When I sat down to work on chapter 18 of Absent, I had an idea for Dylan. I was going to have Leah find out on their wedding day that he was a millionaire. I even wrote out a long scene about it. But there was something about the idea that really bugged me so I slept on it. When I woke up, I realized I didn't like it.
I love Dylan. He's one of my favorite OCs. And what I love most about him is he's just your average, every day guy. He's not a superhero; he doesn't have the power to become a wolf. He's just a guy you could randomly meet at a burger joint and fall head over heels in love with. By making him a millionaire, he became sort of unattainable so I took the twist out. But I thought I'd throw it on the blog anyway. Here's what I originally wrote:
Chapter 18 - Outtake
Rachel and Kim gave me a hug before leaving, Kim dragging her daughter with her. Nessie stood up from the bed and straightened the dress over her baby bump. “Well, we have to do the traditional, something new, something old, something borrowed, something blue,” she said.
Tracy handed me a package. “This is something new. It’s from Dylan.”
I placed my bouquet on the table and opened up my gift. It was a Tiffany & Co box. I opened the lid and gasped at what I saw. Dylan had given me a pair of earrings set in platinum that formed into a teardrop-shape. Inside each teardrop was a pink diamond that matched my engagement ring.
“They’re beautiful,” I whispered even as I frowned. I’d been with Dylan for five years now. We lived well, but these earrings were expensive. I glanced down at my engagement ring. It was flawless, beautifully cut and in a pristine setting. I never really thought about the cost, but given the matching earrings I began to wonder. How on earth did he afford these? Taking the earrings out of the box, I put them on my ears.
“My turn,” my mom said. She handed me a lace handkerchief with the word kwoli stitched intricately into the fabric. The word meant “wolf” in Quileute. The legend of the wolf warriors had always been so important to my people. Even though it was a part of my past and something I wanted to forget, I felt myself turning emotional just the same. The handkerchief had been given to my mom on her wedding day from my Grandma Clearwater. It had been passed down for several generations.
“Great-great-grandma’s handkerchief,” I murmured.
“Which takes care of something old,” my mom replied. I sniffed and put the cloth gently next to my wedding boutique.
“Here’s something borrowed,” Renesmee said. “It’s Grandmother Esme’s. When I told her the colors of your dress, she insisted I let you use this. I had it professionally cleaned so it’d sparkle for the occasion.”
She said this while glancing at Whitney and Tracy. I knew she was subtly trying to say that she had it cleaned so it wouldn’t stink like leech. She handed me a diamond necklace that looked like it had come straight out of the early 1900s. The diamonds formed multiple jeweled flowers, each one connected by a diamond latch. Inside each flower was a pink stone. I had a feeling they were diamonds as well. I knew everything about the necklace was real.
“Holy shit,
Ness,” I said. “I can’t wear this. The Queen doesn’t own jewelry this nice.”
“You have to. I’m pregnant and emotional. You wouldn’t want to reject my offer in my current delicate state, would you? Didn’t think so,” she said as she took the necklace out of my hands and put it around my neck. I felt nervous just wearing it.
“Which brings us to something blue,” Whitney said, wiggling her eyebrows. She moved over to the couch and placed her leg on it. Her dress skirt hiked up slightly revealing a blue garter. She took it off her leg and handed it to me. The garter was made of blue silk. Attached to it was a heart shaped jewel. I handed it to Emily and she helped me step into it. Once it was in place, I hugged each one of them.
“Thank you so much for everything,” I said.
There was a knock on the door and I heard Seth say, “It’s time.”
My stomach was filled with sudden nerves. Everyone started to file out, but I grabbed Whitney’s hand before she left.
“You okay?” she asked. “You’re not going to spew or anything, are you? I know when I married
Brandon I threw up right before—”
“I remember,” I interrupted. “I’m fine. I was just wondering about something.”
“What’s up?”
I hesitated. I had gotten to know Dylan’s family over the years. They were your typical middle class Americans. And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling…
“Does Dylan have money?”
“Well duh,” Whitney said before she looked at me closely. “You didn’t know?”
