Everything Changes

the perimeter of the room. A circular wet bar manned by two bartenders has been established in the center of the room, between two large potted trees with multihued leaves. Tuxedoed waiters stand ready to circulate hot appetizers on polished silver trays. On the first landing of the staircase, members of the four-man band have finished setting up their instruments, and are now hanging out in the loose manner of musicians as they fasten their ratty cummerbunds and clip-on bow ties. The grand double doors on both sides of the anteroom have been opened, allowing access to the living room and dining room respectively. As with their lesbian daughter, Hope’s parents are compensating for their disapproval with an extravagant demonstration of acceptance, and into the chaos of this charade I stride, with the mother of all headaches throbbing in my temples.
    “Hello, Zack,” says Vivian, her lips like dry tissue paper against my cheek. “What do you think?” Her hair and makeup are done, but she’s overseeing the final preparations in her bathrobe.
    “It looks amazing,” I say.
    “The banners aren’t draping the way they were meant to, but there’s nothing to be done about it now, I suppose. They’ve already dismantled the scaffolding.”
    “I think they look great,” I say. “And the trees are a very nice touch.”
    “Aren’t they? They were trucked down from a nursery in Vermont.”
    “Where’s Hope?”
    “She’s in her room, touching up. She asked me to send you up when you got here.”
    I find Hope sitting in front of her vanity, blotting her lipstick, her hair done up in a French braid to show off the graceful lines of her neck. “Hey there,” she says to my reflection. “You look sharp.”
    “Thanks,” I say, straightening my tie in the mirror. I walk up behind her and place my hands on her shoulders, studying our reflection in the mirror. There we are, the happy couple, ever after, till death do us part. The bride glowing, the groom blushing, either from excitement or from the inadvertent Viagra dose that even now renders the skin of his face hot and prickly, like a sunburn. I have somehow pulled this off, landed this gorgeous, vibrant woman, and there is a whole life out there waiting for us. There will be travel, and children, and ultimately a house of our own. We can have a room for Pete, who will be an adored uncle and who will probably come to stay for longer intervals as Lela gets older. We’ll make friends in the neighborhood, become active in the school, immerse ourselves in the wonder of our growing family, and through it all I’ll wake up every morning to the flawless beauty of Hope’s face, go to bed at night enveloped in the soft warmth of her naked embrace. All I have to do is dismiss the delusion of a higher love with Tamara; this ephemeral fantasy triggered by nothing more than an untimely attraction and sublimated fears.
    Hope meets my gaze in the mirror, her eyes questioning and kind. “You ready for this?”
    I nod and lie. “You bet.”

    An hour later, the place is hopping. I am introduced to couple after couple of her parents’ friends, and after my third drink or so, they all merge into the same couple, silver, tanned, and expensively preserved, and I stop feeling the need to impress. Norm and Lela arrive together, which is a whole ball of weird all its own, Lela glammed up in a regal black gown and borrowed jewelry, Norm looking uncharacteristically dapper in a dark suit and a water-stained tie. Pete follows behind them, looking scrubbed and spiffy in a new black suit and tie, his curly hair gelled into temporary submission.
    Norm pulls Hope into a bear hug, kissing her cheek on the way in and then again as he releases her. “We finally meet,” he says, grinning broadly, steadying her by holding on to her arms just above the elbows.
    “I’m so glad you could come,” Hope says, a little shaken, but smiling nonetheless.
    “You, my dear, are positively breathtaking,” he says, shaking his head in wonder, still holding on to her arms.
    “Thank you,” Hope says, embarrassed.
    “Stunning. Absolutely stunning.” He winks at her. “Just remember, if things don’t work out, I’m always available.” He leans in to kiss her cheek one more time. “I taught him everything he knows.”
    Hope laughs. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
    “You didn’t tell me he was such a flirt,” Hope whispers to me, still blushing, after Norm lets go of her to meet Jack and