I nod but can’t play along.
As we walk through the lobby, I spot Sully sitting on the couch next to the fireplace with his head in his hands. I steer Arthur toward the glass doors when Charlotte enters in a vision of purple. Her dress flows around her, and her high heels click with determination.
Arthur is already outside with the bags. I linger by a fake fig tree and watch her confront Sully. She places her hands on her hips and says something venomous sounding in German. Sully drags a hand down his face and waves her off.
She stomps her heel and continues to speak, attracting the eyes of everyone passing by. She glares at anyone who stops to gawk. My phone buzzes in my hand, surprising me. I yelp and drop it. I try to catch the phone, but it falls with a loud crack.
I reach to grab my phone and hear heels coming my way. Fear paralyzes my body as blood freezes in my veins.
“Veronica,” Charlotte says, her accent thick. She pauses in front of me and sighs. Her anger fades. “He’s different with you,” she says softly. She looks at him over her shoulder, but he’s already gone. “Ich schwöre, ihr seid füreinander geschaffen.” She gently pats my arm and leaves.
Despite numbness spreading throughout my limbs, I walk toward the exit.
I jump into the car, and Arthur eyes me. “Just drive,” I huff, putting on my seat belt.
Arthur pulls onto the main road and turns up the rock radio station, nodding to the music. I repeat the phrase Charlotte said into my phone to translate. It means I swear you were made for each other.
My heart melts as I sink deeper into my seat and close my eyes.
To get out of my head, I should book a trip to Florida. Alice already called for someone to replace me for a while just in case, and I could hookup with fellow mermaids. It could be the distraction that will turn my heart into stone and allow me to become nothing more than Mermaid Veronica. The human Veronica will be shelved for good.
I open my airline app and search for the soonest flights. It’s time I move on and let Sully become a bittersweet memory. There’s irony in wanting to meet someone so bad you’d stay up all night and then weeks later flee to the other side of the country to avoid running into them. My life is nothing but a cruel cosmic joke. Leaving LA might be the push I need to get my priorities straight.
42
I’mpackingmybesttails and their matching tops when Alice comes home, slamming the front door and skipping down the hallway. “Emily’s gotta work tonight. You wanna order in?”
“Sounds good,” I shout, zipping the suitcase.
She opens her bedroom door to toss her shoes inside and then peeks her head into mine. “Chinese sound good?”
“Yeah. Our usual?”
She types on her phone. “Ordered. Umm…” She sits on my bed and pushes the pile of jeans back before it tips over and spills onto the floor. “You going through your closet?”
“Something like that.” I nod at the suitcase in front of my dresser. “Decided to take that time off after all.”
She brightens. “Did you make up with Sully?”
I shake my head. “God, no. I’m going to Florida for a month or two. I didn’t buy a return ticket yet.”
Alice purses her lips and crosses her legs. “It’s that bad?”
I let out a sharp breath that sounds like a cackle. “That event I had today was him. He wanted to talk so he scheduled a mermaid at a resort pool. How twisted is that?”
“When you cut someone out of your life, you don’t leave any opening. I’m not saying it was right, but I can see why he went to that extreme. What did he say?”
My walls fly up fast and hard, but it’s the only way to protect myself. Love isn’t for me. Time and again, I’ve learned that, and I’m finally accepting my fate.
“He wrote me a cheesy love song. Claimed Gigi stole his phone and created all this drama to drive me away. He also quit the band.” I study a strand of hair, looking for split ends to avoid her piercing gaze.
“Then what?” She grabs my arm and tugs me to sit next to her.
“I yelled at him for trapping me into a meeting, and Arthur took me back to the bathroom to change. When I was leaving, I saw him slumped forward in the lobby, and Charlotte marched in to chew him out. Naturally, I hung back to eavesdrop and drew attention to myself when I dropped my phone. Charlotte saw me. She came over and said a few words, then left.” What those words were, I don’t want to share.
Alice stands and hooks her arm with mine. She drags me to the kitchen table and forces me to sit down. “So, to recap. Sully booked a one-on-one with you to tell you that he quit the band and to sing you a song before adding he loves you after that shitstorm happened at his place. That a psycho pop star tried to control him and stole his phone. And your reaction was to brush off his feelings and then spy on him until you were spotted. Now you’re planning a last-minute trip across the country with no return date because you can’t face your emotions.”
“When you say it, I sound like a bitch.” I cross my arms and cradle my chin in my hand. “Everything is too heavy here. I’m walking around in a fog, and the cliff’s edge is too close. Maybe a change of scenery will bring clarity and—”
