I take a sip of my tea. Maybe. Or maybe, I’ve gotten in way over my head and can’t figure out how to swim for safety.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Leleila
I spend thirty minutes in the shower the next morning, hoping to cleanse my hangover right out of me. I actually don’t feel too badly, probably because I made sure to drink plenty of water before I went to bed.
Once I’m dressed, I check my voicemail. Phillip called while I was in the shower. I call him back, but he tells me he’s in the middle of brunch with a colleague, and he asks if we can talk when he gets home tonight. I say that’s fine, but then I hear his colleague’s voice in the background. It’s female. Not only that, I’m surprised by how young her voice sounds. A lot of the professors Phillip rubs elbows with are older than him, but this woman sounds about our age or even younger. Actually, she sounds exactly like…Mindy Cox, the female professor he’s been attached at the hip to.
Does Mindy match the sexual fantasy Phillip’s always had? The certainty of it hits me like a knife to the heart, and chills race down my spine.
I try to ask him who he’s with, but he’s already said goodbye. My jaw clenches so tightly it hurts.
Fighting for control, I glance at my text messages. Brayden sent a text saying he’ll be busy the next few days because Cameron, Jenson and his fiancé, Olivia, all came into town early. He said they’ll be at the football game and party too. At the end of the text, he added,Lei, sorry I ran out last night. Let’s talk Friday.
I exhale and call Sophia.
* * *
Sophia knocks on my window. I walk over to see her face peering through the glass.
“What about knocking on the door?” I say as I let her in.
“That’s no fun.” She takes off her coat and hat and shakes out her hair. “It’s cold out this morning, honey. Feels like fall passed us by all of a sudden.”
“It’s just a temporary chill. It’s supposed to warm up again by tomorrow.”
Sophia takes a seat on the couch in the same spot Brayden and I were in last night. I sit down next to her and reach over to take a piece of lint off Sophia’s sweater. Her eyes follow my movement, and she shrieks.
“Your ring is gone!”
I raise my hands to calm her. “I know, I know. I didn’t take it off on purpose or anything…”
“Well, where is it?” Sophia asks. “Did Brayden rip it off your finger in a moment of passion?”
“Yes, yes he did. He thought it would be really romantic and sexy to forcibly tear a piece of string off my finger. It turned me on so much I just let him do it.”
“Ha, ha.” Sophia pokes my arm. “You could be into kinky things, who knows.”
“I’m not into anything that involves having to explain to Phillip I’ve lost this ring. I don’t have a freaking clue where it went. The thing is, Phillip and I had an argument.”
I tell her what happened, and she tsks her way through the next ten seconds. Then she says, “I don’t like that Phillip did that. But what bothers me the most is how much it clearly upset you. You two have always been a team, especially with this whole academic slash science thing you have going on. So for him not to tell you about the deal he struck with the panel—that must have stung.”
I nod. “When he gets back, he and I need to talk.”
“The Return of Phillip,” Sophia repeats. “Sounds like a soap opera, doesn’t it?”
“In more ways than one.” I look at her. “I think Brayden and I had a moment last night.”
“What kind of moment?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’m so bad at this kind of thing.”
“No, you’re not. You’re new at this. But this is a very complicated situation.” Then she gasps.
“What?”
“I just realized your situation with Brayden might be beyond the scope of my knowledge!” Sophia stares at me. “You may be surpassing me with all this subtle, complex flirting and dance partner crap. Throw in Phillip and you’ve got a true love situation on your hands.”
