AllFreeNovel
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Great, now I sound like a serial killer…and one of those creeps who get excited about underage girls’ eighteenth birthdays, as if the difference of one day is enough to transform a teenager into a woman.
“Oh, how romantic,” Hilda says, so at least she doesn’t want to have me arrested.
“Yes,” Ruthie says, “and then he told me, ‘I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.’”
Hilda tilts her head and frowns. “Isn’t that from Dirty Dancing?”
“Yes.” Ruthie grins at her and leans into me in a show of fondness. “It’s our favorite movie. Makes him cry every time.”
Before Ruthie can tell the women that I knit sweaters with her discarded hair, I say, “Look, Ruthie, pâté, your favorite,” and hustle her toward a waiter with a tray.
She makes a face. “No, thank you. It’s like meat mousse.”
“You’re making me look like an asshole,” I say under my breath, pulling her closer so our conversation can go unobserved. The hum of conversation in the room is accompanied by the kind of “easy listening” music that makes going to the grocery store such a thankless chore.
“If the shoe fits…” She says it teasingly, like she’s hoping we can both laugh about this, but I don’t find it funny. Mrs. Legal Beagle is going to talk to Mr. Legal Beagle, and I’ve started caring what Freeman thinks about me.
I’d rather castrate myself than admit this to Josie, but it happened because she made me realize that Freeman reminds me of my father. Now seen, the resemblance of character can’t be ignored. Ruthie’s right about one thing—Freeman is a better man than I’ll ever be, and the reminder that I’m here lying to him digs deep.
“C’mon,” Ruthie wheedles, her breath champagne sweet against my ear. She’s so close that if she leaned forward, her red lips would be on my lobe, and even though I’m still feeling off-center, I wouldn’t mind if she sucked on it. Not even if she bit it. “At least I didn’t tell her you have a small penis.”
“She wouldn’t have believed you,” I say flatly.
She laughs at this, and I steer her away from a fresh-faced waiter who’s approaching us with a tray of full, bubbling flutes.
“You don’t want me to have any fun?” she asks, giving me an accusatory glance.
“If downing champagne and making cheap shots at me is your idea of a good time, then maybe I should go back to calling you kid.”
Her mouth opens. No doubt something really cutting was on its way out. I probably deserved it this time.
Seconds later, Freeman comes bustling up to us with Josie and her boyfriend, who must’ve arrived while we were talking to Hilda. She’s wearing the same dress she had on at the courthouse the other day, so either she really likes it, or she’s playing mind games and reminding me that I’m her legal bitch.
“Our guest of honor has arrived,” Freeman says. Leave it to Josie to become the guest of honor at a celebration that was thrown for me.
“Hello, Josie,” I say, needing to reach deep for politeness. “Good to see you.” I nod to Poe. “And you.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” she says flippantly. “You don’t need to lie about it. We’re used to people not wanting to see us.”
Freeman opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.
“I’m not lying,” I lie as I try to silently communicate that Josie should play along if she wants me to play along.
“All right, sure,” she says, giving me a thumbs up. “So I’m guessing you and Ruthie wouldn’t mind getting your readings first? I have to get my crystal ball set up, but then we’ll be ready to go.”
She points to an old carpet bag sitting on the ground just inside the door. It looks like the kind of thing that would contain a fucked-up creature in a horror movie.
“Uh, I don’t think so,” Ruthie says as she leans into my arm. I curl it more tightly around her on reflex. “I’m a little…shy.”
“Really?” Freeman asks with interest. “You don’t come off as shy.”
No, she doesn’t…because she’s not. So what is this all about?
“Can you give us a minute?” I ask, lifting my eyebrows. “We were just about to call the nanny to check on my stepdaughter.”
“Sure,” Josie says, rubbing her hands together. “I wanted to get my hands on some of those appetizers. Did you bring the Tupperware, Poe?”
If he had any shame left in him, she’s clearly scared it out, because all he says is, “No. Remember? We couldn’t find any of the lids. They were all square-shaped lids, but the containers were round.”
