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Everyone except me.
As Matt’s dirty secrets ate away at me, hollowing me, the server came by with lunch menus and asked if we wished to order anything. Was he kidding? I was close to throwing up. Alexa passed on behalf of both of us, but ordered another round of Kirs.
“Who else?” I at last spat out, the need to know trumping my shock.
“Nat, I can’t tell you. All I will say…at least a dozen women you know. They call him Matt the Stallion.”
Matt and his big dick. I thought back to my breakdown. Is that why he was rarely with me? Had he been screwing all my friends while I was practically a vegetable? And maybe all the pretty nurses? And where had he disappeared to the night of the FAFAK gala after the Tanya incident? He’d gone upstairs with Lance to change out of his wet clothes, then I never saw him until dessert came. Had he been banging one of my friends right under our roof?
“Natalie, are you okay?” asked Alexa.
One small word. One big lie. “Yes.”
“I hope you don’t mind me telling you.”
“I’m glad you did.” My voice was devoid of emotion.
Her signature wide, toothy smile spread across her Botoxed face. She polished off her sparkly pink drink.
“Nat, I’ve missed you terribly. Can we be friends again?”
Was she serious? Without another word, I hurtled out of the restaurant and vomited on the sidewalk while the valet got my car.
I was falling down a rabbit hole.
And wasn’t sure I could get back up.
THIRTY-FIVE
PAIGE
My phone alarm.
The familiar chime played until I reached under my pillow and turned it off. I cocked an eye half-open, then the other. My heavy lids felt like they’d been cemented shut.
Despite my pep talk with Jordan, I’d hardly slept. Tossing and turning, unable to block out Lance and Tanya from my mind. My period cramps hadn’t helped either. I’d finally fallen asleep at some wee hour of the morning and at best had gotten two hours of sleep.
I felt like crap. My eyes stung. My brain was in a fog. And I still had cramps. If I looked as bad as I felt (which I’m sure I did), there was no way I could go to school today. Concentrate in class. Take PE. Above all, face Lance. Or Tanya. Even the thrill of watching her open her computer bag, to find a cast-iron pan instead of her laptop, couldn’t motivate me.
Unable to get out of bed, I texted my mom, telling her I was sick and needed to stay home from school. Mom replied with a sad-faced emoji. She told me she’d leave a tray with some hot tea and non-dairy buttered toast outside my door before she left for Pilates and have my father take Will and Tanya to school. The mere mention of her name made me feel sicker.
I slid back under my comforter and managed to catch another few hours of shut-eye. When I re-awoke a little after ten, I actually felt a lot better. I rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. To my surprise, our housekeeper, Blanca, was inside with a mop and a bucket of cleaning supplies.
“Hola!” I said, giving her a hug.
I loved Blanca. The jovial, hardworking El Salvadorian had been with us for years. I’d helped her study to get her American citizenship. She was practically family. More of a mom to me than my own mother, who’d rather go on her merry philanthropic way.
“Hola, mí chiquita! Tu mamá me dijo que no te sientes bien.”
“I feel much better now.”
Except Tanya’s side of the bathroom could make me puke. It was a disaster as usual. Hair and toothpaste all over the sink, her grooming products in total disarray. I felt bad Blanca had to clean it up, plus tidy her pigsty of a room. I apologized for the state of the bathroom.
Blanca made a face. “Tanya…muy sucia. Como una puerca!”
I laughed as she told me Tanya was a filthy pig. I couldn’t help making a loud snort. Blanca made an even louder one, and following a snorting match, we both laughed until we cried. After the laughter died down, I told our housekeeper that I’d clean Tanya’s side of the bathroom. She protested, but I insisted. She finally gave in. Of course, I wasn’t going to go anywhere near her sink. Especially without wearing a hazmat suit. Let the pig have a hissy fit. I’d just tell my mom I had to spend most of my day in the bathroom so Blanca wouldn’t get in trouble.
Once Blanca left, I did my normal morning routine and took a shower, which made me feel even better. My cramps were gone. And somehow the hot pounding water had cleansed me of Lance. For the first time as I towel-dried myself, I tried to imagine Tanya’s reaction when she opened her computer bag and discovered the casserole pan. I’m sure she went ballistic and had a total meltdown. A big part of me wished I could have been there, but likely the rest of my day would have been hell. I wouldn’t have put it past her to physically assault me, perhaps even bang me over the head with the heavy metal pan when I wasn’t looking. Stick her posse on me. Thank God Will was away on a field trip all day and had a robotics meet-up after school or his life would be endangered too.
