Page 102 of Falling for Her

He nods his head at me as he holds the door open, and I climb in. The air conditioner is already on, and the car is cool. He waits for me to put my purse on the passenger seat before slamming the door shut. I pull out and make my way over to the restaurant. Two men stand behind the valet stand, and both rush to my car, one waiting on the passenger side, the other opening the door for me.

I put one foot out, then the other, as he hands me the ticket for my car. The other valet has already opened the door to the restaurant. “Welcome,” he says, smiling at me.

I walk in and find the two friends I’m meeting standing in the waiting area.

“Hey.” I smile at Brenda, who I’ve known almost my whole life. We met at boarding school at age five and try to get together at least once a year when she’s in town to catch up. I kiss her cheek. “Did you just get here?”

“No,” she huffs out. “So ridiculous. Someone incompetent lost our reservation, and they’re saying they don’t have my table available, the one I always sit at.” Her voice is higher than it should be as she looks at the hostess stand, where two women dressed in black look like they are going to cry.

“I’m sure we can sit at another one for today.” I try to bring down the drama as I walk over to Kelly, who has her short bob perfectly done. “Hey.” I kiss her cheek.

“We’ve been standing here for four minutes, and they haven’t even done anything.”

“I’m sure they are working on it.” I hold my purse in both hands and say nothing more as Kelly goes up to the hostess stand.

“You see us standing here, right?” she asks one of the young girls. “Like, we’re not invisible?”

“Yes, ma’am”—she looks at her coworker—“we’re trying to get you that table.”

“Just ask the other people to leave,” Brenda demands, “it’s not hard.” She looks over at the table in the middle of the room. “They don’t even look like they’ve ordered yet, just put them somewhere else.”

“We’ll ask,” the girl replies.

“Hold on.” I laugh uncomfortably. “Can we not just sit at the table next to them?” The four tables around that one are free. Brenda’s eyes widen as she stares at me. “It’ll be fine,” I assure. “I promise it will be fine. Then no one has to move anyone, and we can sit now and get a drink.” I glance at Kelly to see if she is going to agree with me. Then I give her big eyes, and she rolls hers.

“Fine, we’ll do that. But if this happens again,” Kelly shakes her head, “it will be the last time I come here.”

“Of course.” The hostess, relieved, grabs the leather-bound menus. “Right this way.”

“This is going to be so much fun,” I say, walking ahead of my friends and sitting in one of the chairs. Brenda and Kelly sit next to each other, facing me. “See? It’s all good.” I look around. “This table even has better lighting.”

“There’s a draft, and I’m dying of thirst,” Brenda complains, glaring at the empty glasses already set on the table. She flicks a hand in the air. “Excuse me,” she says to the air. She lets out an impatient breath when no waiter appears. “Excuse me.” Her voice goes louder, and several diners look our way. “Can someone please get me a glass of still water with four ice cubes?” She snaps her napkin before draping it across her lap. “Since you made me wait forever.”

“So what’s new?” I ask, wondering if she has always been like this. I mean, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but still.

As Brenda starts complaining about something else entirely, Kelly nods sympathetically, and all I can think is that I want to get the fuck out of here. I want to sit in Maddie’s in Montgavin and eat bagels with my hands and then a nice sticky donut. Instead, I watch Kelly and Brenda use forks to spear two fucking peas at a time.

They talk about themselves and everything they are doing with their lives, which is basically nothing. I make a plan to stop at the grocery store on the way home and pick up everything I need to make a chocolate cake.

As soon as I can politely make an exit, I make a beeline for the valet.

On my way home, I stop at the supermarket, then call Clyde from the parking lot.

“I’m sorry, he is still refusing to sign the papers.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “How much longer can this take?”

“Honestly, he can drag it out for years . . . unless you agree to meet and negotiate.”

I close my eyes. “I’m not negotiating, Clyde.” There is no fucking way I’m giving Davis one fucking cent more than I absolutely have to. I will not let him win. I will not let him take anything more from me.

As I pull up in front of my building, Taylor comes out and opens my door for me.

“Thanks,” I tell him and walk to the back and open the trunk, grabbing the brown bag and then shutting it. “Have a good night, Taylor.”

I perch the bag on my hip and heave a sigh as I enter the new code in the elevator. I step into my living room and head to the kitchen, the clicking of my heels echoing. I put the bag down on the counter and put away what needs to go in the fridge. I close the refrigerator door, already turning to go undress and see him standing there.

“Jesus!” I exclaim, putting my hand on my chest. “What the hell are you doing here?” How did he get in?