Page 2 of Somebody To Love

“We’re not waiting for Jerry?” Dana asked as we headed for the exit.

I shook my head. “He said he needed to meet with the other investors—”

“Other investors?” she stopped and looked at me. “Piper, tell me you didn’t.”

I steadily kept walking, avoiding her eyes.

She raced to keep up with me and it was only then that I realized I was practically running from the conversation I knew was inevitable.

“You invested in his company, didn’t you?’

I shrugged. ‘Maybe.”

“Maybe. You can’t sort-of-kind-of invest in something,” She shook her head at me disapprovingly, “I wish you would have talked to me or Carter about this first.”

“You guys would have just talked me out of it.”

“Exactly.”

Sighing, I opened the door to the bar a few doors down from the theatre. I was grateful for the crazy loud band playing up front. Now I could just have a drink in peace without worrying about a lecture.

As soon as we settled at the bar the band announced that they were taking a break and would be back soon.

Of course. I have the worst luck.

“So how much money did you give him, Piper?”

“Not much,” I mumbled.

She gave me a skeptical glance. “Define ‘not much’. Is that more than a hundred but less than a thousand?”

“Ummm…”

She shook her head in frustration. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. “

For some reason, I felt terrible. I was an adult. I ran a successful translation company and I had clients from three different continents. I could use my money any way I saw fit, but I felt guilty that I was funding yet another of my boyfriend’s crazy plans.

I felt kind of like a pushover. Who was I kidding? I was a pushover. I was just too nice to say no to him. And he knew it. I guess deep down I felt taken advantage of, but I didn’t think the person I loved would take advantage of me. At least, that’s what I was convincing myself.

“It’s fine. Really. I’m earning money from it already. So even though it probably wasn’t my smartest move. At least it’s not breaking me.”

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

“I invited you to have fun, not to be lectured about my life choices.” I was angry now. And I rarely became angry, but I felt like the odd woman out. To be honest, Dana’s life had been a mess before my brother divorced her. She had spent nearly a decade in a loveless marriage. And now she had the perfect family, the perfect husband, the perfect life.

And I suddenly felt like the odd man out. My two best friends had married each other and now I was the sad friend who everyone felt sorry for. At least, that’s what it felt like. I was “Poor Piper”, who still couldn’t get it together.

I guess Dana sensed my mood because she immediately became apologetic. “You’re right, you’re an adult. I’m sorry for trying to tell you what to do. You gave me plenty of great advice over the years that I never took, so I’m not sure why I would expect you to listen to me.”

“Maybe because I’m not stubborn and determined to the point of misery. You know, the opposite of you.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

Our drinks appeared and we both downed them. We started talking about nothing interesting when someone slid next to me.

The person touched me on the shoulder and I turned around and found a young lady about eighteen sitting next to me. I was instantly confused. I didn’t recognize her and this bar was not for young adults really. At least, that’s what I thought.

“Are you Piper?”