I took a few minutes to gather myself, as my friends waited patiently beside me.
“Y-you remember that show we went to?” I asked Sadie. “You know, the concert with Jeremiah. I met my friend Sarah there, too.”
“Yeah. That Will guy’s show, right?”
“Mhmm.” I nodded.
“When I was out of town?” asked Gabriella.
“Yeah. Well, I met someone there that night,” I said, looking between both my friends’ curious faces.
“The mystery guy you snuck off with?” asked Sadie in shock. “He’sthe one?” She pointed me up and down, as if to say he was the one who did this to me.
“What mystery guy?” asked Gabriella, chirping in loudly.
“She was making out with him on the dance floor,” said Sadie, slinging her thumb in my direction. “They snuck out together. He was hot.”
I pushed her playfully, hating and loving that she could make me laugh when I felt like I was falling apart.
“Who is this guy?” asked Gabriella, looking to me.
“Well, the truth is…I had already met him that morning…”
“Huh?” asked Sadie, clearly confused.
“We work together,” I said, realizing how vague I was sounding, and how many details I was omitting.
“At accounting?” asked Sadie.
I shook my head.
“Juliet. Girl. Spill,” said Gabriella, crossing her arms.
“He’s sort of my boss. Like the boss of everyone,” I said with a sheepish look on my face, as I wanted to sink into the couch behind me and disappear.
“As in…” started Sadie, piecing it together. “The CEO. The owner. The head fucking honcho.”
“You mean, Chester Brandfield?” asked Gabriella wide-eyed as she looked at me.
“You’ve heard of him?” I asked meekly.
“Oh, my God!” Sadie slapped my shoulder.
“Ouch,” I said, holding in a laugh as I rubbed my stinging arm.
“I knew he looked familiar!” said Sadie, shaking her head.
Gabriella pulled out her phone and started typing frantically.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Looking him up, of course!” she said quickly, her eyes darting across the screen. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell—Oh, my God, Juliet! He’s practically a GQ model!”
“See? I told you!” said Sadie, leaning over me to look at Gabriella’s phone.
I could feel heat filling my cheeks that were surely turning bright red as my two best friends scrolled and zoomed in on photos of Chester right in front of me.
“Are we done now?” I asked, raising a brow.
