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"Tell me about it," I said and she knew exactly what I meant. I was down on relationships, too, but unlike Luke, I did want one.
"So, Luke hired me because he wanted to bring Lexxi to the family function as a warning to Eric that if he didn't shape up, Luke would tell his sister."
"Unbelievable… The lifestyles of the rich and famous."
"I know," I said and leaned back, taking in a deep breath, then I filled her in on the rest of the evening's events.
"That sounds so fucked up," she said and crossed her legs. "I thought rich people would be happy and have these fantastic lives. It sounds like they have just as many problems as we poor folk do."
"Maybe more. I bet people are always trying to use them because they're rich. It must be hard to know who likes you for who you really are and those who like you because you have money."
"Yeah, I guess," she said and twirled her hair for a moment. "Still, I'd rather be unhappy and rich than unhappy and poor."
"I don't know if it really helps."
I didn't know. Luke seemed really injured by his fiancée's betrayal. He'd soured on marriage as a result. He'd soured on relationships, too. His money didn’t stop that betrayal. In fact, it was probably because he was so rich that his fiancée stuck with him even though she was really in love with the poor guy.
What a mess…
"He wants me to come to some big family function in Westhampton."
"Really?"
I told her all about Felicia and why Luke wanted me to go to the beach house for the weekend.
"Are you going?"
I shook my head. "No, I don't want to waste my time pretending to be someone I'm not. If I'm going to spend time smiling at strangers at a weekend party, I want it to be because I'm in love with my boyfriend, not because some stranger wants to avoid being matched up with the daughter of an old family friend."
"He's pretty hot, though. You have to admit it."
I pictured Luke in my mind's eye. "He's incredibly hot, but he's also way out of my league. Besides, he's planning on going to Mars so he's not going to be around for the long haul."
"He's going to Mars?" She gave me this comical look of disbelief.
"That's his plan after he sails around the world, and communes with the iguanas of the Galapagos. So, he's serious about not getting married or even having a long-term relationship."
"Aw, that's too bad. He sounds really sad."
"He's actually kinda fun, though, so it's a serious loss to womankind. His sister said he was really broken-hearted after the breakup."
"How long has it been since they called off the engagement?"
"Less than a year."
"Oh, he's still in mourning then," she said. "Give him time. He'll get over it, especially if he meets someone and falls. Men are the biggest saps when it comes to love. They fall so easily. It's us women who have to be convinced."
I gave her a frown. "What are you talking about? It's the other way around. It's men who don't want to fall in love and women who do."
"No, you're wrong. Men say they don't want to fall in love, but they fall the hardest. It's their hormones. They got it bad. In comparison, women are much more selective. We expect more from our guys than just looks, whereas men will fall for a woman solely based on how pretty they are and how much they smile. Seriously."
"You're a geology major," I said with a snort. "You know rocks, not men. Believe me, men want lots of sex, yes, but they don’t really want to commit. Or when they do, it's the whacko control freak variety."
"Not every guy is like Blaine," she said and reached over, squeezing my arm. "There are good ones out there. You'll find one someday."
I shrugged, not wanting to discuss Blaine or my chances of finding a real relationship. Maybe I was as jaded as Luke, but wasn't as honest as he was. I had little hope that I'd find someone and have as good a relationship as my parents had. It was my hope, but that was pretty much it – hope. It wasn't my experience.
Blaine had been a nightmare from which I only recently woken up. I still had these sensations like he was watching me from a distance, spying on me, even though he was three thousand miles away. I was still in fight or flight mode when it came to Blaine, always fearing he'd show up and try to take me back.
