Didi looked at Viv. “I’m thinking keeping this a surprise wasn’t our best collaborative decision.”
“How were we supposed to know she was gonna pick tonight to lose her shit?”
“True,” Didi said. “Go ahead, Kate. Go get your award.”
Kate ambled over to Marney, her footsteps slow and exaggerated as she attempted to cross the stage with grace while her head was spinning. She stepped in front of the microphone, and it squealed with feedback at the close proximity of her face.
“Thank you,” she said, methodically calculating her words. “Thank you so much for this award—this heavy award,” she said, bobbling the glass triangle. “I’m honored to be honored by such an honorable organization, the um…the uh…Well, it’s an important organization that does important work.”
She squelched a burp and continued, fired up by the outburst of applause by an audience seemingly eager to see if Kate would still be standing by end of her speech. She raised her fist in solidarity, then grabbed at the mic stand to steady her balance.
“You know,” she said, slurring her words. “It’s nice to know that we can still receive awards for doing stuff even when in our own personal lives we sometimes may not always make the most honorable decisions for ourselves. Christ, it’s hot in here. Is anyone else roasting like a pig on a spit?” Still mumbling about the heat, she worked her way out of her light blazer and threw it across the stage. The crowd of ladies shouted their approval at Kate’s tanned and sculpted upper arms. “I mean just because a person reaches a certain echelon of success doesn’t mean they’re no longer entitled to make mistakes…”
At that point, Didi appeared onstage and grabbed the award from Kate. “Kate would again like to thank True Colors and the members of the academy for acknowledging her charity work with this prestigious award. And the bartenders, who clearly know how to make a stiff one.”
Didi led Kate offstage amid vociferous applause and sat her down in front of a cup of black coffee. “Drink this, and then we’re leaving.”
“No. We should leave now,” Viv said, nodding toward the stage. She and Maia stood and gathered Kate’s cell phone and clutch purse.
Kate stood, too. “I don’t want this coffee. I want water.”
“Okay. We’ll get you one on the way out,” Viv said. “Now let’s go.”
“And miss tonight’s main attraction?” Kate said, trying to steady herself.
“Honey, you were the main attraction,” Viv drawled. “Now let’s split.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Marney shouted. “Jordan Squire.”
Jordan bounded out onstage, and the audience exploded with applause. “Thanks, everybody. Hope you’re having a great time so far, and congrats to the great Kate Randall on her award.” She strummed a few chords on her guitar as the crowd again vocalized their gratitude.
Kate slunk into her chair with a hand over her eyes and guzzled water from someone’s glass like she’d just been rescued from a desert island.
“As some of you may know,” Jordan said, “I’m a die-hard fan of Carly Simon, so I thought I’d open my set with a song that means a lot to me personally.”
Kate perked up from the throes of an early onset hangover. Was Jordan about to dedicate their song to her? Her heart fluttered wildly as she anticipated the first notes of “Nobody Does It Better,” her smile stretching to the ends of her face.
Instead, she got the opening chords of “You’re So Vain” and an unabashed glare in her direction from Jordan. When she belted the line about thinking this song is about you, Kate could bear no more. She dashed into the ladies’ room and purged everything from the ghastly evening. When she opened the stall door, Didi, Viv, and Maia were lined up against the counter like a tribunal.
“Well, if it isn’t the A-team,” Kate said as she headed to the sink to rinse her mouth and splash her face with cold water.
“Shall I bring the car around now?” Viv asked.
“Why don’t you just throw a tablecloth over my head and usher me out the service entrance?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Didi said. “You didn’t make that big of a fool out of yourself.”
“That’s funny,” Kate said as she followed them out. “Even though I seemed to have given it my best shot?”
* * *
The silence in Viv’s town car haunted Kate even more than the vivid flashbacks of her antics earlier in the evening. She felt the weight of three sets of eyes repeatedly glancing at her, but after witnessing her transformation from Attorney Jekyll into Madam Hyde, they were understandably tentative.
Kate pressed her forehead against the window and continued to torment herself with self-reflection.
“Obviously, your compulsion to accost Jordan and her companion tonight means something,” Didi finally said.
Kate studied her for a moment. “You don’t say,” she deadpanned, then returned her forehead to the window.
“Want to talk about it?” Viv said.
“Talk about what? How I acted like a sociopath toward Jordan and accepted an award while a drunken mess in front of a room packed full of people who used to respect me? Yes, let’s talk about that.”
“We’re gonna let that go. You’re too vulnerable right now.” Didi slapped Kate’s thigh in sympathy.
Kate glared at her. “The one time you actually have a reason to debase and humiliate me, and you pass on it?”
“It’s no fun kicking a sister when she’s down,” Viv said.
“After the way I behaved tonight, I deserve everything you got.”
“You deserve patience and understanding,” Maia said, reaching over Viv and taking her hand. “Everyone’s fallen victim to love’s powerful charms. It makes people do crazy things sometimes.”
Kate recalled the series of impassioned dramas between Viv and Maia that had finally culminated in a domestic charge and restraining order. “Thank you, Maia,” she said, squeezing her hand. “That means a lot coming from you.”
