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The result is…
Well,nice. The dress fits me perfectly. The sweetheart neckline is classic and alluring, and the flowing skirt offers a bit of relaxed authenticity to the garment. It’s far, far nicer than what I would normally want to be wearing, but I feel… almost like me.
“The heels might kill me,” I warn them as I step out of the dressing room.
They gasp and cheer.
“What a beautiful way to go!” Alice cries, clapping.
“I’m… I haven’t been brave enough to look at the price tag, but yes, yes, I’ll get this one!” I say, and they both look so happy for me, I can’t think of anything except this has got to be the right decision.
“This is it, this is it. I’ll get it. Let me get it for you, please—” Jessi is imploring me with her hands to her chest.
“She has David’s credit card,” Alice interrupts.
Jessi stops. “Oh. Well, we’ll go ahead and check out together then, won’t we?”
Alice bursts into a cackle and Jessi laughs, too. I go back into the changing room to get into my regular clothes, listening to them whispering like old friends.
Even if being in a relationship with David is fake, I know that this isn’t.
Maybe meeting Jessi, having this experience with Alice, learning how to worry about what I want—maybe all of that will be worth it, even if I do get my heart broken.
CHAPTER 18
David
Between the kids’ returning, Lewis’ now nearly constant surveillance, and actually fighting how I feel about Laura, my days leave little time for actual work.
The case loads pile up. I haven’t been this distracted since Angie was born. Even with my divorce from Jessi, I had time for work.
But there’s no haven now. At home, the kids ask me about her, beg for my attention, throw tantrums and weep over the changing dynamics. I understand, of course. Change is hard for kids, and they were only just getting used to their mom dating. I never would have put them through this if I had a choice.
At work, Laura is everywhere. Even when she’s not, it feels as if she is. My office is basically a hazard now. Even when she’s not here—even when she’s not at the firm at all—I remember her here. I rememberhavingher here.
I push back from my desk and go to look out the window. Piper is surely muttering something about my lack of attention span, but since I can’t quite hear what she’s saying under her breath, I give us both the satisfaction of ignoring it.
She’s right, if that is what she’s saying though. I am distracted.
Down below, I see people like specks of dust. This is what my father saw from his office. This is what my father believed.
It’s always been a good thing in my mind that I care more than my father ever did. But it’s also why I’m in a situation he would never have been caught in.
Sure, my father would have slept with his employees—but the feelings that are involved in this affair, the worries and concerns and fretting over his children… that would have been foreign to my father.
“Sir?” Piper’s voice is sharp and grabs me out of my melancholy. “You have about two minutes to make it to the meeting that you didn’t forget.”
Shit.
“Thank you,” I say through gritted teeth. Shit, shit, shit—I have to get Laura out of my mind. I can’t keep missing—or nearly missing—meetings.
I grab the briefcase Piper is holding out and walk in quick strides through the office. Thankfully, I’m at least prepared for this meeting.
The meeting is meant to be with the board and the other senior partners. Since the only other senior partner is out on family leave, it’s just me.
I’m surprised to see Cheryl here. Her promotion couldn’t have gone through without my knowledge, but I have been far more distracted as of late than I care to admit.
I greet them and take my seat.
