“You work too hard, Julian. You need someone to help you relax.” There was an invitation under it, the hook I was supposed to catch and pull.
“I need to be straight with you,” I said, setting down my fork. “What we had is over. I told you that months ago. I’m telling you again because you haven’t absorbed it.”
Her smile got brighter. “You say that periodically, Julian. You always come back around.”
“Not anymore.”
“What changed?”
“I'm in a different place. I want you to know that clearly so there's no confusion going forward.”
“A different place.” She repeated it slowly. “Because of work. Your family. What exactly has you in such a different place that you're ending three years of us over appetizers.”
Three years. As if a string of disconnected weeks added up to three years of anything but recurrence. She wasn’t wrong about the time. She was wrong about what it meant.
“This isn’t a negotiation. I’m telling you this out of respect. It’s finished.”
She took a delicate sip and set her glass down. “You know what I think? I think you’re running scared. Something got under your skin and you’re doing what youalways do. Pulling back, making distance, telling yourself you don’t want what you want.” She leaned in. “But I know you. I know what you actually need.”
Then she dropped her voice to a sensual register. “I’m not wearing anything under this dress. We could skip dessert. Go back to your place. Let me remind you why we work so well together.”
I looked at her, and felt pity. Genuine, uncomfortable pity I didn't want to feel because it was condescending and she didn't deserve condescension. But it was there anyway, because what she was offering, the practiced seduction, used to feel like enough. I hadn't known what I was missing, so I couldn't miss it.
Now I knew.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
ALYSSA
Question. Am I obligated to sing at karaoke or do I have a right to remain silent?
Everyone sings. That’s the rule. You've got a great voice, you'll be fine
ALYSSA
So YOU'RE singing then?
No. I'm exempt.
ALYSSA
Figures. I'll allow it but only because you're cute when you're being a hypocrite.
I couldn’t help the grin that got loose. When I looked up, Sabrina was watching me with a scowl on her face.
I set my phone down. I'd sat there and let her run her whole performance, because I wanted to see if she'd bring it up herself. If there was a version of this woman who'd say:I owe your friend an apology.
She wasn't going to. She was going to sit there and play seductress with a man she'd tried to humiliate a woman over, and never mention it. So I'd raise it myself.
“I know what you said to her at the gala.”
She smiled, then went still. “I don't know what you're?—”
“I'm talking about Alyssa. I know you accosted her.” I kept my voice level. “I'm not going to ask you to confirm it. I'm telling you it's the last conversation about her you and I are ever going to have.”
For a second she did the recovery. The graceful pivot, theof course, that was nothing, girl talk.I watched herreach for it.
And then she didn't reach for it. Three years of practiced calm came off her face all at once.
