“I was referring more to all the questions about where you’re from. And, you know, your family.” After a beat, he adds, “But if you ever do want to talk more about them, you know I’m always down to listen.”
A long pause follows. “I appreciate that,” she says carefully, “but I’d rather not get into it right now, if that’s okay with you. We just had such a nice birthday brunch. I’d hate to kill the mood.”
From the corner of his eye, Townsend sees Talia crack a smile, and he laughs.
“It’s hard to say what your mom was more impressed by: my outfit or my pedigree,” she continues.
“Or your job. She seemed positively enthralled by the world of ML engineering.”
“She couldn’t stop asking questions! I was like, enough, lady. I know my work is fascinating, but surely you’re dying to hear more about Townsend’s start-up.”
Talia places a hand on the center console, and Townsend lays his hand on top of hers, interlacing their fingers. How lucky he is, to have this woman who can make him laugh—and who can laugh at herself—after such a disastrous morning. Any other girl would have run sobbing from the club following such an unpleasant brunch with his mom. But not Talia.
At the Austinite, he pulls in front of the building to wait for the valet. “Do you want to hit the spa this afternoon?” he asks. “Or we could go lay out by the pool.”
“I’m happy to do either. Or both,” Talia says. She glances in the rearview mirror. “Hey, are you expecting someone?”
“No. Why?”
“It just seems like that car behind us was waiting for you. They pulled up right when you got here.”
Townsend turns around to look out the back window. Sure enough, there’s a grubby white Honda right behind him that hadn’t been there a moment ago, so close it’s in danger of tapping his bumper. The windshield is too dirty for him to see the driver’s face, but he can make out a baseball cap and what appears to be a long blond ponytail snaking over one shoulder.
“Do you know them?”
“I don’t know,” Townsend answers honestly. But he feels dizzy and off kilter, like he had five cocktails at the club instead of just one. He grabs the door handle, ready to get out and confront them, when suddenly, the car backs up and then peels away from the curb, passing by the left side of his roadster too quickly for him to get a good look. But he does see something that gives him pause: a decal on the rear windshield that looks like the Roman numeral fortwo. The Gemini symbol, he knows, because his ex had the same design tattooed on her right hip bone. For a moment, he’s back in bed with her, kissing that spot on her hip as she whispers, “Two Geminis are so powerful together. We’re twin flames, you and I.” But just as quickly, he’s brought back by the sound of the valet tapping on his window.
“You good?” Talia smiles uncertainly. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“All good,” he says.
He hands his keys to the valet and hustles Talia inside. It’s a coincidence, he assures himself. A fluke. That couldn’t possibly have been her car because she’s not here.
She’s not a problem for him anymore.
Chapter Six
Talia
Talia sometimes wonders if she’s in a dream. Her fear: She’s going to wake up alone to find that Townsend hadn’t spent the night, and hadn’t taken her to Congress Avenue Bridge to see the bats fly, and hadn’t so much as spoken to her since their breakup last year. The past five weeks have felt like a romance novel come to life—but what if she’s imagined the whole thing? No, her imagination couldn’t possibly be so vivid. Next to her on the couch, Townsend tugs on her forearm like an invitation. She accepts and falls into him, burrowing her face into his chest. This is real, he is real. And he is hers.
Already, Talia feels like she and Townsend are an old married couple in the best kind of way. To her, the perfect Friday night now means splitting a Neapolitan pizza at The Backspace before returning to Townsend’s condo to watchShadow of a Doubtand cuddle on his Belgian linen Restoration Hardware sectional, just as they did tonight. The movie isn’t very interesting; Townsend is way more into Alfred Hitchcock movies than she is. But she would watch a rotisserie oven infomercial if it meant being here, on Townsend’s chest, forty-eight stories above the city below.
It’s not about the things—though she does marvel at the fact that Townsend spent $8,500 on a bone-white sofa just begging to bestained ... and the fact that his mother likely spent three times that amount on her tiny alligator purse. (After brunch last week, Talia looked up the resale price of a Hermès Mini Kelly. Her undergraduate education had cost her less money.) Unlike her sorority sisters at Auburn, Talia doesn’t care about the logo on her bag or the color of the soles on her shoes. It’s this feeling of belonging that she loves, especially since she belongs to someone as prized and powerful as Townsend Fuller.
With everything going so well, it’s tempting to forget what Meera revealed a few days ago on their lunch break. “I’ve been keeping something from you,” she told Talia as soon as they sat with their salads at Sweetgreen, and somehow, Talia already knew it must involve Townsend. As inexplicable as it was, Meera’s disapproval of Townsend was obvious, and no matter how many times Talia insisted that he’d changed, Meera refused to hear it.
“He hasn’t changed, Tal,” she said. “His Cuff account is active. I’m pretty sure he’s still talking to other girls.”
“You’re pretty sure or you’re sure?” Talia asked. “And how do you even know this?”
“I went into the customer service data.” Seeing the shocked look on Talia’s face, Meera quickly added, “I don’t trust him. I did it for you.”
“I didn’t ask you to do it for me,” Talia said. “AndItrust him, which is what matters.”
They left it at that and proceeded to eat their salads, the subject changed to Gracie’s summer soccer league. But even days later, Talia can’t stop thinking about Townsend secretly swiping on his phone, sending messages to girls who aren’t her. It’s possible he forgot to deactivate his account. Or maybe he just likes to look, nothing more. Or perhaps what happened last time is going to happen with someone new, and Talia will end up betrayed, broken, all by herself. Again.
No,she scolds herself.He’s given you no reason to doubt him this time, and so you won’t.This relationship wouldn’t end the way things did with Malcolm. She’d never repeat the mistakes she made with Malcolm.
