Plotting Mr. Perfect

by S. E. Babin

  Mel was silent for a long moment. “You got yourself a deal. Tell me your hotel information.”

  A few more minutes of talking about the necessary details and Katie hung up, satisfied her friend would be here in just a few hours.

  * * * *

  Katie opened her hotel room door to a harried Mel. She rushed into the room, rolling a small red carry-on behind her. “I can’t believe I just did that.” She collapsed on the bed spreadeagled.

  Katie lay down beside her. “But I’m so glad you did!” She squeezed Mel’s hand. “Are you hungry? I haven’t eaten yet.”

  “Starving,” she said. “Order us up some grub while I go wash my face and get some jammies on.”

  “Your wish is my command.” Katie dialed room service and ordered anything on the menu that looked unhealthy. They could do dessert later if they had any room left after everything else.

  Mel trudged out of the restroom wearing adorable white pajamas covered with black sparrows. Her hair was pulled up in a wild bun, spirals of curls sticking out everywhere. Her face had been scrubbed clean, and Katie noted with a pang of jealousy how poreless her skin was.

  “Food’s on the way. Let’s catch up while we’re waiting. Did you ever get the money from Leo?”

  Mel smiled, her tired eyes sparkling. “I did. My research is funded for a while now. I hope to present my findings to the board soon. There’s no relief on the horizon yet—marijuana is still illegal in the state, but there’s hope for medical use. If I can get some concrete findings soon, I think my research will boost that possibility.”

  Katie was happy for her. She knew how much helping people meant to her, and if Mel could use that large brain of hers to do some good, she was all for it. She couldn’t imagine her without some pet project. Mel had too much mental energy to be left to her own devices. “I’m glad, Mel.” Katie reached over to pat her hand. “Let me know if you need some help with it.”

  Mel snorted. “Do you mean if I need to give you weed to experiment on?”

  Katie grinned. “I told you, I would be a guinea pig. For science!” She raised her fist in the air just as a soft knock landed on the door.

  She bounded out of bed and let the room service person in. A large rolling cart was filled to the brim with all sorts of delights and a six pack of beer. Three each wouldn’t make them comatose. If they still wanted more, they could always order it. She had a feeling she’d need it when she and Mel talked. Katie thought she’d rather not hear what Mel had to say. She’d been steeling herself against it ever since she convinced Mel to fly up.

  After tipping the room service person generously, Katie sat Indian-style on the bed next to Mel, pulling the cart closer to them.

  “Should we be eating on the bed?” Mel asked as she reached for a couple of the chicken strips.

  “We’re grown-ups. This is why we work. So we can make irresponsible decisions and have money to pay for them later.”

  “True story,” Mel said and reached for the ranch dressing.

  They ate until they both lay on the bed clutching their stomachs and groaning. Mel laughed and took a pained breath. “I feel like I’m in college again and recovering from the buffet at that old dive we used to go to.”

  Katie nodded. “Ugh, beer and carbs. I’m straddling the line between heaven and hell.”

  She turned on her side toward Mel, still holding her stomach. “So, do you want to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me for the past few months? I’m getting married, Mel. You’re almost more important than the groom.”

  Mel still lay on her back staring at the ceiling. “Are you sure you want to talk about it?”

  Katie felt her stomach clench, but she nodded. Mel glanced over at Katie. “Are you happy with Leo?”

  It was a weird way to start out, but Katie answered her. “I am.”

  “And do you love him in a way that makes you a hundred percent sure you’re going to be with him forever?”

  Katie turned away and mimicked Mel’s position, her hands crossed underneath her head. “Does anyone really ever know that, Mel?”

  She huffed. “You wouldn’t ask me that if your answer was yes, Katie.”

  “Mel, Leo dropped out of the damned sky for me. We created him in some crazy spark of cosmic woo-woo. It was hard enough for me to get my head around that. Then he starts spouting off how he’s perfect for me. And, to be perfectly honest, on paper he is. He’s everything I ever wanted—with all the traits I ever thought I cared about and some of the traits you guys couldn’t help adding in.”

