“The veggies are roasting, and the rice is almost done. I'll call you in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” Eliza repeats and takes her stuffy and leaves the way she came.
“Whew,” Suzie sighs. “That was a close one.”
I pull the chicken out of the bag and put it on the cutting board so I can start shredding it. “You're telling me.”
“So, again, please tell me you're coming on Saturday.”
“I'm coming on Saturday.”
“Good, because there's someone I want you to meet.”
I stop pulling chicken off the bone to glare at the phone. “Suzie, are you kidding me?
“Come on, Leah. The last date you had was with Mr. Mysterious, who left a note in the morning. You haven't heard from him since.”
It was the truth—true to his note, Viktor hadn't contacted me once since our night together. I'd even walked Benjamin a few times around that hotel, but I'd never run into him and his Cane Corso, Athos, again.
“When was your last date before that?”
“I don't remember. Can you drop this?” I grit out, wishing she would just change the damn subject.
“That just proves my point,” she argues. “It's time to get out there, Leah. Come on, you're young, you're beautiful—what isn't there to love?”
My gut tightens, creating a vague sense of nausea at the answer to that question. “I'm not interested in dating right now.”
“No, you’re just afraid you’re going to end up with another loser.”
“I can’t necessarily disagree with you there.” I sigh and say, “Suzie, promise me you won’t introduce me to anyone on Saturday.Promise me.”
“Okay, okay. I promise,” Suzie sighs. “Look, I just don't want you to be lonely. You know how much I love you, Leah
“I know you do.” My annoyance drains out of me, and I turn on the water to wash the chicken from my hands. “But I'm not lonely. I have Eliza, I have you, and I have Benji. What more could I want?” I bite my lip, hoping Suzie can't hear the doubt in my voice. “Besides, who has time to date? I have a kid in second grade. Whatever time isn't spent with her is spent working, and if I get accepted to law school?—”
“Whenyou get accepted to law school,” Suzie corrects me.
“Okay,whenI get into law school, I'm barely going to have time for anything, especially a romantic relationship.”
“Fine, fine. But I'm absolutely going to bring this up again when Eliza is out of the house and you are a brilliant lawyer, and you can't use law school as an excuse.” I can almost see Suzie standing at her counter, a wineglass in one hand, her “girl dinner” plate of cheese and crackers on the kitchen counter, the other hand propped on her hip.
“Okay, you can bring it up then.”
She sighs in mock disgust. “You better be there on Saturday. Okayloveyoubyeee!” comes through the phone before the call ends with a beep at the same time the oven timer goes off.
6
LEAH
I’m here at the gala, just like I promised. I don't want to be; this isnotmy scene. I wasn’t kidding the other night on the phone with Suzie.
Not that I don't like being around lawyers. My mom was a lawyer, my best friend is a lawyer, and I hope to be a lawyer someday, too. Hell, Iworkin a law firm, so I'm surrounded by lawyers all day long.
What I dislike is the aspects of people’s personalities that emerge at events like these. They’re supposed to be all about the charity and raising money to do something positive. Instead, it becomes about posturing and showing everyone else just how generous they are, which equals the amount of money they bring in. Then there are the obligatory stories of winning cases, of cases that financed a trip to the Caymans, wins that made the biggest headlines.
So not my thing. But it is Suzie’s. She's the social butterfly to my introspective wallflower. Walking through the room with her is like walking Benji—he likes to stop every five feet to sniff and greet anyone and everyone. Suzie is the same way as we makeour way across the room, stopping to talk to every other person, so I just end up bored, wishing I were anywhere else.
I'm wondering if I can fake a call from Jade and come up with some mysterious non-serious illness for Eliza, so I have a reason to leave.
