Isla’s eyes flew open wide. She clutched my arm. “Oh Tabs, I wish you’d confided in me about your suspicions. Can I hug you?”
Though I squeezed the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger to stop the tears, my eyes pooled. “Better not. I’ll just blubber off all this eyeliner. It’s okay. It’s not like I would have stayed with him after this morning. And I know you didn’t like him. You didn’t show it, but I knew.”
“I, ah…er. As usual, you’re being nice. I did show it. I never thought he appreciated you, but I don’t like seeing you hurt like this. That bloody bastard.”
Her outrage on my behalf touched my heart. Which prompted me to make another confession. “He told me I was uptight, conservative, and status-conscious.”
“Whaaat? That’s not you, that’shim. He’s totally projecting. May he be frozen in a downward-facing dog, wearing a footie shirt and cargo shorts, for the rest of his days.”
I spluttered out my champers. Now I was feeling better because Isla always made me see the silly side of things. I loved having her on my work team, and I hoped she stayed. She’d cracked several big, complicated crime cases, and I worried she’d get bored with us in the Home and Garden section.
“He said he’d found his free spirit, and he wanted to allow himself to soar,” I said.
Her mouth dropped open. “I picture him soaring into the side of a building.”
I giggled again.
“And Perry, a free spirit?” Isla went on. “I find that hard to believe.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Turns out the yoga instructor is titled, has a trust fund, and holds retreats in the Seychelles, sohe is soaring with someone who has jet propellant under her wings.”
“So, no wild transformation for Perry after all.”
She’d said it to be nice, but my bottom lip trembled. He was the same old Perry, but still, he’d cheated on me.
Isla touched my shoulder, like she’d noticed I was affected by her words. “Tabitha, you’re an amazing editor, but also a lovely person who doesn’t know how great she is. And you arehot. You’ll find someone who realizes how bloody brilliant you are.”
Her supportive words straightened my shoulders with resolve, but I could hear Perry’s words from this morning echoing louder.
“I suppose I am a bit stuffy,” I said. “Maybe I should lose the pearls.”
“Don’t change yourself.” She touched my necklace. “The pearls look perfect with that dress. You look incredible.”
I was wearing a red mini with a plunging neckline, a definite change of direction for me. Sunny and Ishani wanted to go out clubbing afterward, and I’d dressed for the night. A rebellion, I’d bought the dress on impulse some time ago and had never worn it. Tonight, I was out to prove I wasn’t boring. But I kept tugging at the revealing neckline, nervous the double-sided tape was going to give way and the not-insubstantial girls would tumble out into the night.
Isla’s gaze flicked to something behind me. She seemed surprised.
“Look who’s here,” she said.
“Who?”
It wasn’t Perry, was it? Thinking he could do some groveling? Yuck.
“No, really. Turn around. Look. Mr. Goodtimes.”
I was confused and eager to see who it was. Mr. Goodtimes? Definitely not Perry. A party song playing in my head, I turned.
Oh shit. My heart plummeted. Not him. Not again today, one of the lowest days of my life, and I was showing too much boob and leg to feel secure.
Tim bloody Langston.
He was laughing uproariously, as usual, his brown hair tousled, his annoyingly wide and muscled shoulders flung back, his stupidly chiseled face not as handsome as he thought it was. He wore a fresh flannel shirt and sat at a table full of uncommonly good-looking guys in similar garb, clutching pints. A bouncy blond woman with a clipboard was hanging over him and…unbuttoning his shirt? How very on-brand. He was such a flirt. I bet they were sleeping together. Why did that fill me with such rage?
Ishani appeared at our side. “It’s your hot contractor, Tabs. That guy is so fun.”
Her words soured inside my mind. Was he fun? Or did he always pretend to have fun to annoy me?Tabs, get a grip, woman.
“He was so brave,” Ishani said. “The presence of mind he displayed that day.”
