“Dang, that is strong.”
“We all need it after putting up with Imogen.”
“I can’t believe she fired us,” Grace said.
“Honestly, it’s for the best,” Brea remarked. “Cheers all around! We’re going to have a free Saturday tomorrow!”
“Except for Sophie and me,” Elsie said with a snort.
“I think she fired all of us,” Grace said uncertainly.
“She’s going to want food and a cake,” Sophie said. “Besides, she already paid for it. We can’t not take it.”
“I don’t know who’s going to be organizing the wedding, though,” Elsie said. “Weddings are finicky events. You have to guide them with a strong hand, or they quickly turn into a disaster.”
“Not our problem,” Amy said, pouring me more grog. “I scheduled the flowers to be delivered in the morning. If Ivy’s not there and I’m not there, I don’t know who is going to put them out.” She shrugged, then toasted me.
“To Ivy being a free woman! Free from Imogen and Evan!”
“I don’t understand what I did wrong!” I wailed, taking a long swig of the grog.
“He’s a billionaire. He’s an asshole. The end,” Elsie said.
“I hope you at least took some pictures,” Brea teased. “You can keep some in the spank bank for later.”
“I lost my home, lost my job, lost my boyfriend,” I complained. “How can you think of sex at a time like this?”
“I’m just looking out for future you,” Brea said, putting a marshmallow on a stick and toasting it over the fire.
“So did you or did you not get any pictures?” Grace demanded around her own s’more.
“I, ah—”Evan did take that picture…
My friends cackled. “Show us! Show us!”
“Fine!” I huffed and took out the phone, exasperated, and swiped to the pictures.
“Oooh!” my friends squealed when they saw the shirtless selfies of Evan after our lovemaking session, the photo cropped to just barely cover things downstairs.
“Dayum, he’s hot!”
“You should go try and make up with him,” Grace said.
Amy glared at her.
“Not like be his girlfriend again,” she protested. “But you could totally just use him for sex and stress relief.”
“Or maybe you could go be his girlfriend again,” Sophie said, eating a piece of chocolate. “Maybe he was just upset about Camilla and the baby. That would be enough to make me snappy and crazy. You should give him another chance.”
“I don’t think so,” Elsie said, looking up from her phone.
“Stop being such a sex killjoy,” Grace said, exasperated. “Ivy can at least go talk to Evan.”
“I don’t think she should have anything to do with him,” Elsie replied, holding out her phone. “This was just posted on Business Insider’s website.”
“‘Coming in two years: new large-scale retail, restaurant, and residential and hotel development near the waterfront,’” I read. “‘It’s a partnership with Svensson Investment and Harrington Investment.’”
“They have a rendering,” Elsie said, “and there’s a new gateway right where Ivy’s former condo is.” We peered at the picture.
