26.
Isla
I left again, this time with my phone, hoping that I wouldn’t return to find my mother fighting with Levi. I met Kelly over at our gym, which hadn’t reopened since the flood. It had been dried out, and we still had fans and dehumidifiers going, but I thought I could detect the faint smell of mildew, or mustiness, similar to that of a basement. We sat on the steps outside to talk.
“Listen, Isla,” Kelly said. “I know that I fucked up. I let myself get totally caught up with Wes, and I wasn’t thinking clearly at all. If the roles were reversed, I’d probably be pretty pissed that you had done something like that, especially if it was for a guy.”
“You don’t even know him that well,” I said.
“I know.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but he told me the other day that he thinks it’s better if we’re just friends. He promised he’d still pay me back, but I doubt I’ll ever see that money. Don’t worry though; I’ll pay it back myself if I have to. I just feel like an idiot, I really do. If I could go back and change it, I would, but I can’t. So all I can say is that I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Kel. And
don’t worry about paying the money back.”
“No, I want to. I don’t want you to think that I was just using it as my
personal bank account. I mean, I was, but I was always going to pay it back.”
“Okay,” I said, because I could tell that she’d already made her mind up. “I’m sorry to hear that, though. About you two. Don’t feel like you can’t tell me that stuff.”
“I know I can. The whole
thing is just humiliating. Aren’t I a little old to be going through all this
shit? Falling head over heels for a guy who really couldn’t give two shits
about me?”
“I saw you guys together; he seemed like he was really into you, too.”
“Guys are dicks.
“Most of them.”
“Speaking of,” Kelly said, “Sophie told me about Project Revenge. How’s that
going?”
“Uh . . . it’s fine.”
She laughed. “I think that’s pretty awesome you’re doing that. He was such an asshole to you. I’d love to be there to see the look on his face when you tell him to fuck off.”
“Geez, it sounds like Sophie gave you all the details.”
“Well, she did say it was her idea. Which I
believe—that totally sounds like something Sophie would think up. The whole
thing must feel pretty surreal, huh?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It does.”
“That’s crazy he left you
all that money. You don’t have to tell me how much, but it was a lot, wasn’t
it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it was. I was really surprised.”
“Have you bought anything
yet?”
“No, not really. Well, just some stuff for my mom that she already brought back
to the house and said she doesn’t want.”
“That sounds exactly like your mom.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I guess
it does.”
When Kelly and I finished talking, I got into my car. I started to drive, but
not back toward home. I wasn’t sure where I was going at first, just sort of
driving with no destination in mind. But then I saw the Audi dealership, and I
turned in without even really thinking about it.
It wasn’t as if my Honda Accord didn’t work perfectly fine; it did, and it probably would continue to do so for many more years. But I hadn’t really bought anything for myself yet, and I had all this money, so why not? I didn’t want a BMW or a Mercedes; I also didn’t want something big like a Range Rover, but I had always liked Audis. Sophie’s mom had gone out with a guy for a while, Bill was his name, and was the vice president of a bank, and he drove an Audi. Sophie and I were maybe eight or nine and he used to drive us in the Audi to go get ice cream.
A salesman strolled over when I walked in. He was young, probably mid-twenties, and quite handsome.
“Welcome,” he said. “My
name’s Justin. Have you ever driven an Audi before?”
“No. But I like how they look.”
“They are very aesthetically pleasing, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are.”
I went over to one of the cars. It was a four-door sedan, but sleek and fast looking. It was a matte-charcoal color; not quite black, not quite gray.
Justin cleared his
throat. “Now, are we waiting for a husband or significant other to get here?”
I turned and looked at him. “No,” I said. “This is a car for me. That I’m
buying for myself.”
“I apologize. I didn’t
mean to be presumptuous. Why don’t you let me show you some of our other cars
that are more in your price range?”
“I’ll take this one,” I said, not bothering to bring up the fact that he would
not have asked me the question if I had been a guy.
“Umm . . . that’s the S8 Plus. It’s our most expensive model . . . I . . . I don’t know if I can let you test drive it. Are you sure you really want that one?”
