He nods. “You spend a lot of time alone. Might be a good chance to meet some new friends.”
“That’s what I thought. They’re sending a car service to pick me up Friday night.” I take my first bite of salmon. “Although the idea of spending the weekend with a group of women I’ve never met before seems kind of weird.”
Jack swallows, sips his drink, then nods. “I think it will be good for you. Get out of the city for a while.” Jack bends, pulling something out of his laptop bag and setting it on the table.
“I have something special for you.” His eyes sparkle with excitement, the anger over Jason apparently gone as quickly as it appeared. “Happy birthday, baby.”
“Oh—I thought maybe you forgot.”
“How could I? You’re my favorite person in the world—if I could buy you the biggest diamond on the island of Manhattan I’d do it. I’d spend every day celebrating my favorite girl.”
I nod but don’t reply. His words don’t ring as true as they used to, mostly because he spends all of his waking hours working, sacrificing us for his job.
“Thank you,” I finally say, smiling.
“Open it,” he urges.
I push aside the tissue paper in the gift bag, finding an envelope and a rectangular velvet box. I move to open the envelope first but his anticipation gets the better of him and he interjects, “That’s a gift card for a weekend upstate at a juicing retreat. A guy at the office sent his wife up and she loved it. They have goat yoga, El, doesn’t that sound fun? You’re such an animal lover.”
“Yeah...” I suppress a frown as I think about goats and downward dogs. I open the velvet box and my heart leaps when I find a pearl and diamond necklace with a dainty pave-encrusted cross. “Wow, this is stunning.”
“I thought you’d love it.” He stands and comes around the table, moving my hair to the side and fastening the necklace around my neck. “There—picture perfect.” He dots a kiss on the top of my head. “I love you, El. My world would crumble if you weren’t in it.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” I quip, my heart heavy. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about his words doesn’t feel quite right. They’re too manufactured, too perfect, too...something,and I can’t help the sense of unease that bubbles through my system.
My father always told me if something feels too good, that’s because it is.
I suddenly find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Three
Aubrey
“Thanks for asking me over tonight—I’ve been looking for an excuse to open this bottle of brut.” I take two flutes from Ellie’s wine rack and pop the cork on the bottle. I pour two generous glasses and then pass one to Ellie and sip from the other.
“Thanks for bringing a bottle over.” She drinks from her glass, the fizz seeming to take her by surprise. Ellie’s innocence is one of the things I like about her. She’s one of those people who was coddled as a kid but not spoiled; I, on the other hand, had to fight for every scrap of an opportunity I was given, and a few that I wasn’t but had to take.
“We should have girls’ night at least once a week,” I say, settling on the sofa next to her, thinking how easily she’s allowed me to slip into her life since we bumped into each other in the hallway a few months ago. Ellie thinks our meeting was by chance, that I’m just another neighbor in the building, and it’s in my best interest if I let her believe that.
“That would be great. This apartment gets so...” Ellie pauses, lost in thought. “Lonely sometimes,” she finally finishes. I have a feeling she means all the time. I’ve noticed that Ellie’shusband seems to avoid being at home with her, but I don’t say anything. It’s just one of the reasons I’m not interested in marriage: because men always leave, even when they vow that they won’t. It’s the way things go, like some unspoken catch and release rule. Men want the validation that you want them, and as soon as they have it, they move on to the next easy target. My existence is proof enough of that.
“Any luck finding a job?” Ellie thinks to ask.
I stroke the rim of my flute with my index finger, watching the city lights twinkle above Columbus Circle as I consider how best to answer. “Not yet,” I finally say. “I’m weighing my options carefully. Thankfully I have enough savings to get me through for a while.”
“What did you say your degree is in again?” Ellie asks politely.
“Environmental science,” I lie. Ellie strikes me as the kind of girl who surrounds herself with high achievers; my college dropout past would only raise red flags. “I had big dreams to save the world as a kid, but it’s a hard field to make a living in. Since my mom died—well, it’s just been hard to focus on much other than getting used to life without her.”
“I get that. My mom passed when I was a kid,” Ellie informs me, as if I didn’t already know. “I guess I don’t remember much about grieving, but I do know it’s hard to live without a mom.”
I nod, letting Ellie’s words hang in the air between us. “I’ve been thinking about going to a cancer survivors’ support group.”Another lie.In reality, sitting with a bunch of crying, grieving people sounds like the ninth circle of Hell. I force a sad smile and then add, “Maybe I could meet some friends.”
“Oh—that brings me to the reason I wanted to invite you over,” Ellie rushes ahead. “I got an invitation from a women’scharity group for an event this weekend—do you want to come with me? I don’t know anyone so the whole thing would be more fun with a buddy.”
“And you wantmeto go with you?” I ask.
“Yeah—well, I guess it sounds weird now that I think about it. I guess we haven’t known each other very long,” Ellie says awkwardly.
