Ninety-Eight (Contemporary Romance)

by Shannon Mayer

  Victor gave me a sideways glance, his eyes narrowing slightly.

  I mouthed, ‘too sweaty,’ and he smiled, his shoulders relaxing. Before any conversation could be started, the waitress came and took our orders, starting with me and Fiona.

  Fiona tipped her head from side to side, tapping her teeth with her long nails. “Lobster, I think, and I’d like a bottle of your best white for the table.”

  I’d only had to glance at the menu to know that my earlier assertion had been right. I couldn’t afford a thing here. “Starter salad and just water is fine for me.”

  Victor ordered next, prime rib and a bottle of red wine, which I knew he knew I didn’t like, so he wouldn’t have to share.

  Darwin stared at the menu, took a breath and pointed to something. “I’d like an order of this to start. Then I’ll have the prime rib as well.”

  Fiona leaned over his shoulder. “What are you ordering so secretively?”

  “Never you mind.” He laid his hand over hers where it rested on the table, and she giggled up at him.

  My stomach rolled and I struggled to keep my face light and free of the sudden, less than charitable thoughts that shot through me. I had to remind myself that this had been my idea, my suggestion.

  Stupid girl.

  “So, I have an announcement that I thought I’d share with everyone so we can all celebrate together.” Victor put his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

  Darwin’s eyes flicked to mine, and I shrugged. I had no idea what Victor was up to.

  Victor smiled at me and took my hand, lifting it to his lips. I felt, more than saw, Darwin tense.

  Victor’s eyes darted to Fiona. “You are looking at the new manager of our newest branch for Watson & Denver’s Accounting.” She squealed and clapped her hands and I just sat there, stunned.

  His words rocked me—newest branch manager was good, a great step up, but there was a major hitch with that position, one that my brain was slowly digesting. “But that means we’d have to move to—”

  “Indianapolis.” He grinned at me, had the fucking nerve to grin at me. Indianapolis. Without even a single, “Hey, Baby, what do you think about moving to a new state?” Away from what was left of my family, my job, the few friends I had.

  From Darwin.

  I stood up fast, my chair shooting out behind me. “Excuse me.” Someone tried to talk to me, it might have been Victor, but I brushed their words off and all but ran to the ladies’ room.

  The bathroom stalls were occupied, except for the one at the end. Shoving past an old grey-haired woman tottering toward it, I stepped into the stall and locked the door behind me.

  “Young lady, that is no way to behave in a proper manner.” She rapped her knuckles on the door as if that would make me feel bad.

  I didn’t answer her, couldn’t. I clamped my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming. Maybe from crying. Mostly screaming, though.

  What the hell was Victor thinking?

  Maybe he knows you are falling for another man and wants to get you away from him.

  Gulping back a sob, I leaned against the stall door, the wooden panel cool against my flushed skin. Is that what was happening? Could I be honest with myself and see that I was finding ways to spend time with Darwin instead of Victor?

  Maybe Victor was right. He certainly didn’t deserve my disloyalty. A deep, shuddering breath escaped me. I laced my fingers over the back of my neck and just sat there, mind and heart racing with the tangle of emotions I couldn’t get a handle on.

  Nothing had ever happened between me and Darwin, we were just friends.

  “Brielle, are you okay?” Fiona’s voice echoed in the bathroom. Damn it all to hell and back.

  I wiped my face. “Yes, I just need a minute.”

  “Do you want to talk?”

  God, the last thing I wanted was to talk to her. Then again, maybe she would have something brilliant to say for once. God, I was being catty. “Do you think I’m overreacting?”

  I looked down to see the toes of her god-awful shoes peeking under the door, glittering at me.

  “No, I don’t think you’re overreacting.” Her feet shuffled and she went on tiptoes as if she would try and peek over the door. “I would have thrown at least some plates at him if Darwin had pulled a stunt like that in public, without any warning. I think Darwin is much better trained than Victor, though.”