“I’m sure. And I don’t need to test drive it. I know I like these cars and it doesn’t have to be perfect, anyway. It’s just a car, right?” I was enjoying the completely flummoxed look on his face.
“Ummm, okay. Well, why don’t we come over here and we can get started on the loan paperwork and make sure that you’ll get approved before we go any further. And how much were you planning to put down? Generally, people put down—”
“We don’t need to fill out any loan paperwork,” I interrupted. “I’m going to pay for it in full.”
His eyes widened and he
looked beyond flustered. “Ma’am,” he said. “This car is one hundred and
twenty-five thousand dollars. Do you mean that you’re going to buy it outright
today?”
“That’s what I mean.”
I dug through my purse and pulled out my wallet. “Here you go,” I said, handing him my debit card. “I actually don’t have a credit card with that high of a limit on it. But my debit card should work just fine.”
He took it from me as though he were expecting it to blow up in his hand. “It’ll go through,” I said.
I stood there waiting while he ran the card. It went through, he gave me the keys, and just like that, I had a new car.
“So . . . obviously I can’t drive two cars,” I said. “I guess I can try to come back and get this. But I really don’t want it, though.”
“We can’t take it as a trade-in, since it’s not an Audi.”
“No, no, I’m not looking to do a trade-in. Is there another option, though? Can I donate it?”
“You want to donate that? It looks like it’s in really good condition.”
“It is.”
“Well, we had another customer donate their car to the local radio station. It’s a tax write off. They’ll come get the car and everything; if you give them a call and arrange it, I think we could let you keep the car parked here until they were able to do so. Here, let me look up the number for you.”
I waited while he went on the computer and got the phone number for me. I was on the phone for less than five minutes; all I had to do was sign the title over and leave the keys and they’d send me something to use for taxes next year as a write-off.
“Thanks for all your help,” I said to Justin, who was still looking at me as though he couldn’t believe that I’d just come in here and bought that car.
I’d never driven a brand new car before, had never seen the odometer go from 000000 to 000001. And this really was something else. The seats were butter-soft leather, with lumbar support, and were so comfortable I felt as though I could easily drive all the way to California. I’d certainly be able to make it there in record time; I didn’t go over fifty, but I could feel the car’s power and knew that it was the sort of thing that could go exceptionally fast if I just pressed a little harder on the gas.
I wasn’t too far from my mom’s house, so I decided I’d stop by there quickly before I headed home. I didn’t know if she’d actually be there or not, but if she was, I wanted to talk to her.
Her car was in the driveway when I pulled up and she was out in the side yard, working in her garden. She lifted the wide brim of her straw hat as I approached.
“I was wondering who just
pulled into my driveway,” she said. “Where’s your car?”
“That is my car. I bought a new one. And don’t worry—I’m donating the other
one. And I won’t even use it as a tax write off.”
She went back to pulling weeds. “Well that’s generous of you. That car is in perfectly good condition; someone will really luck out with that.” She rocked back onto her heels, dropping the weeds she’d just pulled into the bucket beside her. “I hope that you’re going to be philanthropic with that money, Isla. I hope you’re going to try to do some good with it. You have a rare opportunity, and I would hate to see it go to waste.”
She was saying this because she was a good person. I knew it could be a whole lot worse; she could be one of those people who was only interested in how much of the money she’d be able to get, in what I’d be able to do for her. That wasn’t the case at all, but I still couldn’t help feeling irritated.
“I know,” I said. “I haven’t made any decisions yet as to what exactly I’m going to be doing with the money, but it’s not just going to be used for one big shopping spree, I promise you that.”
“I would hope not. So.
What brings you by? Just wanted to show me your new car?”
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“I wanted to ask what exactly it is you think you’re doing. With Levi.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Should I be the one asking you that question?”
“I don’t recall asking
you to come over and start giving Levi shit. I mean, I come home and find you
two there, in the middle of an argument.”
“It was just quite a surprise to be going over to your house and have him answer the door,” she said. “It was the
last thing I was expecting.”
“Even though you knew
that he’d come here with me?”
“No, Isla—this whole thing with him.”
“Yes, I know, Mom. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t think I should be hanging out with him. I’ve got it.”