  Mel sighed. “And Will?”

  Katie stiffened, on high alert now. They were treading on dangerous territory now. She’d been mum on her feelings for Will, but Mel wasn’t stupid. “What about Will?”

  Mel turned toward her, brown eyes concerned. “Are you in love with Will?”

  Katie didn’t face her. “What does Will have to do with you and I?”

  “Everything,” Mel muttered. “There’s something you need to know.”

  Here it comes, Katie thought. She knew something wasn’t right.

  “Several months ago when I was working with Leo in the lab, he kissed me.” Mel shifted away from her. “Please, please don’t hate me,” she whispered.

  Katie tried to feel something, anything, but she was numb. She tried to be angry, but she realized she didn’t love Leo with enough passion to be jealous. But Mel…why would she do something so out of character for her? She always trusted her to be around any of her boyfriends. The truth came to her in a sickening lurch. She turned to Mel.

  “Mel, oh my God. Do you—” She swallowed and tried again. “Are you in love with Leo?”

  Mel shut her eyes, tears leaking from the sides. “Please don’t ask me that question, Katie. Ask me if I love you. Because I do.” She reached over for Katie’s hand and held it in her own. “You are my best friend in the entire world. I am so, so sorry. I can’t explain my actions to you, Katie, but I can sit here and promise you that you will never, ever have to worry about it again.”

  Katie swallowed the large lump in her throat. How had it all gone so horribly wrong? “Tell me everything.”

  Mel sighed and started from the beginning. By the time she was finished, Katie couldn’t find it in her heart to be angry with either of them. They hadn’t slept together and Mel had frozen Leo out afterward, even though she obviously loved him. It was heartbreaking for everyone. Katie had allowed Will to walk away, never realizing Leo might be better suited to someone else. Someone she loved.

  Mel squeezed her hand. “I want you to be happy, Katie. Leo can make you that way. Please don’t let one indiscretion destroy that. He wasn’t fully human when it happened, so please don’t blame him. I should have been the one strong enough to walk away. And I didn’t. Whatever blame there is, place it on my shoulders.”

  Tears fell freely down Katie’s face. “Mel, how can I be angry at you when I’ve never seen you fall in love?”

  Mel choked on a sob. “It’s awful.”

  Katie laughed through her tears. “I know,” she whispered.

  Mel stroked Katie’s hair. “Do you love Will?” she asked again.

  Katie took a long moment to answer her. “It doesn’t matter, Mel. I’ve committed to Leo. Will is gone, living in another town. He’s said his goodbyes. I can’t keep obsessing about it. I’m planning a wedding to another man. It’s not right to keep thinking about someone else.”

  Mel nodded. “I can respect that. I want you to know that I’m happy for you and Leo. You deserve someone to love, Katie. Even if you don’t have mind-blowing passion, you have love, respect and friendship. That’s more than many others have.”

  Katie sighed and sat up, eyeing the cart of food. She turned back to Mel. “Dessert?”

  Mel squinted at Katie. “As long as you order a bottle of wine, too. Who’s paying for all this?”

  “My agent.” Katie grinned wickedly. “She thinks I’m going to be rich.”

  “In that cas
e,” Mel said from behind her, “Order two.”

  * * * *

  Happily tipsy, she and Mel sat up the majority of the night watching sappy movies and talking. It was a weird situation to be in—engaged to the man her best friend might still love. Mel was dealing with it the best she could and adamant Katie had nothing to worry about anymore. But could she still walk down the aisle knowing there could be something between them? How could she be angry with them when she was just as guilty for her feelings about Will? For spending an evening with him, for being in his arms?

  Mel was the person to be with her through thick and thin, a constant shoulder to cry on and laugh with. She was everything to her. Yes, it would be weird to walk down the aisle knowing Mel’s feelings, but she stressed to Katie how much of a mistake it was and how it would never happen again. She trusted Mel, but she couldn’t help wondering if maybe Mel was lying to herself for the sake of their friendship. New doubts were setting in about her upcoming wedding.

