea's distracting kiss, Maxie and Scott both following them when he left the room with Chelsea, her own admission that she and Scott had argued. None of it was concrete proof that Maxie had committed murder, but taken all together her situation was bleak. What other choice did he have but to go along with Chelsea's demands? At least until he could find out what she really saw, he saw no other option.

Three hours into his binge, Chelsea stomped into the living room with a coffee cup and a french press. She glared at him, reaching for his tumbler of whiskey attempting to take it from him. Nathan held it out of her reach, downing the last of the liquid.

"You're drunk!" She reached for the half empty bottle but his reflexes were still better than hers. He snagged it from the coffee table and held it out of her reach.

"Yep, I am. So what?"

"You are going to stop drinking this instant, James. This wasn't part of our deal."

Nathan shrugged. "You didn't say I couldn't drink. Besides, what does it matter what I do as long as I stay away from Maxie and marry you. That was the deal right? Be your trophy husband and Maxie doesn't go to jail for something she didn't do. Or did I miss something?"

"No, that was the deal. I just didn't expect you to be so surly about it."

"Surly?" Nathan stifled a laugh. "I'd say I was being downright pleasant about it all things considered."

"Do you call getting stinking drunk in my home pleasant?"

"I call it coping. Nothing about what you're demanding from me is pleasant." He took a large drink from the bottle, swallowing noisily. "Getting drunk is the only way I can deal with it."

"All I am doing, James, is rectifying our situation. You and I should have been married by now. Instead you ran off to that backwards little town without a word and the next time I see you, you've got some blonde tramp on your arm. Madeline was right, you can do so much better."

He rolled his eyes at the mention of Madeline. She and Chelsea had always been close. In retrospect, he could see why. Birds of a feather.

"Madeline has no idea what is good for me and what isn't. Maxie," he added with a pointed look. "Is good for me."

Chelsea slid closer to him on the sofa. "I was good for you once. I could be good for you again," she said sliding a hand down his arm, letting it rest on his hand.

Nathan looked down at it with disdain. "You were never good for me. I'm not sure how you could think that considering how many of my friends you slept with while we were together. But then, maybe you did that for me. That seems to be the most popular excuse for terrible behavior when it comes to me."

She had the decency to look ashamed of herself for a split second. "I shouldn't have been so awful. I was just trying to get your attention. All you thought about was your sister and being a policeman."

"Well you got it." He picked up her hand and pushed it away from him. "I agreed to your demands for Maxie's sake. Not to get back together."

"You'll change your mind eventually," Chelsea said. She leaned away from him. "I'm very patient."

"I love Maxie," Nathan said closing his eyes.

Chelsea reached over and dug her fingernails into his shoulder. "No! You don't get to say that anymore! That most definitely was part of our deal."

He sighed, opening his eyes again. "Right. I have to marry you and never see Maxie or mention her name ever again. In return, you don't spread vicious lies about her that will get her sent to prison. That's a real good deal, I made there."

"But you did agree to it. I won't say another word about Maxie as long as you hold up your end of the bargain." She let go of him giving him a coy smile. "In fact, I've been thinking about our wedding. It will have to be small. After Eric and Alicia's ridiculous farce, we'll need something small and romantic to show we aren't just some cardboard couple."

Nathan bit his tongue, listening for all he was worth. She was saying something important and he needed to remember it when the haze of alcohol lifted.

"I'll invite your mother, Madeline I mean. Not that other one. And obviously my parents and some of our old friends. Chris, Darren, Michelle, Heather," she ticked them off on her fingers. They were all people he hadn't thought of in years. "And I suppose if Eric and Alicia are still in town, I'll invite them too. After all, it was their ridiculous wedding that brought us back together."

"Technically, it was Scott's murder," he said before he could stop himself. She stared at him, shooting daggers with her eyes. He shrugged and lifted the whiskey bottle to his lips. "If Scott hadn't been murdered by someone, Maxie and I would have left New York and everything would be the way it is supposed to be."

"Why do you have to make this so difficult? You agreed to all of this so there must be some part of you that wants it," Chelsea snapped. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

"Right. I must want it so much the first thing I did was get so drunk I couldn't stand. Yep, makes sense, Chelsea." He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "I'm doing this for Maxie and only Maxie. She's the one I'm in love with, not you. I'm going to make sure she gets out of this mess you made, one way or another. If I have to pretend to like you, than that's what I'll have to do."

She pushed him away, scowling darkly. "God, you're a terrible drunk. Go take a shower and sober up."