I side-stepped so a couple jogging together could go by, waved to the owner of the flower shop responsible for all the bouquets in my house, and then turned the corner to Prospect Park.
I had just come out the other side of Endale Arch when my phone vibrated with another alert. It had been going off all morning, which wasn’t odd, but as usual I’d ignored it. I didn’t have another job until next week so there was nothing pressing I needed to tend to. Anything coming in was either friends wanting to gossip about the party the night before, my mother texting with an article about a new cleanse she’d heard about, or my agent wanting to talk about my meeting with the designer I’d chatted with at the party.
The vibrating stopped and then started again. I realized it was a call coming in. No one ever called me before nine. I pulled my phone from my pocket and frowned.
It was Jen, my agent.
I tapped the accept button and the telltale sound of her exercise bike filled my ears. She was always calling from her bike or treadmill.
“Hey, Jen,” I said. “Don’t worry. I talked with Daniela last night and let her know I’m definitely interested in working with her. She said her team would get in touch with you next week.”
“I know,” she said in her usual brisk way. “They already called. That’s not why I’m calling you. Have you been online yet this morning? I’m assuming you haven’t since you didn’t blow up my phone first thing with expletives.”
A sinking sensation filled my gut.
“What’s happened?” I asked, stopping and moving to the side of the sidewalk so as not to block traffic.
“Oliver Manning. He’s claiming you dumped him and he’s broken hearted. Thought you were the one. Can’t imagine moving on from this for a long time.”
“What the fu...” I caught myself, not finishing the word as a young mother and her school age daughter walked by. “But he took it so well! Katya even texted a picture of him making out with one of the new girls an hour after I left!”
“He’s gotta save his reputation though, doesn’t he.”
“For fuck’s sake. What an absolute assho?—”
“I have several news sites wondering if you want to comment?”
“Sure,” I said and opened the text messaging app on my phone. I quickly found the photo Katya had sent and forwarded it to Jen. “There’s my comment.”
She was quiet for a moment and then her laugh came through the receiver like a gleeful ray of sunshine. “I think people will hear that loud and clear,” she said, her voice filled with amusement. “Anything else?”
“Nope.”
“I put the meeting with Daniela on our joint calendar. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
We hung up and I strode toward the botanical garden, music blasting in my ears, fury streaming through my veins. I knew it. He’d lied. They all did. They just couldn’t help themselves. Bring on the cats, knitting needles, and tiny hat patterns, I was done with dating.
I broke into a jog, determined to pound it out on the pavement, my old sneakers barely absorbing the shock of each step, reminding me of my growing pains of yore as my shin bones reverberated into my knees. My phone buzzed again. Once, twice, a third time. Another call.
“Fucking hell,” I said, slowing to a stop and pulling out my phone again.
Addie. I grinned. Here we go. I couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say about the news she’d undoubtedly seen first thing. She had Google Alerts set to anything related to me.
“Okay,” I said, laughing as I answered the phone. “Go ahead. Get it out of your system.”
“Lior?”
I frowned.
“Mama?”
Mama was Addie’s mom. Mine was referred to as Mother.
“Honey, Addie’s been in a car accident.”
The words that followed were a blur. Head-on collision. She didn’t know much more than that yet. On her way to the hospital now…
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said and hung up, blinking in confusion at my surroundings. Where was I? What did I need to do now?
