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"Excuse me, ladies room," I say.
"You're not calling her, are you?" Joel asks, still in character.
"Of course not." I ignore my whiskey shot and spin on my heels.
"You sure you're okay, Violet?" Joel breaks character.
"I will be." Maybe. One day. I walk away before anyone else can ask about it.
The women's bathroom is right around the corner. It's a small, two-stall restroom and it's mercifully empty. I catch my reflection as I pace. The dark makeup does wonders to hide my anxiety.
Okay, I'm not calling my fictional ex. I'm not calling my real ex, either. But I am calling Athena.
She answers right away. "You are alive."
"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you," I mumble.
"Mhmm."
"I'll do the dishes for a week."
Her voice brightens. "I'm listening."
"How is everything at home?"
She makes a noise that means terrible. "You know my sister. She borrowed my dress, I got pissed, all of a sudden we're calling each other names. It wasn't about the dress but… I'm back in the apartment."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Sweetie, I know you didn't call me after four days of radio silence to ask me about my sister." Athena's voice is a mix of take-no-shit and caring. "What happened?"
I run my fingertip over the back of my phone. "That's a complicated question."
"That's a bullshit answer." She clears her throat. "If you don't want to talk, I have books to read. Smutty books."
"Promise you won't be mad I haven't told you this yet."
Her voice takes on a serious tone. "I don't make promises I can't keep."
"I'm with Ethan."
"Ethan as in your rock star ex-boyfriend Ethan? As in the guy you've been pining over for the last two years Ethan?"
"I have not."
"Yeah, you barely even looked at Mr. Boring. The whole time, you were thinking about Ethan."
"Denny was nice."
She scoffs.
I can't exactly argue. Denny was nice but that was it.
I take a deep breath and I give Athena the short version of events. Mal offered me a job, I took it, Ethan and I decided to sleep together, just sex. Athena uh-huhs and yeah rights at all the appropriate places.
The woman sees through me like I'm made out of glass.
"I'm not going to give you hell about holding a candle for a guy who is hot, rich, and famous and… hot. God, he's so hot in pictures. Is he really that hot?" she asks.
