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Has our service slipped? How were these diners left without a drop of water for the majority of their meal?
I finish, but by the time I manage to go after Livvy, she’s long gone. Pawsh is lights out and locked up. I don’t even see her walking down the street.
How’d she disappear so fast?
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
With a pit in my stomach the size of the Grand Canyon, I force a fake-ass smile and get back inside EastSide like a good showman whose business is on the line and who will do anything to save it.
43
LIVVY
I slurpedmy last ramen noodle, the broth dribbling down my white blouse.
And I don’t even care.
On the way home from work I got takeout from the place around the corner. I’d planned on having a nice dinner and fancy cocktail at EastSide, having been convinced to stop in by Owen, but when I saw some of his customers lookingveryfriendly with him, I lost my appetite.
Fuck those people. All of them. Fuck the bistro boys, with their weird-ass food and organic everything, and fuck their beautiful patrons with their Botoxed faces, wearing the latest fashions from Barney’s.
Wait, Barney’s went out of business. At least I think it did. Truth is, I don’t even know where those New York glamazons get their high-fashion clothes. Whatever. Let them waste their time and money competing with each other and for the likes of men like Owen, Weston, and Enzo. They can have them, all of them.
Talk about adding insult to injury.
I know I’m not like other women in New York. I’m not hip, cute, or popular. Never have been, never will be. But I love it here, starting with my tiny apartment within walking distance of everything. And my boutique providing cool stuff to dedicated pet owners. Even my crazy employee, Jewel, and my buddy, Arthur. I enjoy Mrs. Perkins too, whose dog is still not properly potty trained even though he’s four years old.
I love every minute of the life I’ve created for myself. I’m not like my sister, who picks her friends based on what they can do for her and her husband. I don’t fit in with the guys they try to introduce me to, all carbon copies of each other, the only difference among them their names and their hairlines.
Those women cozying up to Owen—I know their type. They’re the mean girls. They hate everyone who’s not them. Hell, they probably even hate each other. To them, the world is a zero-sum game, and anyone—including their closest friends—who gets something they don’t, is taking away what they feel they deserve. One of their best friends starts dating a nice guy? She’s mad he didn’t pickherinstead.
I may never have been part of that crowd, but I’ve been an observer of it. I know how they operate. They’re not nice. And I want no part of them.
Including the type of men they pursue. They’re all the same, those people
I never should have gotten involved with any of the guys from EastSide. I don’t care that Enzo looks after his nonna, Owen practically had to raise himself, and Weston’s on the outs with his rich family.
They can suck it.
Everything was good for a while. And now I’m plummeting over the cliff of life, with down the only way to go. Soon, I’ll crash land at the bottom of the canyon, breaking into a million pieces with all the other losers who never got their shit together.
Next morning, I wake up late and drag my ass to the shop because what would be the point of rushing? It’s not going to change anything.
“Hey, Livvy!” Jewel chirps, opening a new shipment of Cucci dog and cat clothes.
According to the nasty letter they sent me earlier this week, this will be my last shipment from these folks until I start paying down my overdue invoices. I don’t blame them, not one bit. I’d do the same.
Who wants to do business with a deadbeat who can’t pay their damn bills?
“Hi Jewel. Thanks for covering for me this morning. I’ve been having a hard time getting motivated,” I say.
I don’t usually pour my heart out to Jewel, but I don’t have much left to lose.
“No worries,” she says, rocking in place like she hears music.
I wouldn’t doubt it.
“Hey, I’m wondering if I can take off a bit early today. My mom’s coming to take me to dinner,” she says. “I haven’t seen her in ages.”
