by Karen Pokras
He stood to greet her. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
Play it cool, Holly. She looked around at all the stores and raised her eyebrows. “Uh—shopping?”
“Right,” he said shaking his head. “Sorry, I’m a little nervous right now. You tend to do that to me.” The corners of his lips turned up showing her the sexy smile she’d missed so much. “How’ve you been?”
Horrible. Heartbroken. Distraught. Devastated. “Okay, I guess. How about you?”
He shrugged. “I saw you a couple of weeks ago, on stage. You were really good.”
“That was you. I thought so. What were you doing there?”
“I needed to see you again.” He looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have…” His phone began to ring.
He groaned and pulled it out of his pocket.
“Hello?”
“I’m done. Meet me at the entrance of Nordstrom’s.”
The phone wasn’t on speaker, but Holly could hear the words clear as day. She’d recognized that shrill demand anywhere. Michelle hadn’t even waited for his response before she hung up. Holly’s heart sank.
“Her Majesty awaits,” she said with a forced grin.
Appearing somber, Ben reached for her hand. “I don’t want to leave you, but if I don’t go she’ll come looking for me.”
Closing her eyes for a second, she pulled her hand away. “It’s okay. I have to get going anyway.”
She ran off before he could see her tears, finding Tessa as she was coming out of the fitting room.
“What’s the matter? Why are you crying? Did you talk to him?”
Wiping her eyes, she nodded. “It’s just—everything. Every time I see him, I feel such a strong pull … in my heart. It’s so unfair.”
Tessa dropped the clothes onto the top of the nearest rack and wrapped her arms around her sister, holding her close.
Chapter 39
“Valentine’s Day was surely a holiday created by some sadistic person hoping to torture all of the single people in the world,” Holly said, filling her glass with wine.
They sat in Tessa’s tiny apartment, wallowing over the fact it was February fourteenth and neither one of them had a significant other.
“Actually,” Tessa stated, pouring a glass for herself, “I have visions of this big roundtable, with a bunch of guys sitting around it somewhere in the 1800s or something, and having a conversation like this …”
“Aye, Arthur, we need to make more money this year. Our garden productions were fine, but the demand was just not what it should have been.”
“Indeed, Theodore, my printing business has been on the decline as well. How has your confectionary business been, Herbert?”
“I declare, they’ve been frightfully low. If only we could think of a way to increase the demand for chocolate.”
“And flowers,” added Theodore.
“And cards,” Arthur stated. “Even if it were for just one day a year, it would help. Perhaps Edward could even benefit with jewelry sales as well.”
Holly smirked and finished her glass. “The dirty bastards. Look what they’ve created.” She sat back on her sister’s couch and stared out the window.
“Oh, don’t let it get to you. It’s only a stupid holiday.”
“Do you think I made a mistake?” she asked. “Breaking up with Jared, I mean? It’s just … Ben is with Michelle now and starting a family, and Jared was trying. Maybe I was being too impatient.”
“Holly!” Tessa said sternly. “Do you need me to make a list of all the reasons why breaking up with Jared was the absolute best thing for you to do? I know you’re upset about Ben, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle. What about your whole you never loved him, you only loved the idea of him? There are plenty of guys out there—guys who will treat you the way you deserve to be treated. Listen, any other day, you’d totally agree with me. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ve given me this speech before. The only reason you’re saying any of this is because it’s Valentine’s Day, and you’re getting caught up in all this romantic couples stuff. Take today to celebrate you! You can still make Arthur, Theodore, Herbert, and Edward happy.”
“Who?” she asked confused.
“You know, my 1800s guys from my roundtable discussion. You should go buy yourself some chocolates and flowers. Not a card though—that would be kind of weird—sorry, Arthur. But you definitely deserve a nice piece of jewelry. Who says you’re not allowed to pamper yourself?”
“Is that what you did today?” Holly asked.
“Me? No, I’m just a starving college student, but you’re a teacher with a salary. Who, I might add, is mooching off Mom and Dad for the moment, so I gather you’ve got some bucks in your wallet.”
“I’m not mooching, I’m saving so I can afford a decent place to live. There’s a difference. All the places I’ve checked out so far are so expensive … I wonder what he’s doing today.
“Who, Jared?”
“No, Ben.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Tessa replied. “He’s getting dragged to an over-priced restaurant where Michelle will order her expensive imported bottled water and a salad that will probably consist of a leaf of lettuce and half a cherry tomato. But it will look fabulous because the raspberry vinaigrette will be artfully splattered across the plate to look like one of Picasso’s works of art. However, she won’t eat it. Instead, she’ll complain that she actually wanted the Van Gogh. The entire meal will cost as much as you make in a week. Trust me, Ben’s even more miserable than you are.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? Why are you so upbeat? Didn’t some guy dump you the other day? I was expecting you to be as depressed as I am, but instead you’re like the head of the pep rally. It’s kind of annoying.”
“Well, excuse me. Sorry to crash your pity party. I am in a good mood, actually. Not only was that guy I dated a douche, but I found out he moved on to Marney Springer. Last I heard, she has crabs. I expect his Valentine’s Day will be a little … um … itchy.” She danced around like she had ants in her pants, laughing.
