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Know your worth then add tax.
Lara
“Where did you go last night?” I’m angry when we meet in the lobby.
After not sleeping all night, I finally heard her door slam at four a.m. Instead of charging across the hall, I fell into a deep sleep as if my body had been waiting hours for that noise.
“I had to run some errands before today.” Her voice is steady, not the least bit tired.
She’s wearing a pair of dark, chunky glasses, and when she blinks up at me, I gasp involuntarily. “What did you do to your eyes?”
They’ve gone from clear blue to an uncanny dark brown. “Contacts. Would you recognize me if you hadn’t seen me in seven years?”
“Probably not.”
“I’m not sure how much he ever looked at me anyway,” she adds under her breath.
Her long hair is still silver and styled in supermodel curls, but she’s dressed in a knee-length form-fitted navy dress, and heels.
“You look very elegant.” I feel under-dressed in my jeans and short-sleeved shirt with the same khaki trench from last night.
“I scouted the café where we’re meeting. There’s a balcony above the main floor. I want you to hang back, go up there and wait if you can.”
My brow furrows. “What will you do?”
Her chin lifts, and I’m impressed by how professional she is. “I thought about what you said, and I decided I’m going to give him a test. I’ll let you know if he passes.”
“Will you at least tell me what the test will look like?”
“If it goes as I expect, it’ll look like nothing more than a business lunch.” A small leather clutch hangs from her slim shoulder by a thin strap. It’s brown to match her shoes. “If it doesn’t, I’ll be out of there in less than ten minutes, and we’ll be finished here.”
I stop walking and catch her arm. “Finished?”
Solemn eyes meet mine. “If he answers correctly, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones.”
We resume our walk, but the feelings warring in my chest and stomach range from relief to resentment, satisfaction to lack of fulfillment. I still want answers. I still want to know why… At the same time, if she’s willing to walk, perhaps it’s better to do as Roland says and let sleeping devils lie.
“This is all because of what I said?”
She shrugs. “If you’re right, and he walked away from that place and is now doing good, I won’t hold him to not caring what happened to me. I was worthless to him.”
“You weren’t worthless to me.”
A sad smile crosses her lips. “In the end it didn’t matter.”
We’re at the café, and I hesitate on the front steps. She grips my forearm.
“Go around the corner and use the alley entrance. Stay out of sight. If he sees you, he’ll recognize you immediately, and we’ll lose our advantage.”
I take a step back, away from the front window. “I’ll wait for you upstairs.”
She doesn’t acknowledge my words. She enters the café, and I jog around to the alley.
From the balcony above, I watch as Molly joins Gavin at a dark wood table. He’s still tall and imposing, but he’s lost weight. His hair is shorter and seems redder than before. He has a beard. She sits directly across from him, and they proceed to enjoy a full lunch, complete with a bottle of wine.
Hidden in the balcony above, I order a latte and drink it slowly, allowing the perfectly brewed beverage to warm my insides as I wait for any signs of hunger. My stomach has been in knots for two days, and their prolonged reunion is not a good sign, based on what Molly said.
She passes what looks like a business card across the table to him. He takes it and reads a moment. They resume chatting, faces mostly serious, occasionally smiling, and when my waiter returns again, I order a cup of tomato basil soup and a half-sized quinoa three-bean salad. I take two bites and push it away unfinished.