I shook my head. How could I? From what I knew of Dylan, he’d worked his way through college, sometimes working two jobs at once. I began to wonder what else I didn’t know about him.
“How much does he have?” I whispered. “Is he in your class?”
“Have you ever heard of the company Gordon-Dutton?”
I nodded. Gordon-Dutton was one of the world's premiere companies.
“It was started by his great-grandfather,” Whitney said.
“But I don’t understand,” I said. “He never gave a hint that he had money. His parents live in the suburbs, not in some mansion.”
Whitney shrugged. “From what I understand, Dylan’s grandfather wanted his dad to marry someone from their own class, but when his dad met and fell in love his mom, who was very middle class, the old man disowned him. When Dylan’s grandpa died last year, he left his shares of the company to Dylan, Kyle, and Tracy. Kyle is on the board now though he operates out of their
New York branch.”
“Why didn’t Dylan tell me any of this?”
“I don’t know,” Whitney replied. “Some wealthy people like to flaunt it. They try to get into the tabloids and ‘release’ sex tapes. Others don’t want the attention. If they can go through their lives without people knowing about their bank accounts, they're happy. You don’t know how many false friends you can get as soon as someone knows you have money.”
I shook my head. “I need to talk to him. Now.”
“Leah, the wedding’s about to start.”
“I’m not marrying him until I talk to him,” I stated.
“Are you serious?” Whitney asked incredulously.
I lifted an eyebrow at her. “Please go get him.”
She shook her head, but said, “Fine.”
She started to leave as my mom came back in. “Is everything okay?” she asked. “We thought you were right behind us.”
“I need to talk to Dylan,” I said as Whitney left the room.
“Are you having second thoughts?” my mom asked in confusion.
“I just need to talk to him. Privately,” I replied. My mom nodded and she left. Looking around the room, I headed into the bathroom and shut the door.
A few minutes later, I heard Dylan say, “Leah?”
“I’m in the bathroom. Don’t come in here though. It’s bad luck to see me.”
I heard him approach the door. “Well, if you’re worried about bad luck, I guess that means you’re not about to stand me up.”
I knew he was trying to joke, but he sounded worried just the same.
“I need to know something,” I said. “You’re rich, right?”
“Oh,” I heard him murmur. There was a slight thump against the bathroom door as if he were resting his head against it. “Is it a problem?”
“I don’t understand…you never indicated…”
“I didn’t have money until last year when my grandfather died. I never even knew the guy and I didn’t mourn him. He hated my mom and thought she was trash. With the exception of buying your ring and earrings, I haven’t touched a dime of his money since I inherited it.”
“But why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think you were one to care about things like that,” he replied coolly.
“Give me a break, you know I don’t give a shit,” I snapped. “It’s just that, I feel like you’ve had this big secret and I never even had a clue about it. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
“Leah.” I heard Dylan sigh. “You know me better than anyone. All the important things you need to know about me, you’re already aware of.”
I didn’t say anything. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, I heard Dylan say nervously, “You’re still going to marry me, right?”
“How rich are you?” I wondered.
His voice was frustrated as he said, “If we wanted to retire right now and buy penthouses in every expensive city in the world, we could do it with enough money left over for our grandkids.”
Holy shit! Nervously, I said, “I wouldn’t make a good society wife.”
“I have no intention of living in high society. I grew up middle class, remember? I like what I do for a living. Our lives aren’t going to change because I happen to be a millionaire.”
I sucked in a breath at that statement. There was a knock on the door in the outer suite. I heard Dylan’s brother say, “Are you guys getting married? The guests are getting restless.”
“Give us a minute,” Dylan said and I heard the door shut. “So how about it, Leah?” he asked. “Do you still want to marry me?”
I heard the anxiety in his voice and my heart melted. “Yes, I do.”
“Because I’m a millionaire?” he joked.
“Of course,” I responded. “Now that I know I have a sugar daddy, I’m not passing that up.”
I heard him chuckle. “I love you, Leah,” he whispered.
“I love you, too,” I responded. “Now get your ass out of here so I can get out of this bathroom.”
“See you in a few…” I heard him leave the room.
