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She rolls her eyes. “It’s Hollywood, baby. Everything is interesting here. And nothing is interesting at the same time, which is a fun paradox. I guess I’ll get to work.”
“I’m going to run and grab some coffee from down the street. Do you want anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
Clementine hunkers down at her desk, and I grab my purse and walk to the coffee shop I’ve been frequenting since the Frills West office opened. The coffee isn’t the best, but it does the trick.
A shrill voice calls out my name as I push open the door. I close my eyes and take a few cleansing breaths before turning to face Candy, who is waving at me from down the street.
“Wow, small world! So glad I ran into you. Sorry to hear about you and Spencer, but your loss is my gain, you know?”
“Spencer and I are fine.”
Candy pouts. “I don’t believe you. Why else would he have dinner with me tonight?”
“I don’t know. He’s allowed to have dinner with anyone he wants.”
“Hm. Well. I’ll see you around, I guess.”
Candy saunters off, swinging her hips, and I enter the coffee shop filled with dread. Maybe Spencer is going on a date with Candy. I’ve been saying we’re fine to keep the image up, but I told Spencer it was over. Has he been saying we’re done? Is he going on a date?
My brain isn’t strong enough to handle all this. I text a group with Malia and Abby, and they both answer immediately. We start up a conference call, and I tell them everything I wanted to say yesterday. Instead of calling them after the break-up, if that’s even what it was, I ate an entire tub of ice cream and watched romcoms.
“I’ve been waiting for your explanation!”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t face it. We got into a fight yesterday morning and kind of the night before. I said I wanted to end it.”
“Wait, what?” Malia asks. “I thought you were going to talk to him!”
“I did, too, but I freaked out. It felt like the differences were unsurpassable. Plus, our relationship is fake.”
“Is it really, though?” The question from Abby surprises me.
“You’re the one who was all for me breaking it off!”
She sighs. “I know, but I thought about it a lot over the weekend, and I was going to tell you I changed your mind when I saw the posts about you breaking up.”
“Why’d you change your mind?”
“A few reasons. From the way you looked when you talked about Spencer, I could tell you genuinely liked him. It was never fake for you. Plus, when I saw those pictures of you leaving his house, I realized that breaking it off isn’t protecting you from hurt. If anything, it’s preventing you from what could be the best relationship of your life.”
“Wow, that’s profound,” Malia says. “And I fully agree. You like Spencer. He’s a great guy. I was hoping you’d have the conversation and decide to be real.”
I frown. “Spencer wanted to. He told me yesterday morning that he doesn’t want us to fake date. That set me off even more. I’m way too scared to try this for real.”
“But don’t you at least want his friendship?”
“I do. I miss him already, and it has only been a little over twenty-four hours. We didn’t even talk every day, but when I needed someone to share a funny story with, he was there. I’m an idiot for letting that go.”
Both girls start talking at once about how I was just scared and that it’s okay to feel that way, but if I want to fix this, I will have to do something about it.
All this time, I’ve been waiting in line for coffee. I tell the girls to wait as I get up to the counter and order my drink and a croissant to eat. I skipped breakfast, and my stomach is rumbling. Once I get the coffee and snack, I head outside and sit at one of the little café tables. I’m in no hurry to return since Clementine didn’t order anything.
“Okay, so there’s another wrench in the whole thing preventing me from doing something about this.”
“What happened?” Malia asked.
“I ran into Candy this morning right before I called you.”
“Ugh, I hate that girl,” Malia says. “Working with her is the worst thing Spencer could’ve done.”
“Why do you say that?” Abby asks. “I don’t even know who she is. I looked her up online, and she hasn’t been in anything interesting.”
“She’s a brat. She’s been trying to get into Spencer’s pants since day one and ignores him when he pushes her away. Plus, she’s conniving. I don’t trust the girl.”
“She told me that she and Spencer are having dinner tonight. She made it seem like a date, and I’m not sure if I should believe her.”
