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Sophie rubbed her temples. “Everyone knows each other. And, you know, talks to each other.”
“I know, isn’t it fun?” Penelope picked up her laminated menu.
“No! It’s not fun. I like walking down the street and being ignored.” Sophie sounded as sulky as she felt. She already missed home.
“You’ll get used to it,” Penelope said, her voice unconcerned.
Sophie sniffed. “Easy for you to say, your career has always been perfect.” To her horror, her eyes welled with tears just as Maddie sat back down.
“Oh no.” Maddie’s forehead furrowed. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” She picked up a napkin and wiped under her lashes.
“Talk to us,” Penelope said.
“Yes.” Maddie put her hand over Sophie’s. “We’re here for you.”
“I’m fine.” Sophie blinked the wetness away. “It sounds weird, but I think it’s finally hitting me. You’d think being dragged off by the Feds would have made the disaster real. You think carrying all my stuff from the building, or my silent phone and empty email, would have made it all sink in. But it didn’t. It’s all seemed like one big dream I’d wake up from. But today, I’m staying instead of going with Penelope, I have a hangover, and everyone’s so cheerful, and it’s finally hitting me.”
Penelope clucked like the mother hen she was while Maddie patted Sophie’s hand.
Maddie squeezed her fingers. “I promise we’ll have fun. I’ll make it fun. You won’t even miss Chicago. And when you go back home, this mess will be over and everyone will have forgotten and you can start again. It’s going to be okay, because you’re Sophie, and you’re always okay.”
Sophie nodded and tried to take in the pep talk. “Okay. You’re right.”
“And you’re going to be great for Revival,” Penelope said. “You’ll blow them away, and it will restore your confidence and remind you how awesome you are at your job. Who knows, maybe it will even be good for you.”
“Chicago is good for me,” she said. Penelope and Maddie exchanged a look and she frowned. “What?”
Maddie’s brow furrowed. “Nothing.”
“What? Tell me.” Sophie experienced a strange thump in her heart.
Another glance passed between her friends. Penelope shrugged one delicate shoulder. Despite the night of drinking, she appeared completely together in a gauzy white blouse, her chestnut hair perfect. “It’s just that you keep making it sound like everything in Chicago was perfect.”
“It was perfect.” Sure, since her best friends had gotten married and Maddie had moved away, she got a little lonely. But she’d taken care of that by filling her life in other ways.
“But—” Maddie began, but thankfully, the waitress came with coffee, saving Sophie from a conversation she was sure she didn’t want to have.
She wiped under her lashes once more and looked up, straight into Ryder’s gaze. From across the room, he watched her, a frown on his lips.
She put on a bright, sassy smile. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her upset.
His eyes narrowed, his frown deepening.
She turned her attention to the menu. He was so arrogant he probably thought she cried over him.
It felt good to latch onto righteous indignation instead of sadness. She didn’t like sadness and avoided it at all costs.
Penelope peeked over her shoulder at Ryder and then back at her. “Anything interesting happen last night?”
Sophie scowled. “No.”
“You sure?” Penelope gave her a wide-eyed innocent look.
Maddie looked back and forth between them. “What’s going on?”
Sophie shook her head. “Nothing. Not one thing.”
