“You two were so close,” Ian said. “Do you seriously not stay in touch at all?”
“I’m a happily married man,” Ali said. “And I intend to remain that way.”
“Are you worried that Lizzie might tempt you if you were to see her again?” Ian persisted.
“Fuck off.” Ali’s voice was calm but cold. “My wife is inside the house. Have some respect.”
Ben laughed. “Ian’s trying to distract us from the fact that he still can’t close the deal. I remember you and Nass got all the action back when you three roomed together. Ian was lucky to get your leftovers.”
The chatter continued but I stopped listening. I quietly closed the window and went back to bed, savoring Ali’s words about marriage and family.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Now
“I’m surprised you wanted to come tonight,” Nasser said as we pulled up to a hot new downtown restaurant to celebrate Sara Carr’s birthday.
“I like her,” I said. “It was nice of her to personally reach out and ask me to come.” Plus, there were some questions I needed to ask her.
Sara’s party was in a private room at the back of the restaurant. It was a small gathering. I recognized the core group of college friends. Ben was there but I didn’t see Ian, and there was a handful of other people I didn’t know. I briefly pondered whether Lizzie would attend since she was in town. But I didn’t spot her.
“I’m so glad you came.” Sara hugged me as I handed her my gift. We chatted briefly, but the birthday girl had to see to her other guests. I mingled a little, trying some of the Japanese-inspired appetizers. Most of what I sampled was new to me. As we got older, Ali became a less adventurous eater, so we mostly stuck to restaurants that we knew we liked.
I purposely didn’t seek Nasser out. I needed to learn how to be in the world on my own. Now was as good a time as any to start finding my legs. Nasser didn’t approach me either. He mingled and laughed and had a couple of drinks. It felt natural to go to him, but I held myself back. I sensed his continuing interest in me and didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.
At dinner, I was flattered to find myself seated next to Sara. “This way we’ll have time to chat,” she said as we took our places. She asked me about the kids and work, taking care to integrate me into conversations with her other friends seated nearby.
“Do you know Lizzie’s brother?” I asked Sara midway through the meal. “His name is Bill Warren.”
“I’ve met him a couple of times.”
“Are they close?”
“I don’t think so. He mostly seemed exasperated by her whenever I saw them together. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” I didn’t want to go into it during the party when the focus needed to be on Sara. But later, after dinner was over and we’d cut the cake, Sara and I sat off to the side alone, and she raised the issue again.
“I think Lizzie’s brother gets annoyed with her always being so emotional and distracted,” Sara said. “But she’s got good reason to be.”
“Why is that?”
“I actually spoke to Lizzie recently. She called me out of the blue.” Sara poured the last of the wine bottle into her glass. “Lizzie is dealing with a situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
“Someone is stalking her.”
“She told me. Do you believe her?”
“Why would she lie? That’s why she’s been so off the radar and never shows up to anything.” Sara sipped her wine. “Apparently this stalker has been relentless since she got divorced. She never told her ex about it because she didn’t want him or the kids to get involved.”
“She said she knows who he is now. That he found her after all the publicity about my lawsuit and the North Carolina house. Do you know the man?”
“Yes, but she swore me to secrecy. She doesn’t want to provoke the guy.”
For the first time, I felt the stirrings of real empathy for Lizzie. If her story was true. “What a terrible way to live.”
“Especially since it was someone in our college group,” Sara said in a dramatic whisper before bottoming out her wineglass.
