When it was our turn to exit, my parents got out first, then James helped me get out of the limo, offering me his arm as we walked the carpet. I put on my heiress smile, trying not to squint as flashbulbs went off around us. The instant we got inside, I dropped James’s arm and headed for the bar. It was going to be a long night.
James dutifully tagged along behind me, making conversation. He seemed like a good guy, if a little boring. At least he’d gotten the message that I wasn’t available. It would have been an even more uncomfortable evening if he’d been hitting on me.
The event dragged on as I smiled my way through the cocktail hour, dinner and speeches. As soon as the dancing started, I told my parents I had a headache and wanted to leave. By the time I got home I was exhausted. Ignoring my mother’s not so subtle suggestions that I invite James in for a drink, I thanked him for coming with us, apologized for my mother’s matchmaking, and wished him well. I had to admit that he took the whole evening better than I would have had I been in the same situation.
Ignoring my mother nagging me to talk, I headed upstairs to my room to take a bath and go to bed. As I fell asleep, I made a mental note to check in with my realtor. I needed to get my own place as soon as possible.
Sam
Iknew something was awry when Jose and Barney were waiting for me on the porch of the Victorian Monday morning, both of them looking somber.
“What happened? Did someone die?”
“Did you, uh, happen to see the local news this morning, boss?” Jose asked.
When I shook my head, Barney handed me his phone with a wince. What the hell?
I looked at the screen and felt my heart stutter. It was the website for the Seattle newspaper with a story about last night’s charity gala for the symphony. I looked up in confusion, and Barney said, “Scroll down.”
Partway through the article was a picture of Livi. She was wearing a stunning pink dress that hugged her curves, her long blonde hair falling over one shoulder in loose curls. She looked beautiful. Sophisticated. Wealthy. And she was not alone. She was holding the arm of a very handsome older man in a tuxedo. He was leaning close to say something to her, both of them smiling. They looked happy.
I felt a stab of jealousy. She’d taken a date to the event? Was she seeing that guy too? Is that why we mostly only hung out on the weekends, because she was with him during the week? They looked awfully cozy to be just friends.
“We thought we should tell you before you saw them,” Jose offered. “But I’m sure it’s not what it looks like.”
My chest felt tight and for a second I thought I might pass out. But I took a deep breath, schooled my expression, and handed Barney his phone back.
“Okay guys, let’s get to work.”
Livi texted me as soon as I walked into my office. I ignored her message, and the one that came during lunch. When I got back to my apartment after work there was a bouquet of flowers on my doorstep, a gift from Livi.
Thinking of you,the note said.
Were these a guilt gift? I wondered. She’d never sent flowers before. Weren’t flowers the gift of choice for cheaters? And if Liviwas bringing a date to the event, if it was innocent, why hadn’t she mentioned it?
Ignoring Leo’s cries for food, I went right for my laptop, doing a search for pictures from last night’s gala. There were several shots of Livi, always with the mystery guy very close to her. There was also a shot of the two of them with her parents, everyone smiling happily.
Livi hadn’t introduced me to her parents. She’d said it was because her mother would be rude to me and she wanted to spare me from dealing with that, but now I had to wonder. Did her parents even know she had a girlfriend?
I thought back to the story she’d told about how her mother had fixed her up with that guy Matt and she’d just gone along with it to keep her mother happy. Was her mother matchmaking again? Or maybe Livi was tired of me and wanted to date someone in her own social class again?
Something wasn’t right here, and the last thing I wanted in a relationship was drama. I should have known it was only a matter of time before things went sour between us. Livi was an heiress, someone who was inheriting an empire. I’d inherited my mother’s tools. That said everything. She was diamonds, and I was sawdust. This relationship always had an expiration date.
Before I could change my mind, I shot off a text to Livi.
Sam:This relationship isn’t working out for me. I’m sorry to do this over text, but I need to end things. Wishing you all the best.
Then I shut off my phone, put on my pajamas, and had myself a good cry. The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that Livi wouldn’t cheat on me. She’d been way too angry about her ex for her to do the same thing to me. I believed she loved me, and I certainly loved her. I’d been surprised by those cozy looking photos, but I was pretty sure they didn’t mean anything.
But seeing her at the formal event with all those wealthy people just reminded me of all the reasons that we weren’t going to work. I would have stuck out like a sore thumb at that event, and I knew enough about Livi to know that she needed to go to a lot of those things. I would hate it and eventually she would hate me. There was no sense prolonging the inevitable. We needed to call things off while we could part as friends.
By the morning I was questioning my decision. When I turned on my phone I had half a dozen messages from Livi, asking what happened, why we couldn’t talk about it, asking what she’d done.
I sent a brief text asking her to give me space, then headed to work.
For the next few days I threw myself into my job, coming early, staying late, having lunch in my office, and working harder than everyone else in my efforts to keep from thinking. At night I sat in my apartment with Leo, staring into space like a sad sack and missing Livi.
I wasn’t sleeping well and wasn’t eating a lot, so I knew I looked like crap. Judging by the sympathetic looks I was getting, the guys were all feeling sorry for me, but they knew better than to say anything. But Barney was too good of a friend to let me wallow in my sadness for too long. On Thursday he came into my office right before lunchtime, settled in a chair across from me, and gave me a long look.