“I just feel there’s been
a lot of changes for you in a very short period of time. I don’t want you to
get so caught up in things that you end up doing something stupid, or you end
up getting hurt. I don’t want to see that happen.”
“Levi’s not out to get me.”
My mother stood up and stretched, the knees of her jeans stained with dirt. She was perfectly happy out here, though, working in her garden, getting dirt underneath her fingernails, ripping up weeds, being out under the sun. What had she been thinking, marrying Alex?
“Are you just afraid?” I
asked. “Are you afraid that the same thing is going to happen to me that
happened between you and Alex?”
“They’re different from us,” she said. “I know that sounds like an odd thing to
say. And probably not a politically-correct thing to say, either. But they are.
Money has given them a different outlook on life. Alex’s was different than
Levi’s, of course, but it’s still vastly different from you and me. It’s not a
good or bad thing; that’s just the way it is.”
“That didn’t stop you from marrying Alex.”
“No, it didn’t. But how did that work out? I let myself get caught up in the idea that the two of us could somehow transcend our differences. And in a way, we did, but what ultimately ended our relationship was the fact that he was really married to his business. Levi might be different in that regard, but he’s had such a different life than you have.”
I shook my head. “Mom, that doesn’t even make sense. Are you saying that you think people have to be the same in order for a relationship to work? Because that’s ridiculous.”
“That’s not what I’m saying, Isla. People can certainly come from very different backgrounds and have it work, but they also have to have similarities, too. The right guy is out there for you, Isla. You’re a good girl, you always have been. I just don’t think Levi’s the right person for you.”
“You’re not the one
dating him.”
“Is that what you two are doing? Dating? He was your stepbrother.”
“I think we’re dating—I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it; things have just happened naturally. And he used to be my stepbrother, for like, five years. It’s not like he’s my real brother.”
“All right, Isla. It’s clear you’re not interested in hearing the voice of reason, so I’ll stay out of it, okay?” She looked past me at the car. She shook her head. “I don’t even want to know how much you just spent on that.”
I drove home after that, hoping that Levi wouldn’t give me a hard time about the car. I doubted he would. I ran inside, where he was sitting at the dining room table, looking at his phone, eating a bowl of cereal.
“Come see what I got,” I said.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me outside.
“Wow!” he said, letting
out a low whistle. “This is yours?”
“Yeah. Total impulse buy, but seeing as I haven’t really bought anything yet, I
figured it would be okay.”
“I’ll say.” He went over and ran his hand over the hood. “Damn, girl, looks
like you know a thing or two about cars.”
“Not really. I just liked the look of this one.”
“You picked a good one.
How’s it drive?”
“Good, as far as I can tell. You want to take it out?”
He grinned. “Sure—we could take it for a little spin around the block.”
I tossed him the keys and went around to the passenger side and got in.
“It’s been a while since I’ve driven,” he said as he backed out of the driveway. “But don’t worry; it always came naturally to me.”
I buckled my seat belt and wondered if this was such a good idea, after all. He tapped the gas as we drove away from the house and the car surged forward.
“Woooweee,” he said. “This thing is a beast.”
“I’m sure you’ve been in way nicer cars than this.”
“I’ve been in nicer cars, sure, but not way nicer. This thing’s pretty mint. It feels great. Let’s get this thing out on the highway.”
We drove out to Route 1 and Levi wasted no time in getting the car up to eighty. It didn’t feel like we were moving that fast at all, though; in fact, the car was so smooth it felt as though it were hovering over the ground, like we were in a luxury space ship or something.
“Damn, this is nice,” he said. He let off the gas as we approached a car, and once the car changed to the right-hand lane, he accelerated again. “Your car is giving me a hard on,” he said, reaching over to take my hand and place it on his crotch. He was right; his cock was rock hard and straining against the front of his shorts.
“You’re getting a boner for my car?” I said, giving him a squeeze.
“No. Well, maybe a little. What’s actually giving me a hard on is you sitting there in those little shorts of yours.”
I unbuckled my seat belt and leaned over, unbuttoning his shorts, pulling his cock through the opening in his boxer shorts. All I could think of was my mother telling me how I’d always been a good girl. Maybe I didn’t want to be a good girl anymore.
