All Said and Undone by Angelita Gill

names when they hardly knew her.
    “Did you see Lorraine’s ring?” Karen chimed in, changing the subject. “Roger added another diamond to the setting.”
    “Probably because he added another mistress to his list,” said Alyson.
    “Speaking of diamonds, why don’t you wear your engagement ring, Grace?”
    “Jack never gave me one,” she said, to their blatant shock. “But I’m happy with the band. I like simplicity.”
    She might as well have said she liked snorting cocaine on dirty toilet seats, from the way they looked at her. Now she remembered why she loathed these gatherings. Someone save me .
    Moments later, as if God heard her cry, Jack was at her side. “Hello, ladies. Would you excuse us?”
    They stepped away. Grace couldn’t have been more grateful. She squeezed his biceps in appreciation, noting the hard muscle…. No. Best to forget all that hard-body stuff. “Thank you .”
    “No problem,” he said, smiling down at her. “You know, you have an awful poker face. You looked like you were standing in front of a firing squad.”
    “It’s that obvious? I’m sorry. This is why I’m not an actress.”
    He chuckled. “Here. I want to introduce you to Tori and Ellen.”
    Grace suppressed a whine. She’d talk to anyone if it made Jack happy. “Bring them on.”
    He smiled down at her in appreciation. “This way, soldier.”
    They approached a group of couples as Grace plastered on an amenable expression.
    There was Stanley, one of the company’s accountants, and his wife Tori, who managed a salon in Laguna Beach. Grace instantly liked her. Then there was Ellen, a project manager, and her fiancé Mike, who never let each other finish their sentences. Adorable to watch. Doug and his wife Lisa both worked at the company and apparently, had been the center of attention with their not-so-secret office affair last year, which was the discussion of the moment.
    “Lisa put on a pretty good act,” said Stanley. “It was Doug who couldn’t keep from tripping over himself whenever she was around.”
    “No way,” Doug interjected, putting a finger to his chest. “I was the cool one.”
    “Yeah,” Ellen added sarcastically, “sooo cool hogging doughnuts for her and winking at everything she said.”
    Lisa laughed and then lifted her glass slightly to Grace. “How did you two meet?”
    Jack and Grace looked at each other. Everyone laughed as they both gave “Um” and “Well” responses.
    “Must be good,” Tori said. “Do you two need to huddle to make sure you have your stories straight?”
    Grace smiled, shaking her head. “No. It’s just….it’s kind of a silly story.”
    “Tell it anyway!” Lisa said.
    Jack touched his elbow to hers. “Go on. Tell them.”
    Grace could feel the blush climbing up her cheeks. “It’s not very appropriate….”
    “Oh now you have to tell us,” Tori said.
    “Okay.” She took a sip of wine. Everyone was looking at her with such avid interest and she had to admit it would be fun telling the story all over again. “A girlfriend of mine was having her bachelorette party. One of the girls came up with a game for us to play once we got to a bar. We chose a bar near Huntington Beach called Smoke and Mirrors, because they played the best dancing music and the crowd is a good mix. So the game was, the bride had to pick a challenge out of a hat and if she didn’t want to do it, she had to appoint one of her bridesmaids to.”
    “So the bride picked you, obviously,” said Ellen.
    Grace nodded with a smile. “I couldn’t say no.”
    “What was the challenge?” Tori asked.
    Grace gave a playfully dramatic groan. “Oh, I had to kiss the next single guy to walk in the door.”
    The ladies of the group giggled, already anticipating how the story would end while their respective significant others gave amused nods and winks to Jack.
    “And she probably had one or two martinis backing her up,” Jack added.
    She gently nudged him in the ribs. “So,