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She set the glasses and OJ down on a rusty metal table in the shade. While Jinny dragged one of the lounge chairs closer to the table, Esther filled the two glasses half full with champagne and topped them off with orange juice. She passed one to Jinny. “Do you want him back?”
Jinny accepted the glass, avoiding Esther’s eyes as she settled into the lounge chair. “We were together for six months. I love him.”
“Enough to forgive him for cheating?”
Jinny looked down at her lap, frowning as she rearranged her skirt over her legs. “Did I tell you he cried when I broke up with him?”
“No.” Good. The asshole deserved to cry. Esther hoped he cried himself to sleep every goddamn night.
“Yeah, I almost felt bad.”
“Don’t you dare feel bad. He cheated on you. Also, he was a jerk.”
Jinny tugged the hair elastic off her wrist and fastened her shoulder-length black hair into a ponytail. “He wasn’t that bad.”
Esther stared at her over the top of her champagne flute. “He missed your birthday to go surfing in Mexico.”
“That was one time. And he felt really bad about it.”
“He didn’t do anything for you for Valentine’s Day either. And when he won those free concert tickets, he took one of his surfing buddies instead of you.”
Jinny sighed and sipped her mimosa. “Yeah, okay. He kind of sucked.”
At least she was admitting it. Esther slipped off her flip-flops and pulled another chair closer so she could put her feet up on it. Her stocky legs were cadaverously pale, an effect that was only enhanced by the blue polish on her toes. “You can do so much better,” she said, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes.
Jinny scowled as she fished a magazine out of her tote bag. “That remains to be seen.”
For such a beautiful, awesome person, Jinny had crazy low self-esteem. It didn’t help that Stuart had zeroed in on her insecurities with expert precision, feeding them for his own purposes. She hadn’t been able to see how badly he treated her, because on some level she didn’t seem to believe she deserved to be treated better.
Esther really hated that guy. “You were always way too good for him. Honestly, I never understood what you saw in him.”
Jinny peered at her over the top of her sunglasses. “Um, he’s a total hottie?”
“You are a hottie, friend. You basically had nothing in common, beyond the fact that you’re both good-looking.”
“We both work in tech fields.”
Esther snorted into her mimosa. “The Apple Store does not count as a tech field.”
“He totally fixed my iPad!”
“He’s into all this outdoorsy stuff like cycling and hiking and camping, and you hate the outdoors.”
“I don’t hate the outdoors.” Jinny waved her hand, encompassing the courtyard around them. “I’m outdoors right now.”
“Lounging by a pool drinking mimosas does not count as outdoorsy.”
“Whatever.”
“All I’m saying is don’t go for second best, baby.”
Jinny raised her sunglasses and squinted at her. “Are you quoting Madonna at me right now?”
“It’s a very appropriate song. Madge knows what’s up.”
“Your buddy Madge was married to Sean Penn, so let’s not pretend her judgment is infallible.”
A door slammed overhead, and they both glanced up as Jonathan came out of his apartment. Awesome. How many times was Esther going to see this guy today?