Didi fluffed out the sides of her hair. “Look, all I was suggesting is that you only acted that way because you’re still in love with Jordan.”
“I’m not in love with her.” She faced Didi only long enough to stab her with an evil glare. “But apparently, I still have some unresolved feelings for her.”
“I don’t understand what you’re doing,” Didi said. “You fell in love with her, yet you were bent on destroying the relationship. You got rid of her faster than the mob gets rid of witnesses.”
“I didn’t get rid of her.” Kate turned back to the passing city. “Look, I made a decision I thought was best under the circumstances.”
“What circumstances? You were two were crazy about each other.”
“Didi, how many times do I have to say this? She’s got so much yet to experience, so many epiphanies before she can be the person I’d need her to be. More importantly, she needs to be free to pursue her music career.”
“Kate, nobody’s ever the person you need them to be.” Didi covertly tilted her head toward Viv and Maia. “I thought we’re at the stage in life where we no longer waste time sweating the small stuff.”
“This is hardly what I’d call the small stuff. If all we were looking for is a good time, then it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
Didi sighed in frustration. “I completely disagree with you, but I’m on your side no matter what. I only brought this up again because you wouldn’t have reacted this way if you weren’t truly, deeply in love with Jordan. But go ahead. Keep living in denial.”
“It doesn’t seem like Jordan’s hers to get rid of anymore,” Viv said.
Kate and Didi both looked at her.
She sucked her teeth. “What? Looks like she might be back on that young chick, the ex. And not for nothing. Didn’t y’all catch that song dedication?” She chuckled absently. “Ouch.”
“We don’t know that was meant for Kate,” Didi said.
Viv looked her up and down. “We don’t?”
&nb
sp; “Yeah, we do,” Kate said, and her head fell back against the seat.
Chapter Nineteen
Raging Bull
In the week after her public meltdown, Kate kept a low profile. No happy hours in trendy New Haven wine bars or restaurants lest someone from the fund-raiser recognize her and request an encore performance. But a more pressing issue troubled her: Jordan. Time was not easing her longing for her and what they shared. She was becoming obsessed, taunting herself with grotesque visions of Jordan reuniting with her weaselly ex or jetting off to some private exotic island owned by a bloated music mogul to elope with Alexandra. She was losing precious peace of mind and countless hours of her life hunting for evidence of either all over social media.
To prevent a liquor-induced text she would most certainly regret, she opted for a bit of retail therapy after an unanswered text to Didi. A few laps around the mall facilitated moving China Panda’s combo number four through her digestive tract. As a reward for her workout, she stopped at the Froyo stand and indulged in some self-care: a healthy serving of Greek vanilla—loaded down with Health chips, M&M’s, and gummy bears. She sat spooning it in, rolling her eyes at happy, love-struck teens strolling by hand in hand, then smiled with sinister thoughts of them drowning themselves in their awful music when the loves of their lives dumped them a week later for the new kid.
Before backing out of the parking space, she checked her phone again and grew concerned that Didi still hadn’t answered. Rather than going home to an evening of cyber-sulking, she drove by Didi’s condo.
After Kate rang the bell three times, Didi finally cracked open the door. “What are you doing here?”
Kate made a face at that question, then indicated Didi’s worn T-shirt and cotton gym shorts. “Did I wake you up or something?”
“No. I just wasn’t expecting company.”
“You would’ve if you checked your phone.”
“Sorry. I left it upstairs charging.”
They stared at each other like alley cats ready to brawl in a turf war.
“Not that you’re dressed for it,” Kate said, eyeing her with suspicion, “but do you have someone in there?”
“What are you, writing a book?”
“Didi, cut the crap. I could really use a friend right now.”
Didi exhaled and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. “There seems to be a lot of that going around tonight.”
“What are you talking about? Someone really is here?”
Didi mouthed the word “Jordan.”
“She’s here?” Pictures on the wall rattled from the seismic volume of Kate’s voice.
“Oh, my Christ, shut up,” Didi said in an angry whisper. “Go home, and I’ll call you when she leaves.”
“Why should I go home? You’re my friend.”
Kate nudged the door open and walked into the living room. The sight of Jordan looking incredibly sexy with her arms splayed across the back of the couch and her long legs crossed triggered a swell of irrational jealousy.
“Good evening, Jordan. Moving on to yet another conquest?”
“Huh?” Jordan jumped up, seeming lost for words.
“Kate.” Didi admonished her with a nervous look.
Kate glared at Didi like a bull facing a matador. “Let me guess. This isn’t what it looks like.”
Didi said, “I don’t know what it looks like to you, but—”
“You don’t? Well here, let me spell it out for you.” She began counting off on her fingers. “You don’t answer my texts, you tried to get rid of me the second I got here, and your hair looks like you’ve been testing wind tunnels for the Air Force. How big a fool do you think I am?”
Didi self-consciously smoothed down the back of her hair. “In my defense, it’s unusually humid for October.”