  I laughed softly with it all until she got to the ‘better trained’ part, a flash of annoyance surging through me. I stood and opened the door. She smiled at me. “We don’t have to stay. Maybe we could just dine and dash on the boys.” Fiona reached out and touched my cheek, wiping away a tear.

  “Why are you being nice to me?” The question popped out before I could stop it. Damn my faulty filter. Then again, I really wanted to know. We certainly hadn’t started out friends, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be buddies with her, but she seemed determined to build something of a relationship with me.

  Her eyes widened and then she gave a sad smile. “I don’t have many friends. Darwin keeps telling me how easy you are to talk to. How you remind him of his sister. I thought maybe we could be friends too. You could be the sister-in-law I don’t have.”

  Two things happened simultaneously with her words. One, I softened toward Fiona with her tentative admission, understanding all too well what it was like to have few friends. Other than Penny, there was no one I would call a girlfriend, not really. Two, I thought I would be sick with the understanding, with the revelation that Darwin saw me as a sister.

  Which was stupid of me. Of course he only saw me as a friend. The sister he’d lost, replaced by me. The things we had in common, the same sense of humor, everything we’d talked about, I could see now in a different light. He really just saw me as a friend, a sister.

  Which was as it should be.

  Fiona stepped closer and gave me a quick hug. “Come on, let’s go eat. You can punish Victor later, but don’t let him ruin our night out.”

  With Fiona by my side, and feeling stronger for it, which was an amazing thing, we made our way back to the table—where the boys sat in what had to be the most awkward silence I’ve ever experienced walking in on. And that even includes walking in on my mom and Frank early one morning the last year I’d lived at home, a sight that had scarred me for life.

  “Baby, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have sprung that on you—”

  “We can talk about it later,” I said, taking my seat. “Fiona convinced me not to throw anything at you for now.”

  Darwin burst out laughing, and I reached over and gave Victor’s hand a squeeze. He smiled back at me, though his eyes were full of worry. Smart of him to realize that this was not a discussion we were going to like.

  A few minutes later, our meal came and Darwin’s mystery item was revealed. Fiona and Victor both recoiled.

  “Calamari, how can you eat that?” Vic stared with open revulsion at the plate of deep fried squid.

  “Love this stuff,” Darwin said, digging into the plate with gusto, offering a bite to his wife, “you want some?”

  Fiona squealed. “God no. You better not try to kiss me tonight!”

  Darwin pushed the plate toward me. “I don’t suppose you want some? There’s no way I can eat it all on top of my steak.”

  Lips twitching, I reached out and snagged one of the tentacle bodies and popped it in my mouth, bypassing the dipping sauce. “Thanks, I love calamari.”

  “Really? I would have thought not.”

  I grabbed another squid, “Why’s that?”

  A darkness shadowed his blue violet eyes and I should have been ready, but he caught me off guard.

  “Well, I just got the impression that what Victor likes, you like. You know, kind of a follow the leader thing.”

  His words were spoken lightly, and Fiona and Victor both laughed. But I felt them as if they’d been shot through me with a bullet. I wanted to bolt. As bad as Victor’s announcement had been, D
arwin’s words were worse. Did he think I was a doormat?

  I pushed the calamari back across to him, the one bite I’d taken turning sour in my mouth. “Thanks, but I’m watching my weight for the wedding, would hate to have the dress seams popping as I walked down the aisle.”

  I barely spoke through the rest of the meal, but Victor didn’t notice. He was too busy talking about his new job, how excited he was to be the manager. Showing off for Fiona. Apparently, he’d forgotten that we had yet to talk about it. And Fiona ate it up, leaning into his words, her eyes wide with admiration.

  Nausea rolled through me and I put my fork down. Even the salad tasted horrible. I could tell that Darwin was trying to get my attention, finally resorting to bumping my leg under the table.

  Jaw clenched, I lifted my eyes to him, hoped he could see how angry I was, how much his words had hurt me.

