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She brought a hand to a heated cheek. “That was completely embarrassing. I told you I didn’t even want to do the couple thing.”
“I’m sorry. It was my fault. I got a little caught up in taking pictures. But you’re right to be mad at me. Let me make it up to you.”
“No.” The word came out a little more forcefully than she intended, and Luna stopped at her vehicle in the parking lot, taking a breath to calm herself. She could push against Mia a little but she worried about pushing too much. What if Ross found out? His wife and unborn baby were everything, and Luna couldn’t risk losing more than she already had simply because she couldn’t always control her mouth. “Sorry, I’m…I’m just PMS-y today.”
She rubbed Luna’s upper arm. “Oh, yeah, I totally get it.” Although Luna had her doubts Miadidget it. Had she ever had a day of breaking down in tears and yelling at someone for no good reason? Even with the misfortune of a bad haircut, Mia treated it as an inconvenience, one that would grow its way out and everything would be fine.
Mia’s eyes held concern. “Do you want me to get you a tea or something from Pony Expresso? I don’t mind.”
“No. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I have to go to the bank to make a deposit for the store and then I want to run home and change out of these clothes before meeting with the landlady at the duplex.” Luna wished she could change now because the hemline felt shorter and shorter all the time and she didn’t want to give her potential landlord the same flighty, party-girl impression she’d surely given Sam. Unfortunately, all she had was a pair of old leggings and a ratty tank top she kept in her bug-out bag in the back of her SUV for when the need to escape became too much for her.
“Just call me if you need anything. Don’t worry about the photos. You know you have the final word on which one gets picked. If you don’t like the ones with Sam, then no problem. You looked gorgeous in all of them by the way.”
She pulled Mia into a hug. “All right. I’ll check in with you later.”
Luna got in her car and drove to the bank. As she waited in line, she allowed the embarrassing photo shoot to replay in her mind. With fifteen minutes of distance from the situation, she concluded it wasn’t a big deal and perhaps she had overreacted a touch. Regardless, it was an innocent accident, and no one was to blame. And maybe Sam hadn’t hated her and been telling the truth when he said he’d been caught off-guard. Aw, well. It didn’t matter.
As she was leaving, she almost bumped into a familiar person.
“Tessa.”
Her ex-hairdresser/ex-best friend’s dark eyes became wary. “Lulu. How are you?”
“Uh, fine. You?” Luna nervously adjusted the dress strap on one shoulder.
“Good. Your hair looks nice.” This could have been a compliment if it wasn’t for the complete lack of warmth in the sentence.
“Oh, thank you.” Luna flushed. She had driven an hour to get her hair done at a nice salon near Sacramento a few weeks prior.
In high school, Tessa and Luna had been instant best friends. Tessa, with her Thai-American heritage, had warm brown skin, glossy black hair, and was adorable in her petiteness. Luna, with her hodge-podge mixed European blood, was taller and fairer in coloring.
Luna had thought this was a friendship she could always count on, but she had been wrong. Their paths diverged when she went to Chico State and Tessa had stayed behind to get her beautician license and work in her mom’s salon. The friendship, which had once been loud and electric, fizzled away like a windblown dandelion. She learned, once again, that she couldn’t count on anything, a lesson she’d learn over and over again.
“How’s your mom doing?” Luna asked awkwardly.
“Okay,” Tessa answered, shifting out of the way of another bank customer. “She keeps talking about retiring.”
There was an uncomfortable pause between them, which was something they never had to worry about before. Luna grew nervous, pulling on the ends of her hair. “Are you still seeing Cam?” she asked, referring to Tessa’s high school sweetheart.
“We were married last year.” Her ex-best friend raised her hand, displaying a simple silver band.
Luna’s jaw jarred open at this new information. Tessa hadn’t been active on social media for the last few years and their communication had been non-existent. She did her best to recover, feigning cheerfulness. The truth was, there was no reason to expect her ex-friend to invite her to anything, let alone a wedding. Luna didn’t have a right to feel snubbed. “Oh, that’s great. Congratulations. You should have reached out. You know Ross could have made something special for you.”
Tessa dropped her eyes as she adjusted the purse handles resting on her forearm. “The wedding was very low-key and we didn’t have a lot of money. We just went to one of those tiny chapels in Tahoe. It was just family and our friends.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” But her skin grew hot because she felt the sting of no longer being included in the‘our friends’group of Tessa’s life. Whether she had a right or not, Luna was hurt all the same even while knowing it was her own fault.
The awkward silence returned.
Tessa straightened. “I should really get in line.”
“Yeah, of course. I have an appointment I need to get to anyway. It was good catching up with you. Tell Cam and your family hello for me.” Luna pushed through the door to escape the uncomfortable interaction.
While crossing the parking lot, she noticed a roundish bulge on top of the front passenger tire of her SUV. It was a cat. It quickly climbed down as she approached, hiding behind the same tire on the pavement. Luna had a soft spot for most animals, but she preferred cats because, personality-wise, they had a lot in common.
She knelt and made soft noises while reaching a hand toward it. “Here, kitty kitty.” After some coaxing the small gray and white cat took a timid step forward before making the decision Luna was an okay human being, approaching close enough to rub against her leg.
“You’re just a scrawny thing, aren’t you, little cat?” She gently stroked along the animal’s spine, the bones feeling like delicate twigs. The cat was thin, and probably flea-ridden, and definitely filthy. With her heartstrings properly tugged, Luna decided she couldn’t very well leave the cat here. She had time. The cat allowed her to clutch it to her chest and she tucked the animal into her bug-out bag in the back, zipping it enough so the cat’s head peeked out.