“Am I dreaming?” Levi said as I took him into my mouth. “Ohhhh man.”
I felt the car accelerate as I moved my head up and down, feeling him back against my throat. I tried to relax my throat muscles and take him in as far as I could. I slowly drew my mouth up the length of his cock. I licked slow circles around the head of his cock, then wrapped my lips around it and started to suck. Levi groaned and ran his hand through my hair, hopefully keeping his other hand on the steering wheel. I briefly wondered if I was being a total fool for doing this, and did I really want to get into a car accident and be killed? Surely the police or the EMTs or whoever was first to arrive on the scene would know what I had been doing.
But the car felt safe. Even though I knew we were cruising, I felt as though we were ensconced in some sort of shatter-proof capsule, capable of simply ricocheting off anything that it made contact with. So I kept at it, alternating between running the tip of my tongue around the head of his cock and taking him all the way into my mouth, as far as I could.
The longer I sucked him off, the more relaxed my throat must have gotten, because after a few minutes, I was able to get him all the way in and keep him there. I sucked gently, pulling the insides of my cheeks in, feeling the way he swelled inside my mouth. When that happened, I eased off a little, then started to bob my head up and down, slowly, at first, and then faster and faster until I felt his fingers twist through my hair and his hips bucked and he came, a noise sounding like a cross between a growl and a moan escaping from his throat.
I swallowed and then sat up and wiped the back of my hand across my face. Levi was still gripping the steering wheel tightly, chest heaving.
“That was most unexpected,” he said. “But seriously awesome.”
I buckled my seat belt and smiled. “Good. I’m not always such a goody-two-shoes.”
He glanced at me. “I’ll say.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes, and I listened to Levi’s heavy breathing return to normal. I glanced over at him; he had a smile on his face.
“You want to go out to dinner tonight?” I asked. “There’s this restaurant I’ve always wanted to try. Duquette. It’s on the fancy side, though.”
The reason Duquette had been a place I’d always wanted to try but had never been was because, up until now, there was no way I could’ve justified spending hundreds of dollars on a meal for two.
“Sure,” Levi said. “I know that place.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. The owner’s Cecil Duquette, right?”
“Um . . . I’m not sure. I’ve never been there.”
“He used to have a couple restaurants in Manhattan, but then closed them down after his wife decided she was sick of living in the city. He knew my dad.”
“Oh.”
“But yeah, I’d love to go there. We can celebrate your new car.”
I settled back into the seat and looked out the window. My phone started to ring; for a second I thought that it was going to be my mother, calling up to admonish me for doing what I’d just done, though of course there was no way she’d be able to know that.
I retrieved the phone from my purse. It was Sophie.
“Hey,” I said when I
picked up. “I was going to give you a call later. We’re in town.”
“We’re?” she repeated. “As in, you
and Levi?”
“Yes, as in me and Levi. But I want to see you. So let’s do dinner or something.”
“You busy tonight?”
I paused. “Uh . . . well,
we were going to go out to eat. You could come with us. We’re going to
Duquette.”
“No, thank you. That’s one date I could definitely do without going on. Though
it would be funny to see in you action.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, playing him. Getting him to fall for you. I know you don’t think so,
Isla, but you can really get a guy to fall for you. How about tomorrow? I’ve
been craving some sushi. We could go to Toro. Seven o’clock?”
“That sounds good.”
“How did you get a reservation at Duquette? I heard you had to call like weeks
in advance.”
“I don’t have a reservation. I didn’t know you needed one.”
“Of course you need one at a place like that.”
“You’ve been there?”
“Once. It was a while ago. With that guy, Tobin?”
“Why didn’t I know this?”
“I’m pretty sure you did. It’s a good place. The owner’s some guy from New
York.”
“Is everyone aware of these things except for me?” I asked.
“Have a great time,” Sophie said. I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
I hung up the phone and
looked at Levi. “I guess I should give a call over there; Sophie says you need
a reservation.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
I looked the place up and then called, where I was promptly informed there was no way we could get a reservation for that night.
“Would you like me to make a reservation for next week?” the woman asked.
“There’s nothing
available for tonight?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“I’ll have to call you back,” I said. Levi held his hand out.