Jordan inserted herself into the debate. “I’d like to answer your question: you’re a giant one if you think I’m here fucking your best friend.”
“Come on, Jordan. You told me how much you love older women. And what better way to get back at me?”
Jordan’s mouth dropped open. “You are so full of yourself. I’d never be so petty and vindictive that I’d waste my time trying to get back at you.”
“Oh, right. I guess you’d have to have genuinely loved me to be bothered.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jordan shouted. “You didn’t care how I felt about you when we were together. Why do you care now?”
Didi slid between them. “Kate, calm down. There’s nothing going—”
“And you.” Kate pointed her finger in Didi’s face. “You expect me to believe this is innocent after all the lewd remarks you made about Jordan when I was with her?”
“She what?” Jordan’s eyes darted between them.
Didi’s face ignited in a blush, but she somehow managed a casual rebuttal. “The one or two observations I may have made were clearly taken way out of context.”
“How can you take ‘I’d love to jump her bones’ out of context,” Kate exclaimed.
Jordan gasped.
Didi casually brushed her hand across her forehead. “Let’s not get into this now, okay, Kate?” She then wheeled around on her and mouthed the words shut the fuck up in a blaze of fury.
“What’s the matter?” Kate said as though cross-examining a witness she knew was perjuring herself. “You don’t think Jordan would get a kick out of hearing about your mental note to check out her ass?”
“Didi?” Jordan groaned.
Didi bit her lip and closed her eyes in apparent humiliation.
Jordan recoiled in disgust. “I feel so dirty.”
“Jordan, it was a joke,” Didi pleaded with a cheesy smile. “A crass, tasteless joke but nonetheless one intended in only the most whimsical of spirit.”
“Thanks a lot, Didi. I thought you were my friend.” Jordan stormed toward the door.
“I am,” she said with a helpless shrug. She whirled around to Kate, who was basking in the chaos she’d unleashed.
Jordan yanked open the door. “This is just too bizarre for me. And I used to live with a drag queen.”
After Jordan slammed the door, Didi stood silently, her back to Kate, seemingly to regain her composure.
“Well, it looks like I may have misjudged the situation,” Kate finally said, her tone syrupy with artificial innocence.
Didi scoffed. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you’ve actually sunk to an all-new low. Another esteemed honor for your awards mantel.”
“C’mon, Dee. You had to know that seeing Jordan in your living room might set me off, especially with the mood I was in. You’re my friend. What were you doing fraternizing with the enemy?”
“She showed up looking like an orphan dumped on my doorstep. What was I supposed to do?”
“What did she want?”
“What do you think she wanted? She wanted someone to talk to who could understand what she’s feeling. She actually asked me what she did wrong to make you break up with her.”
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth,” Didi said. “That she didn’t do anything wrong. That she was the kind of girlfriend anyone in her right mind would consider herself lucky to have. That you’re the one with the issues—not that that was any shocking revelation.”
“How nice of you to throw me under the bus like that.”
Didi groaned in frustration. “You know something? You’ve regressed into a complete adolescent since the summer. And don’t blame this on Jordan. She’s behaved more like an adult than both of us. What is up with you? Is this some perimenopause eve-of-destruction thing?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said, plopping into a chair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that.”
“No, really?” She dropped into the chair across from Kate. “You know, the only crime I’m guilty of here is having an overabundance of empathy for my friends.” A pensive pause. “And maybe not knowing when to keep my mouth shut sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
Didi growled and threw the lid of her melted pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream at her. “You’re such an asshole. Don’t you know I’d never make a play for your ex, no matter how much I may have drooled over her? I have way too much respect for you and our friendship.”
“Yes, I know that,” Kate said, collapsing back into the cushions. “I’m sorry. I really think I’m starting to unravel.”
“Starting? Oh, honey, you don’t have any thread left on your spool. Once you were a sensible, dignified professional. Now you’re trolling social media, picking fights at drag shows, and flying into jealous rages. What are you going to do for an encore, pierce a nipple?”
Kate grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to her chest. “What’s happening to me? How did everything go so wrong so fast?”
“You mean a smart cookie like you can’t figure that out?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kate fired back.
“You know, all I wanted tonight was to watch Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and devour a few pints of ice cream. But no, that was too much to ask. Instead, I had to spend it in the roles of therapist and referee. Now I have to sit here and pretend to be sympathetic while you feel sorry for yourself and whine about your imperfect life. By the way, you’re not the only one in the throes of your own personal Greek tragedy. I’m miserable, too, but does anyone care about that?”
“Oh, that’s right. How are you doing? Has Rhea tried to contact you?”
“Forget it. One catastrophe at a time. Let me tell you something, Kate. Nobody’s life is perfect, but yours was as close as it gets—that is until you had to go all manic and trash everything.” She leapt out of the chair. “Are you really so insecure that you’d sabotage a great relationship?”
Kate jumped up and got in her face. “Boy, the view must be spectacular up there on that soapbox. It wouldn’t kill you to show a little compassion right now, especially since this free-fall I took into a love affair I wasn’t prepared to handle never would have happened without your interference.”
Summer Fling Page 22