  Fiona let out a laugh, throwing her head back at something Victor had said. They were completely oblivious. I touched Victor on the elbow, needing to leave. I couldn’t sit across from Darwin for a second longer. “Victor. I have to get up early tomorrow.”

  “Right, of course.” He flagged down the waiter, pointing at us. “Separate bills, please.”

  Oh my God. As if I couldn’t be more mortified. I laid out a twenty-dollar bill and two ones on the table, knowing it would cover my salad, but leave very little for the tip.

  Victor paid his bill, I avoided Darwin’s eyes, and then Fiona was pulling me into a hug. “Next time you come to our place with Bruce, stay for tea. Please?” She held me at arm’s length and I gave her a quick nod, struggling for a moment to remember that Bruce was Dr. Winston.

  “Of course, I’d like that.”

  The two men shook hands again, and I gave Darwin a wave, but said nothing.

  On the drive home, Victor couldn’t stop talking about his new job, about his responsibilities and all the money he’d be making. About how far this position would take him up the god damn corporate ladder.

  “Why didn’t you ask me about this?” I snapped, cutting him off in mid-sentence.

  “Well, I didn’t think I needed to ask you about furthering my career to help us get a head start.” He snapped back at me, his hands tight on the steering wheel. “Seriously, Brielle, you need to look at things without being so selfish. We are getting married and we need to do what’s best for both of us, not just what you want.”

  I struggled to breathe past the shock clogging my throat. He had to be joking. “Selfish?”

  “I know your family is here, I know your job is here, but you can get a job with any veterinarian wherever we go, and you’ve said yourself that you aren’t close with your mom anymore. I won’t get another chance at a job like this. Why can’t you just support me for once? Why does this have to be all about you?” He stared over at me, lines drawn between his eyebrows, lips pursed like he did whenever he was upset.

  The car rolled to a stop at a red light and I didn’t think, I just pushed the door open and stepped out, slamming the door behind me, leaving behind both my purse and my cell phone. I kicked off my heels and ran down the sidewalk, as fast as I could in bare feet and a dress.

  I ran until I was sure Victor couldn’t find me, ran until I wasn’t sure I wanted to be found. Not ever. When I finally stopped, I had a stitch in my side, night had fully fallen and I was totally winded. But I was still angry; hell, I’d never been so angry in my whole life.

  Walking now, I limped along, knowing there was only one place I could go at a time like this. I wasn’t too far from Penny’s place, which was a blessing. She was not only my last girlfriend, she more than anyone else would back me up on a man-hating, ice cream-eating binge. I sure as hell wasn’t going back to the apartment tonight. If I saw Victor, I might say things I would regret. Which would be a mistake I wouldn’t be able to take back, and Nana would be rolling over in her grave. No, it was best if I stayed away from him tonight and kept my thoughts to myself.

  A young, inebriated couple were letting themselves into the lobby of Penny’s building when I got there and I followed the swaying couple in, ignoring their lusty sighs as they stepped into the elevator. I chose to climb the three flights to her floor rather than take the elevator with the duo. The last thing I needed was a front row seat to a scene straight out of a porno. Catching my breath, I knocked on Penny’s door, knowing there was a good chance she wouldn’t even be home yet.

  I was right, there was no answer, not even a muffled ‘come in.’ Nothing. With a sigh, I leaned my back against her door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor, doing my best not to think about anything at all.

  Because I knew if I started to think about what had happened tonight, I’d start to cry. The very idea of which only made me angry—neither one of those men deserved my tears.

  More than anything else, I didn’t want to cry about Victor, about Darwin, and I sure as hell didn’t want to cry about the messed up emotions in my heart.

  So I sat there, glaring at the opposite wall, and considered my options. There weren’t many. I laid them all out in my mind. I could tell Victor I wasn’t going with him, but that would mean calling off the wedding. I could tell Darwin that I thought I was falling in love with him, but that would mean willingly taking on the colossal mistake that my Nana had always warned me about. I could run away and pretend both men had never existed in my life. Option number three was starting to look really, really good, except for one small hitch.