“Let me talk to her.”
I handed him the phone. “Hi,” he said. “Who’s this? Hi there, Maureen. I’m Levi. And that was Isla you were just talking to. Yes, I know. Is Cecil there, by any chance? He’s busy? Could I talk to him? I’ll make it quick, I promise. Yes, he knows who I am. Great, thanks.” He glanced at me. “She’s going to go get him. Though she normally wouldn’t do something like that.” He grinned.
“Cecil! Hey, it’s Levi Bassett. I’m good, thanks. Oh, thank you. I know, it was a really big surprise. No one was expecting it. Thanks Cecil. Yeah, so, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m actually in town tonight and I was hoping to be able to get a table there tonight. Just a two top, nothing big. Yeah? Okay, great. Sure, seven-thirty’s perfect. Thanks again, Cecil. Talk to you later. Bye.” He handed the phone back to me. “All set,” he said.
I stared at him. “How did
you do that?”
“I’m lucky enough to know the guy. Besides, places like that always have a few
tables available, even when they’re saying they don’t. You just have to not be
afraid to ask.”
“I see,” I said, though it was starting to seem more and more that being wealthy was like a foreign language I didn’t know how to speak.
I wasn’t sure what to wear to a fancy place, though I knew better than to call Sophie up and ask her. I stood in front of my closet for a while. I had a few dresses, a few skirts, but nothing seemed quite right. Really, what seemed like the best choice was the black dress I had worn that night I’d gone over to Brian’s, but I wasn’t going to wear that on a date with Levi. And I didn’t even have the magenta pumps to go with it.
I finally decided on a simple, ballet-pink dress. It was sleeveless, with a scoop neck, and it stopped a few inches above my knees. I had a white silk shawl that I wrapped around my shoulders. I had a pair of strappy silver sandals that would go with the dress, and my hair looked pretty good, just how it was, flowing down over my shoulders.
Levi had less options when it came to an outfit. The closest thing he had brought with him for dressy clothes was a short-sleeved black polo shirt and a pair of light blue shorts.
“You’re really wearing
that?” I asked. “Are they even going to let you in?”
“Sure they will. And I’ve got my Mephistos.”
“Your what?”
“Mephistos. Those boat shoes. Don’t worry; I won’t wear flip flops. If you want to let me borrow one of your sweaters, I can tie it around my shoulders. That will definitely complete the look. And besides—you look so great there’s no way they’d turn us away.”
“What color sweater do
you want? I’ve got a pale pink one that will match my dress.”
He grinned. “Perfect.”
I let Levi drive over to the restaurant. The whole way over, I couldn’t help but feel like I was going somewhere that I didn’t belong, though I knew that was just my own insecurity. Levi seemed totally at ease, and he held the door open for me and then strolled in, told the maître d’ who we were, and were immediately escorted to a table.
The chandelier and wall sconces cast everything in a warm, golden glow. The tables were draped in white linen, and then chairs were deep mahogany, with leather padding on the seats and the backs. Toward the back of the room, a man in a tuxedo was seated at a grand piano, playing a classical song that sounded familiar, though I couldn’t think of the name of the song, or the composer.
“What song is he playing?” I asked Levi as we sat down, though I didn’t expect him to know the answer.
“Mozart,” he replied, picking up the wine menu. “Piano Concerto No. 21.” He said it so casually that I was certain he was bullshitting me.
“Is it really?”
“Yeah.” He kept his head tilted down but shifted his gaze to me. “My musical interests include more than just the electronic type.”
“It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember who it was.”
Our waitress came over, and she was petite and beautiful and she put her hand on Levi’s shoulder when she answered one of his questions about the wine. While he talked with her, I took a moment to look around the dining room, and everyone there was either very beautiful, clearly very well off, or both.
And then I saw her.
She had just walked in, on the arm of some tan guy in a tuxedo.
Shannon.
We were far enough away from the entrance that there was a good chance she wouldn’t see me, but then the maître d’ led them right toward us, to an empty table just a few feet away.
“Isla?” she exclaimed as
they got closer. “Oh my god, is that really you?”
