AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lisa clears her throat as our waitress sidles up to the table.
“More coffee?”
“Sure,” my friend replies for both of us as I stare at the snow that kept Enzo and me apart this weekend. When the waitress leaves after filling our cups, Lisa continues, “No, like a wealthy, famous man standing next to the daughter of the owner of a restaurant he frequents every week.”
No comment from me.
“Char,” she adds gently, “you’re going to have to get used to this stuff with him. Enzo isn’t like us. He’s a celebrity in a lot of ways.”
I do know that.
“Imagine if Jennifer Aniston got jealous every time she saw her . . . OK, bad example. Or some other actress. Imagine if she got jealous every time her celebrity boyfriend or husband was pictured with another woman.”
I stop eating, not really hungry anymore.
“Well, it’s kind of their job to ‘be with’ other people,” I say. “Enzo is not an actor.”
“No, he’s a very prominent businessman in New York, and that paper reports on happenings in New York.”
At least the coffee is still tasty. It warms my throat, comforts my stomach, which is sadly tied in knots. This whole love thing sucks sometimes.
“You’re right, but . . .”
It’s a big but, and we both know it.
“But?”
This isn’t really about that article. It’s about the fact that I’m in love with a man who hardly has time to pee during the day, never mind to get away long enough to carry on an actual relationship.
“But,” I say cautiously, knowing once I say it out loud, the whole thing will become more real. “If we were together this weekend, it would be as simple as saying, ‘What’s up with this?’”
“Which you can still do on the phone,” she says softly as she finishes buttering her toast. She looks at it like it’s a lover, then takes a bite, her eyes fluttering shut.
The girl loves toast.
“I know. But it would be different in person. Less of a big deal.”
Lisa looks confused, rightly so.
“This weekend, it’s snow. A few weeks ago, the vodka formula. Next time, it will be something else.”
I hate the heaviness in my chest as I put words to the things that have been swirling around in my head.
“Meaning?”
I shrug, not exactly sure.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that dating a guy who’s building an empire, long-distance, is hard.”
She laughs, actually laughs, at me.
“You didn’t think it would be?”
I can’t say I thought much about the day-to-day of it. “I don’t know? Switzerland was just so, so perfect. And of course we can’t be on a perpetual vacation, but we have such different lives. A bad day for me is my asshole principal denying a training. A bad day for him is something that can cost his company millions of dollars.”
“So?”
I stare at her. “So? We’re like night and day.”