Holly laughed, too. She so wished she could have the carefree attitude Tessa had. “You know what?” she said, finishing her wine in one gulp. “You’re right. I don’t need a man to make my life complete, and I certainly don’t need Jared. Come on. Let your rich, older sister take you out to dinner tonight. You can be my Valentine.”
Chapter 40
Holly and Tessa walked into the Urban Bistro at eight o’clock. They’d intended to leave earlier, but neither one of them could agree on where to go. Every suggestion of where to eat was attached to a memory— for Holly it was with either Ben or Jared, and for Tessa with the multitude of boyfriends she’d had over the past few years. They’d finally resorted to looking at an online restaurant listing. It took getting to the letter U before they could find someplace without any significance.
“Table for two please,” Holly innocently asked as they walked into the crowded establishment.
“What name is your reservation under?” The woman, dressed all in black, stood at a podium and flipped through the papers attached to her clipboard without looking up.
“Oh,” Holly replied, “we don’t have a reservation.”
The hostess stopped flipping papers, her bright red lips coming together in an odd pout, as she scanned the two girls from head to toe. “You do know it’s Valentine’s Day, don’t you? We’ve been booked for months.”
“We’re aware of the date, thank you,” Tessa responded, returning the head to toe scan. “Do you serve food at the bar?”
The woman motioned to the left with her head and called, “Next!” to the couple behind them.
“She’s a friendly one,” Tessa said as they walked in the direction of the packed room. “Do you want to stay or try to go somewhere else?”
“We might as well stay. I have a feeling we’d get the same story anywhere we’d go. I wasn’t thinking about the whole reserv
ation thing. Besides, we’d have to go back to our list, and I don’t know how many restaurants are left after U that meet our no connection criteria.”
“Good point. Hey, that couple at the bar is leaving. Let’s grab their seats.”
Tessa grasped Holly’s arm and raced over, squeezing in as an older couple approached. She smiled at them and shrugged as the man gave her a dirty look. The annoyed pair huffed off and stood in the corner.
“I thought he was about to deck you. Maybe we should offer these stools to them. We can wait for something else to open up. I feel bad.”
“Nonsense, they’re going to get called any minute for their fancy table. We’re here for the long haul. Menus please,” Tessa asked when the bartender came over.”
“This is a nice place,” Holly noted. “Romantic. No wonder it’s been booked for months. I’m surprised I’ve never been here.”
The bartender handed them menus, and she opened hers up and gasped. “O-kay, now I know why I’ve never been here. So you know the part about me being the rich sister taking you out for dinner?”
“Yeah,” Tessa said, still holding hers closed on her lap.
“I’m not this rich! Maybe you want a cup of soup for dinner? And some water?”
Her sister opened her menu to see what all the fuss was about. “Holy shit!” she yelled. Then covered her mouth. “Sorry. Let’s go back to Mom and Dad’s for dinner. We can pick up another bottle of wine on the way and scrounge around their kitchen for some grub. Do people really spend this much on food?”
“I guess,” Holly said, relieved they were leaving. “Let me just use the bathroom first.” She grabbed her coat.
“Good idea.”
Holly noticed that the older couple were making their way over to their empty seats again, only this time the man was walking a lot faster. She chuckled and turned to leave the bar area. As they got closer to the entrance to the dining room, she stopped short. Tessa bumped into her back.
“Why’d you stop walking?” she asked.
“Sh,” Holly whispered, pointing. She pulled her sister around the corner so they could both peek into the main dining room without being spotted.
“Looks like I was right about their plans for the evening,” Tessa noted, watching Michelle and Ben sitting at a far table. “Apparently the plastics plant pays pretty well these days. Guess Ben was holding out on you since he never took you here.”
Looking at her sister, Holly rolled her eyes. “She’s probably paying for it. She’s some fancy executive, remember? Ugh. Why do I keep seeing him everywhere I go?”
“Fate. I keep trying to tell you. He looks absolutely miserable.”
“Wouldn’t you? Anyway, let’s just go to the bathroom and get out of here. The last thing I want to do is watch them have their little romantic dinner.”
“She’s getting up,” Tessa noted. “And she’s heading toward the bathroom. Now what are we going to do? I’m not in the mood to bump into Miss High and Mighty tonight.”
“Me either. I guess we’ll have to wait. How long can she possibly take?”
They leaned back into the wall and watched as she walked down the hallway toward the restrooms. However, Michelle didn’t go into the bathroom. She pulled out her phone and typed something. Seconds later, a man appeared. He took Michelle in his arms and kissed her passionately. Holly was too shocked to move. Luckily, Tessa wasn’t. She pulled out her phone and took pictures. Then grabbing Holly’s arm, she proceeded to quickly walk toward them.
“This is not happening on my watch,” she said.
Walking straight up to the guy, Tessa nudged him to the side.
“Hey!” Michelle shrieked. “What do you think—” She stopped suddenly, pretending to fix her hair. “Holly, Tessa, hello. This is, um, Simon Grady. He’s a business associate of mine.”
“Hello,” Holly said, refusing to shake his outstretched hand.