Shannon, of course, looked gorgeous, in some tight, slinky dress that I
wondered if she’d be able to even sit down in. Her cleavage spilled out over
the top, barely contained. The last time I’d seen Shannon had been when she’d
been standing naked in Brian’s bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” Shannon squealed, coming over to me and giving me a hug like we were best friends. It was Levi she couldn’t keep her eyes off of though, and she didn’t seem to care that her date was just standing there, looking uncomfortable.
“Oh, you know, we’re just here to get some food. Like everyone else,” I said, returning her hug the best I could from my seated position. She let go of me and turned to face Levi.
“And who is this? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.” She gave me a grin. “Certainly an improvement over Brian!”
I felt my face flush. Levi just sat there, looking amused.
“I’m Levi,” he said, holding his hand out. Shannon shook it enthusiastically. He looked past her, at Shannon’s date, and nodded. “What’s up, man,” he said.
“Oh, right. This is . . . um, this is Dave. Dave, this is my friend Isla, and Levi.”
Dave gave us a wan smile. “Want to go sit down?” he asked.
“Sure. Or you can sit and
I’ll be over there in a second. Whatever you want.” Shannon turned back to
Levi. “So where are you from?”
“New York.”
She grinned. “I just love New York!”
“I bet you do.”
“And what do you do
there?”
“All sorts of things.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
I closed my eyes. Was this really happening? Shannon had turned her back to me
and was leaning against the edge of the table, talking with Levi as though they
were the only two in the place. Would it be wrong to just get up and leave?
“Maybe we should all go out and get drinks after this,” Shannon was saying. I reopened my eyes. Her date had gone to sit down at their table and was looking over the wine list.
“They’ve got plenty of drinks here, Shannon,” he said. “Why don’t you come on over and leave them alone.”
“How do you know Isla?” Levi asked.
“I was a member at her
gym.” She flexed her bicep. “See?”
“Whoa, I didn’t realize we were actually coming to the gun show!”
They both started laughing.
I stood up. “Okay,” I said. “You know, I just remembered that I’ve got something else to do, so . . . yeah. I’ll see you guys later; I’m sure Shannon can give you a ride home.”
I strode off.
“Isla—” Levi started to say, but I kept walking. I made it a few steps into the parking lot when I felt his hand on my shoulder.
“Hey,” he said. “Isla—hold up. Where are you running off to?”
“I’m just . . . I’m not that hungry anymore.”
“Wait a second.”
I stopped, and he stepped in front of me so we were facing each other. He had a smile on his face. “You expect me to believe that?”
I looked down at my
shoes. “No.”
“So what’s going on then?”
“I really wasn’t expecting to run into Shannon, of all people.”
“She . . . seems like an interesting person.”
“Would you like to know the last time I saw her? The last time I saw her she was in the middle of having sex with Brian, who, at the time, was my boyfriend. In fact, I’d gone over there with the idea to surprise him and then have sex with him. For the first time.”
Levi raised his eyebrows.
“Is this a true story?”
“Yes. Every single part of it. And I walked in on them having sex. Oh, this was
after I had cleaned up Shannon’s puke
off the Lotus Room floor.”
“Lotus Room? Puke? What?”
“She was doing some cleanse thing, and she hurled all over the floor during a
yoga class. I got to clean it up. That was earlier, though.”
Levi was laughing, slapping his thigh, unable to stand up straight.
“Holy shit,” he said.
“I’m sorry. It’s not funny. No, it is—it’s fucking hilarious. But don’t let her
chase you off like that. We should be glad for her, actually.”
“And why is that?”
He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. “Because if you hadn’t walked in on her sleeping with your man, you would have slept with him, thereby depriving me of the very high honor of being the first person you’ve ever had sex with.” He took my hand. “Come on. Let’s go back into this overpriced place and get something to eat.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m
sorry for overreacting like that. Part of me feels like I don’t even belong in
a place like this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know; I was just sitting there while you guys were talking, looking at
everyone sitting around us, and I don’t feel like I fit in, I guess.”
“You belong here as much as anyone. It’s really just a mindset. And you are by far the most gorgeous woman in the place.”
I smiled as we walked back into the restaurant.