  And, she was creeped out, too, thinking about the situation that just occurred and the eerie similarities it had to the way her book ended. She sat up many late nights working on Plotting Mr. Perfect and the ending swayed wildly from her original plans. Katherine found herself struggling with her feelings for her neighbor, only to find herself with him in the end, deliriously happy.

  Due to the fact her friends had put a little bit of their wishes into the Perfect Man list, Leo wound up with faulty wiring. He was not made solely for her because Katie didn’t write the list herself. His programming was initially made for her, but when Mel and Leo met, his internal hard drive skipped, skewing his thought processes and his newly forming emotions.

  Had Katie been responsible for this entire debacle? Was her writing somehow tied to everyone’s actions? She excused herself and headed to the restroom. Katie locked herself in and shook her head at her wandering thoughts. Impossible, she thought. The book might be parallel to what was happening now, but she’d taken great liberties with some of their characters, so the things that were happening were not all related to what she was writing. And if it was some kind of coincidence, the Big Guy had a pretty awful sense of humor.

  Plus, she had no intention of trying to find Will. She remembered the resolve in his eyes as he climbed into his truck and left. For crying out loud, he’d rented out his house to some old woman with glasses the size of car tires. She leaned against the sink, studying her stressed-out face in the mirror. She missed the sound of his annoying lawn mowing on Thursdays and his aggravating banter when he would make fun of her for trying to carry all her groceries in at once.

  On the other hand, there was Leo. Sweet, slightly mixed-up Leo. There would be some words when she returned home, especially after Mel confessed she’d been waiting on Leo to tell Katie what happened. Katie looked down at the diamond ring on her finger—the evidence of a promise she made to the man back at home.

  The sounds of Love, Actually filtered through the door. It was a perfect movie to be watching right now—multiple stories of how messed up, yet exhilarating love could be. The joke was on them, though. Right now, love wasn’t very fun at all. Everyone was getting hurt. Even though Katie’s heart didn’t hurt every morning like it used to when she woke up and didn’t see Will’s car outside, she missed him much more than she knew she ought to, especially for someone getting married in a matter of months.

  She turned the sink on, splashed cool water against her burning face and dried it on the towel hanging from the hook. Squaring her shoulders, she walked out to see Mel sitting up straight on the bed and staring at her.

  “Mel, are you one hundred percent sure you’re going to be okay with me walking down the aisle?”

  Mel nodded, sadness flickering behind her eyes. “I am, Katie. And again, I’m so sorry.”

  Katie waved away her apology. “It could have been so much worse, Mel. And trust me, I’m not completely innocent here, either. Let’s just agree to move forward from here on out, instead of looking back.”

  Mel nodded, her lower chin wobbling. “I’ve had too much wine. I’m going to cry and I’m pretty sure I hate you for being so decent about everything.”

  Katie walked over and hugged her, thinking about Leo when he asked her whether she loved Will. “Shhh. I’ve had a pretty awesome teacher.”

  Chapter 14

  The weekend passed in a blur and, before she knew it, Mel was dragging her suitcase out of her room after saying her goodbyes, and Katie was scrambling to finish packing in time to make her own flight. She and Mel had grown closer after this experience, if that was even possible. Yes, Mel made mistakes, but Katie wasn’t innocent, and Leo certainly wasn’t either. Such was the beauty and tragedy of life. Katie smiled as she packed her suitcase. At least now everything was out in the open and they could all move on.

  She thought about Will and his expression when she handed him the copy of her book. She wanted him to throw it down, fling her over his shoulders and take her with him. Real life was much harder than fantasy, wasn’t it? Instead, he’d walked away from her…again. She was doing a good job of moving on, or so she thought, but sometimes these thoughts about Will could stop her in her tracks and cripple her with self-doubt.

  “Get it together, Katie,” she murmured. She wadded up her dirty clothes in the side pocket of her suitcase, then took one of the last clean T-shirts from her drawer to pack. It unfolded as she lifted it, revealing a logo that closed her throat. Love, schmove. Where’s the beer? It had the silhouette of four women sitting around a table surrounded by beer bottles with a ‘Girls’ Night’ banner above their heads. Katie’s profile was clearly visible, as was Mel’s wild hair as she leaned back holding her stomach from laughter.

