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“I hate it when you lie.” She set the bottle on the coffee table. “Honey, why did you do that? You could have just told your mother to eat shit about the date for the luncheon.”
I gazed deep into the red liquid in my glass. “I guess it’s just a habit at this point to please her.”
“Did she beg you to make the luncheon about you so nobody would ask questions?”
“She practically sobbed.”
She shook her head. “That woman is ruining your life.”
“You’re the one who threatens to call her all the time.”
“Sadie, I don’t ever actually mean that. I wouldn’t ever call your mother about something you’re doing that makes you happy. Or whatever. She’s not your boss.”
Both of us stared at each other quietly for a moment until we exploded with giggles. And that seemed to ease the worrisome horror of having left Andres. Things didn’t seem so bleak when I was having a glass of wine and a bowl of ice cream with my best friend.
Bella wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just—you know, it’s that Andres is your actual boss.”
“Goddess, he’s still my boss now, isn’t it?” I tried to laugh away the anxiety. No luck there. “You’re going to think I’m crazy for saying this, but it never reallyfeltlike he was my boss.”
“Explain.”
Another sip of wine loosened the tension in my chest. “He took care of me, Bella. He took me to his mother’s restaurant.” White heat crept into my neck. “Goddess, his mother gave me her corsage from prom as something borrowed for the wedding.”
Bella choked on her drink. “Ma’am, are you serious? That woman sounds like she loves you.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have left him.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. You should have waited and talked to him or something.”
I shook my head. “And say what?Hey, sorry, yeah, I’m actually in love with you.”
She stood up and waved her free arm. “Yes, Sadie! You should go tell him rightnowabout that!”
I waved at her to calm down. “Alright, easy. You have neighbors.”
“Downstairs people moved out.” She stomped the ground. “We can be as loud as we want up here.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to cause a scene.”
She snickered. “Honey, you caused a scene by dragging all your things across Silverdawn to my apartment and dropped them in the hallway. Which is still all out there, by the way.”
I lazily gazed at the door. More heat had settled into my body, keeping me locked to the couch. The wine was definitely doing the trick. “Oops.”
“That’s a word for it. You came running over here because you got scared of some real love from a real man.”
“How do you know he’s a real man?”
She smirked while snuggling back into the cushions. She grabbed a fluffy blanket and threw it over our legs. Now I really wasn’t going to leave the couch.
“Everybody has seen you two going on your cute little date walks,” she teased. “You guys sat in the garden every day for lunch together. He practically had googly eyes for you every time he looked at you.”
“Real men don’t do that, Bella.”
She smacked her lips together. “Yes, they do, honey. Reality check: you’ve never been treated right by a man. Your own parents haven’t treated you right. Andres is the first guy I’ve seen that actually takes you out of the house.”
“But that’s for work and stuff. He just likes having my opinion on things.”
“Sounds like he trusts you.”