“Business associate?” Tessa questioned. “So this is a business meeting then?”
Michelle nodded.
“Interesting,” she noted. “Do all of your business meetings involve sucking face, or is it only the ones involving men?”
“I beg your pardon. How rude!”
“Indeed!” Tessa said, trying to imitate her uppity tone. “Does your boyfriend, Ben, know you’re back here holding a private business meeting on Valentine’s Day? How about you, Simon was it? I’m assuming you’re here with your date as well?”
“That’s really none of your business,” Michelle stated.
“I’m thinking maybe we should make it our business. After all, Ben’s kind of like family. Isn’t that right, Holly?”
Holly stood there nodding, so appreciative Tessa was there to take control of the situation. She wished Michelle didn’t intimidate the hell out of her.
“Go for it,” Michelle said, laughing. “Like I’m sure he’ll believe you.”
“I-I have to get back to my wi … er … table,” Simon muttered as he ran off.
“Yes, I need to be getting back as well.” Turning on her heels, she began marching back to the table, appearing more confident than ever.
“Sorry I took so long, love,” she said in her sickening sweet voice, with Tessa and Holly following close behind, “but you’ll never guess who I ran in to.”
Ben placed his napkin on the table and rose to give the sisters a hug. “So nice to see you both.” He gazed at Holly with longing in his eyes before looking around. “Are you two here alone?”
Tessa smirked. “Well, we don’t have dates if that’s what you mean. However, we did just meet Michelle’s business associate. Simon was it? I guess he decided not to join us, since that would have been awkward, don’t you think, Michelle?”
“Pardon?” she said with a strange smile, as if she didn’t understand the question.
Tessa pulled out her phone and continued, “Aren’t these new smart phones wonderful?” she asked. “You can take great photos from so far away. Would you like to see a few I shot today?”
“Sure,” Ben replied, keeping his eyes on Holly.
“Maybe another time, sweetie,” Michelle said sternly, rubbing her belly.
The waitress came by with their entrees, placing them on the table.
“Of course,” Tessa said. “I don’t want to interrupt your lovely dinner. It was great to see the two of you again. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day.”
Ben reached over to Tessa a peck on the cheek. “It was great to see the two of you as well. Say hello to your parents for me.” He discreetly slid his hand around Holly’s waist as he kissed her cheek and whispered, “I miss you,” into her ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down her spine.
She tried to calm her heartbeat. Before she could say anything, Tessa grabbed her hand and led her out of the restaurant. She suddenly remembered the scene with Michelle. “I thought you were going to show him the pictures.”
Her sister pulled her over to the side of the building and typed into her phone. “I just did. I texted them to him.”
“I forgot you had his number.”
Tessa winked.
They watched through the window of the restaurant as Ben picked up his phone. He stared at what she assumed was the photo. He then slid his phone into his pocket and continued to eat and talk to Michelle in what appeared to be his usual calm manner.
“I don’t get it,” Tessa said. “Why doesn’t he seem upset? Isn’t this the part where he yells at Michelle and storms out of the restaurant?”
“Let’s go.” Holly turned her back and headed to her car, trying to blink back tears yet again.
Chapter 41
“Hey, Holly.” Dan poked his head into her classroom as he walked by. “Alex and I are grabbing a bite after work. Are you interested?”
Any other time she’d say yes. But after what she just went through last week, she was in no mood to go out. She didn’t understand. Why hadn’t those pictures bothered Ben?
“Sorry,” she half-smiled, “I’m w
ay behind on my lesson plans. Next time?”
“You’ve been saying that all week,” he said, “I’m worried about you.”
She glanced at the reflection coming from the hallway, bouncing off the window in her classroom. “Elaine Fairview approaching,” she warned.
Dan flattened himself and hid behind her door.
“Pardon me,” Elaine said, knocking as she spoke.
Holly cringed as she watched the door slam into her boss.
“Yes, Mrs. Fairview, what can I help you with?”
“I was looking for Dan. Have you seen him by chance?”
“Nope,” she answered, trying to appear angelic. “I haven’t. So sorry.”
“Well, if you do, can you tell him I’ve been looking for him?”
“Yes,” she added, nodding. “I most certainly will.”
Elaine spun around on her heels and walked back into the hallway without so much as a good-bye or a thank you. Holly watched her turn the corner in the reflection and motioned for Dan to come out when the coast was clear. She burst into a fit of laughter.
“Thanks,” he said, lowering his voice. “I owe you one. She’s mad at me because I won’t go along with the changes to the curriculum she’s proposing. She doesn’t think the sixth-graders should be learning pre-algebra in the spring. She thinks we should dumb it down for them. If you ask me, maybe she’s the one who can’t handle the material.”
“Even some of my fifth-graders can handle pre-algebra,” Holly said. “Hell, a few are ready for calculus!”
“I know. Every time I try to tell her that, her eyes bulge so much they look as if they might pop out of her skull. I’m honestly only avoiding her because I’m afraid she’s going to have a coronary right on the spot. Well, then I’d have to fill out a bunch of accident paperwork, and you know how much I hate extra paperwork.”