  I had no doubt that as long as I lived, Darwin would be a part of me that I could never fully escape. That no matter how far I ran, he would have a piece of my heart wrapped up in his violet blue eyes.

  7

  PENNY ROLLED IN somewhere after 1am, more than half cut and dragging not one, but two guys with her. One was blond and blue-eyed, and his friend—who had more muscles than some of the thoroughbreds I worked on—had a shaved head and dark brown eyes.

  Penny squealed when she saw me. “Perfect! I knew you’d drop Vic, he’s such a stick in the mud.” She hiccupped several times, the smell of sour alcohol spilling out of her as she fumbled with her keys for a good minute before letting all four of us in.

  The blond guy was suddenly at my side, his wandering hands on my ass within seconds. A very poor decision on his part. I shoved his hands off me, then followed up the shove with a slap that resounded through the small apartment.

  “Get your hands off me, you pervert.”

  He whirled back, smacking me across the face with an open hand. “Fuck you, bitch!”

  I hit the edge of the counter, the sharp edge knocking the wind out of me, but it didn’t steal my anger. But before I could react, Penny was screaming at them to get out, brandishing a dirty frying pan at them until they backed out, glaring at us both.

  “Fucking cock tease!”

  “Piece of shit!” She screamed at them. She took a swing and then they were out, and Penny slammed the door behind them, throwing the deadbolt. The apartment went still, the only sound that of our combined heavy breathing. She lowered the frying pan to her side, grease dripping down and onto the cheap linoleum.

  “Hey, what the hell are you doing here anyway?” Her words were harsh, but her tone was soft. She crouched down and helped me to my feet. I took the frying pan from her and slid it into the sink.

  She wasn’t as drunk as I’d thought. Not by half. And she acted like I didn’t just get in a slapping match with a guy three times my size. So I acted like it hadn’t happened, either.

  “Vic and I had a fight.”

  She slipped her arm around my shoulder and I leaned into her. Wild, she was, totally undependable. But she was the only friend I had that, no matter what, she would never judge me, no matter how bad the decisions I made were. Like with my exes, and maybe now with Victor. And Darwin. God, what was wrong with me?

  I burst into tears and she hugged me to her. The smell of alcohol and smoke lingered in her hair, mingling with her vanilla perfume.

  “Come o
n.” She led me into her room, flipped back the covers and we crawled in together, like we used to growing up when we had sleepovers. “Time to spill, what the hell is going on?”

  “Victor took a job in Indianapolis without even talking to me about it. And then he just announced it at a dinner we were having with … friends. Then on the way home, he had the nerve to tell me I was selfish … and one of the people we had dinner with implied I was a doormat.”

  “Vic called you selfish?” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “He’s such a twat waffle. Seriously, you could do better; you know that, right? He’s not all that you think he is. Seriously.”

  I shook my head, knowing she was wrong. “He’s not a bad guy, he’s just a jerk sometimes. And my nana would have loved him.”

  “Like when he still makes you pay for half the bills, even though you’re engaged and he makes three times what you make? You think Nana would have loved that? I don’t think so. She would have slapped the shit out of him.”

  I smiled at the image. Maybe Penny was right. My smile faded—no, I was sure Nana would have loved Victor; he represented everything she said to look for. Stable, honest, hard working.

  I closed my eyes, thinking about the look on Darwin’s face at the table. The pity in Fiona’s eyes. “Listen, I love Vic, I just need some time away from him. Can I stay here?”

  “For as long as you want.” She flicked off the light and curled up next to me.

  “The person who implied you were a doormat, you want me to hunt him down and castrate him for you?”

  “How do you know it’s a guy?”

  Penny laughed and hugged me. “Because only a man would be so dumb as to say something like that in public.”

  I took a breath, thought about Darwin’s words. “Was he right, have I turned into a doormat?”

  Penny didn’t answer the question except to give me a hug, and I knew what that meant. “Hey, no matter what, we’re friends to the end.”