  He’d pegged them all so well. Katie folded the shirt tenderly and placed it in her suitcase. She hadn’t had the opportunity to wear it yet, but he’d given her plenty of other shirts, including one with an arrow and the slogan, I’m with Ugly. It made her laugh every time she looked at it, even though Leo tried to convince her several times to throw it away. She never did.

  She gathered up her toiletries, zipped up her suitcase and took a last look around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. It was time to head home and talk to Leo about their future.

  * * * *

  Leo met her at the door when she drove up, his expression pensive. She inhaled, surprised again at how handsome he was. He walked down and took her carry-on from her. They walked into the house and Katie tossed her keys into the bowl and collapsed onto the couch.

  “Mel came out?” Leo sat down beside her and placed one hand upon her knee. He knew because she’d texted him about it when she invited her up. It was one of the only texts he didn’t respond to.

  Katie nodded and gave him a questioning glance. “Should we talk about anything?”

  Leo nodded. “I first want to apologize for not telling you. I didn’t want to hurt you. My research shows a fifty-fifty split on whether it’s right to let significant others know about infidelities.”

  Katie closed her eyes, begging for patience. “First, Leo, it wasn’t right, but I don’t know that I would consider it a full-blown infidelity. I’m willing to forgive it for now because I’ve made mistakes, too. Several months ago I spent the evening dancing with Will.” Leo’s mouth tightened, but Katie held her hand up. “Not on purpose. We were at the same place at the same time. But there was no hanky panky.”

  He nodded once, sharply, and exhaled. “I can accept that.”

  “But you…” She poked him in the chest. “You kissed my best friend and then asked me to marry you. That’s all kinds of wrong.”

  Leo looked confused. “But I wanted you to marry me.”

  Katie rolled her eyes. “Well, I’d hope so, but it would have been nice if I knew my best friend had feelings for you before I said yes.”

  Leo quirked an eyebrow. “Would it have changed your mind?”

  “Yes,” Katie said immediately, then hesitated. “No. I don�
��t know!” She pinched the space between her eyebrows, feeling the beginnings of a stress headache. “What I want to know is whether you still have feelings for Mel.”

  Leo nodded. “Of course I do.”

  Katie couldn’t help herself. She laughed out loud, hearty and amused. “I love your honesty, Leo. Will you remain faithful to me?”

  A solemn look appeared on his face. “Mel was a mistake. A faulty programming error. My loyalty is to you. We will remain friends because you are friends with her. It could be…awkward, I think that’s the word I’m looking for, but eventually all will be well.”

  It was better than nothing. The old saying about time healing all wounds was true in this case. If their friendship could weather this storm, they’d be stronger for it. Leo might be good at understanding complex emotions and the tangled weave of relationships, but Katie wasn’t sure he understood friendship very well, especially when significant others were involved.

  “Fair enough. But don’t you wonder why you felt drawn to her when you were supposedly brought here for me?”

  Leo removed his hand. “Every day. But I love you, Katie, and you’re the one I’m meant to be with. That should be all that matters.”

  She felt her mouth turn down. So many people always said love should be what’s most important, but Katie never felt that way. Friendship, compatibility, laughter…all those things she felt were the most important. Love was intertwined with all of it. Without them, love wasn’t complete. She had all of those things with Leo, but passion was missing. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe passion would solve everything either, but it did keep the spark alive. She studied Leo’s profile. He was brilliantly handsome. He made her feel good and made her laugh. She pulled his hand into hers.

  “Are we ready for this, Leo?”

  He squeezed her hand tightly and grinned. “I was born ready.”

  Katie laughed out loud.

  “I found that on the internet,” he said.

  * * * *

  Katie dropped the phone in shock and stared at it as a tinny voice kept asking, “Hello? Hello?” She blinked, bent down and picked the phone back up.