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Finn sends me a grateful look. I place our order and grab my purse, letting Nic know I’ll be back in a few minutes.
The shop is only half a block away. The early spring air is brisk, invigorating… not too cold today, just refreshing. The wind blows my hair all over the place, but I’ll happily trade it for the sun on my face this morning.
It’s the beautiful afternoon, the clear skies, the changing season that makes everything look brighter today. The world is sharper, more in focus. It has absolutely nothing to do with the way Nic looked at me last night and again this morning when I walked into the office. Or the way he’s been looking at Finn. Or that monstrous bouquet of flowers with a note that says For you both. And it definitely has nothing to do with my feelings, which I have absolute total control over, for both of them.
The door to the coffee shop shows my reflection. My smile is blinding. God, I’ve never felt so good.
“After you,” I say, holding the door for the person leaving the shop, too distracted to notice them much.
“Oh, it’s you.”
I blink the woman into focus.
“Oh.” Well, hell. “You’re Tawdra, right?”
“Teeny, what the hell? I thought we were leaving.” A second blonde Barbie doll, a shorter carbon copy of the first woman, comes out the door, stopping right behind her friend.
Right, guess I can quit being a human doorstop.
“Libby, you remember Natasha, right?” says Tawdra. Blonde Number Two looks me over and arches a brow.
“No.”
“It’s Natalie. Natalie Casteel. We worked together at Sizzle,” I clarify politely.
“Oh!” says Number Two. “That’s right, you’re poor Jeff’s ex. The hefty one.”
Hefty. “That was a long time ago.” Poor Jeff.
“Hmm.” Tawdra smiles. The effect is shark-like.
She’s a waif, that lithe kind of slender you see on beauty queens, the kind you only get with a certain concoction of good genes and early how-to-be-gorgeous training. Both these women are. I used to hate them as a whole, to tell the truth. And that was before Tawdra started dating Jeff.
“Are you really working for that lawyer downstairs?” asks Libby.
“I am.”
“Goodness, how brave you must be. I wouldn’t dare to show my face around after a breakup like that.”
“Hush, Libby, we all take what we can get. Don’t we, Natalie?” says Tawdra, her accent thick with condescension. “Everybody’s just doing the best they can.” She waves her hand between us, like it’s just us girls, gesturing like we’re friends or something.
The light catches on the ring on her third finger, and my stomach ties itself into a knot.
Tawdra’s been waiting for me to notice it, her left hand still held aloft.
“Oh!” she simpers, splaying her hand on her chest. “You caught me.”
“You’re engaged?” I ask.
Libby beams her own shark smile to match Tawdra’s. There’s blood in the water, and they both know it.
“Guess our little secret’s out,” says Tawdra with a tiny, fake pout. “And Jeff so wanted to tell you himself. He’ll be so disappointed.”
“Congratulations.” I manage to make it sound authentic. “Seems a little fast. You’ve only been together a few months.”
“Oh, goodness, no,” gushes Libby. “That was last Valentine’s Day. You got those flowers right after you moved into your new place, right, Teeny? That was over a year ago now.”
Libby carries on as Tawdra meets my eyes. The full meaning of what Libby’s just let slip washes over me all at once. They’ve been together well over a year. Jeff broke up with me just over a year ago.
