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“I guess.”
I was what I originally expected to be.
Disappointed by my dad.
It was upsetting indeed.
Hide and Go—Ooh, Tequila!
For once, I was relieved Hale was tied up in meetings all day. What would I say when he asked about lunch with my dad? Would Marty have already filled him in on parts?
Hale hadn’t texted yet, so I assumed he knew nothing, which was better. I preferred to keep my confusing feelings private until I made sense of them.
Maybe I was being childish…
I couldn’t fault my father for moving on. People got divorced for that very reason. I just didn’t understand what was so good about his other family that I apparently lacked.
“Would you like me to order dinner, madam?”
I looked up at Percy, discomforted by the idea of having a steady audience while I deconstructed every inadequacy of my life back to the days of in utero. “I’m not really hungry.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Would you like me to fetch a doctor?”
My head cocked. “Was that a joke?”
“Perhaps a slight one.”
I appreciated what was truly an attempt to cheer me and as much as I enjoyed that, my butler used words like perhaps and fetch. “Do you have access to a time machine?”
“Perhaps. I’ll look into it straight away.”
He left me to my own devices as I stared at today’s Wordle. Flustered with my inability to solve a simple word game, I swiped the app shut.
Not being able to reach Hale made me want to call Elle, but that would be a mistake. Would she ever know what I went through today? Would she care?
Like a festering wound, the mere thought of our dysfunction turned my stomach. The idea of her learning that the lunch with my dad didn’t go so well left me really… tender. I just couldn’t take her judgement or I told you so comments right now, so the urge to call her faded faster than expected. Maybe I was finally coming to terms with our situation.
Did she honestly expect this to just blow over by the wedding? When Seraphina told me Elle ordered her dress I was shocked.
Was she getting a fitting? Did she have her shoes? Fuck if I knew.
I wasn’t going to apologize for being happy, nor was I going to let her say those terrible things to me because my relationship with the Davenports made her uncomfortable. Those were her problems talking, not mine. I just wanted to be her friend. But even that was becoming less appealing as the distance continued.
After scrolling through my contacts and discarding every possible person I could text to distract me from thinking about my father’s other family, I let out a huff. I needed to get out of this hotel and do something. Blow off some steam.
I glanced at the door then listened for Percy. As much as I enjoyed playing princess in the tower, I didn’t feel like being around people. A hard thing to accomplish when sitting in one of the most populated cities in the world.
I quietly stuffed my phone in my bag and checked that I had cash and out the door I went. Just as the elevator pinged I heard Percy call my name, but I dashed inside before he could stop the doors from closing.
The lobby was buzzing for late afternoon and several cars waited out front at the valet. I slipped out the entrance and spotted the black sedan idling on the corner. A plume of cigarette smoke surrounded Marty’s head as he turned and our gazes met. He frowned, probably wondering why he didn’t get a call that I was leaving, then he tossed his cigarette on the ground and strolled toward me.
I don’t know what came over me, but I ran.
Well, I jogged.
He called my name, then doubled back to get the car. I cut through a group of tourists snapping photos in front of the Pulitzer Fountain and dashed down 58th. Cabs intercepted traffic and clogged the intersections as pedestrians moved about the busy walkways.
When I spotted the familiar sedan coming around the corner, I made a quick left and went back toward Fifth Ave, knowing Marty would be trapped in gridlock for a minute or two.
