“Don’t I know it?” Anise shook her head. “Dana, I don’t trust Alex. He’s from a different world than we are. He’s used to people doing anything he wants, giving him anything he wants. For God’s sake, he snaps his fingers and everyone bows before him. Did you see all those people fawning over him? And that VIP room was just pretentious. I said it before and I’ll say it again. It was fake. Everything about that whole scene was fake.”
“It’s a nightclub. It’s all about fantasy.”
“Fantasy is fine, but you have a man at home waiting for you. Have you told Alex about that little piece of reality?”
Dana was silent. Once again, she wanted to explain but she couldn’t do it here, in a purse shop.
“Alex and his celebrity friends might be able to fly around the country at a moment’s notice and party all night long,” said Anise, “but people like us have responsibilities. At the end of this week, Alex can still frolic all he wants on the Strip. A month from now, he’ll have forgotten all about you and will be in the pool, sitting on a floatie with one of those bikini-clad honeys. Not us. In a few days, we’ll go back to our regular lives. I don’t want you to get caught up in the fantasy and ruin what you have with Tommy.”
She had nothing with Tommy. “I’m not getting caught up in the fantasy. I promise.”
Yeah, right. She’d called the man Zeus.
“Are you sure?”
She’d never been more unsure in her life.
Dana understood what her sister was trying to do. Anise only wanted to save her from messing up her life.
If only she knew how messed up it really was.
A pregnant woman and her husband walked into the Fendi shop just then. As she crossed the threshold, the woman touched her belly and squealed. “John, the baby’s kicking!”
Dana stared at the woman’s swollen tummy.
Her husband rested his hand on her protruding stomach, his face bright with amazement. “Oh, man. That’s incredible. Our little guy has strong legs.”
Dana’s hand moved to her belly.
No man would ever touch her with the same sense of wonder. She would never lay in bed with her husband, feeling for kicks under the covers.
The pregnant lady and her husband walked by Dana. As they passed, she heard the husband tell his wife, “I’m so proud of you. You’re just amazing.”
“Are you even listening to me?” Anise touched Dana’s elbow. “I wish Tommy was here to talk some sense into you.”
Dana yanked her arm away as all her rage finally issued in a loud grunt. “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. All I ever hear about is fucking Tommy. You know what your precious Tommy would do if he was here? He’d make a run for the door. That man could not carelessabout what I get up to with Alex Markov, or anyone else. In fact, he’d probably encourage me to sleep with him, and you know why? Because then I’d be someone else’s problem!”
“What the hell?” Anise stood shell-shocked, and so did Bea and Jessica. “What are you saying?”
“Tommy dumped me. Okay? Let’s be real clear on that. He dumped my ass.” She lowered her voice, running out of steam. “Months ago. I stopped being the woman of his dreams, and God help the woman who takes my place. Tommy made it perfectly clear he has a certaintype. You can stop worrying about whether he’s pining over me at home. He isn’t. I owe that man nothing. Not my loyalty, not my respect, and definitely not my faithfulness. He doesn’t need them. He doesn’t care.”
Everyone in the store fell silent.
“So I don’t need your lectures, sis. Save them for someone else. I’m a free bird, and this bird has places to fly.”
Before Anise or anyone else could respond, Dana turned and walked out of the shop.
***
“Hey, Patterson. Leon wants to see you in his office first thing.”
Bill Patterson was just about to take his first slurp of coffee when he heard his co-worker’s summons from down the hall. He lowered his cup, sighed, and turned around.
What the hell did his editor want now?
Probably to ride his ass some more. Leon Parkes had complained about Bill’s quality of work for some time.
Everyday, the Strip is littered with famous people, most of them misbehaving, and you can’t find me a story?