*****
I hoped my dinner date with Sophie would go better than the experience at Duquette. The food had been delicious, but I couldn’t help but be aware of Shannon, sitting just a few tables away.
“Tell Sophie I said hi,” Levi said. He was stretched out on the couch, scrolling through Netflix.
“Thanks,” I said. “You
sure you don’t want to come?”
“I’m fine here. You two should go enjoy a night together, without me. I know
Sophie would prefer it.”
“She likes you,” I said, though
we both knew that wasn’t true.
“Besides, you’ve got Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, so I am all set.”
He really did seem as though he was more than content to just hang out here. I was tempted to join him on the couch, but I knew I’d never hear the end of it from Sophie if I did. Besides, it would be nice if the two of us were able to have a little girl time together.
“Okay,” I said. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be too late. I think we’re going to get sushi. Want me to bring you anything back?”
“Nah, I’m good. Have fun.”
“I will.”
I went over to the couch and he sat up, gave me a kiss. “I’ll wait up for you,” he said.
Sophie was already at the sushi place when I got there, drinking hot tea out of a little cup with no handle.
“I ordered us sake,” she said. She looked over my shoulder. “What—no Levi?”
“No Levi.” I sat down and put my purse in the empty seat next to me. “He thought we should have a girls’ night.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow.
“He thought?”
“Well, I mean, I wasn’t going to tell him that he wasn’t allowed to come out
and get dinner with us, if he had wanted to.”
“Sheesh, Isla.”
“What?”
She set her tea cup down and reached for the little ceramic jug of sake. She
poured herself some and took a sip, then looked at me. “I can’t even believe
he’s here with you,” she said. “It’s so weird.”
“Why?”
“It’s like he’s in the
wrong environment or something. He’s totally smitten with you, though.” She
gave me a devilish grin. “Your plan is working! Ha! I only wish I could be
there to see his face when you tell him to go eat a big bag of shit.”
I shifted uncomfortably and returned her smile. “Yeah. It’s actually been a
little easier than I thought it would be . . . getting him interested.”
“Please!” she scoffed. “You’re seriously selling yourself short, Isla. The guy you eventually do end up with is going to be so lucky. You deserve someone so much better than Levi or Brian.”
“Brian was an ass,” I
said. “So really, I should be thanking
Shannon for sleeping with him, because that saved me from doing so. We saw her
last night.”
“At Duquette?”
“Yeah. She was completely enamored with Levi. But he made a good point: if she
hadn’t slept with Brian, I would have, and then who knows if I would’ve gotten
involved with Levi at all, if I was still with Brian.”
Sophie raised her eyebrows. “You have feelings for him, don’t you?” she said accusingly. “Don’t even bother
trying to deny it! I can tell.”
I sighed. “Okay, fine,” I said. “I felt weird keeping it from you anyway, so I won’t deny it. Yeah—I do have feelings for him.”
She shook her head. “Project Revenge was not about you falling in love with him. You were supposed to make him feel like shit—not reinforce the idea that he’s this guy that everyone wants. Which is not true actually; I wouldn’t sleep with him.”
“Really,” I said.
“Um, yes! Just because he’s hot doesn’t mean shit. Although based on your actions, you wouldn’t know that.”
“Geez, Soph,” I said. “You’re being a little harsh.”
But she didn’t crack a smile, or offer anything in the way of an apology. In fact, she looked even more pissed. “I’m not being harsh,” she said. “I’m being honest. And I’m a little disgusted with you, Isla, if I can continue to be honest here for a moment. You’re basically doing the exact opposite of what I thought you were doing. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Maybe that whole thing
is stupid anyway!” I said. “Project Revenge! I mean, what, are we still in high
school?”
Now Sophie did laugh, though it was a short, barking sound that didn’t seem at
all happy or amused. “Ha. No. Because if we were
still in high school, you’d be overweight and Levi would be making his stupid
fat jokes and not giving you a second glance. So no, Isla, we’re definitely not
still in high school. But I knew you liked him then, too, even if he was making
you feel like shit.”
“He’s different now,” I said softly, though there was no point in trying to convince Sophie otherwise. She’d made up her mind about him, and nothing I said was going to change that.
“It’s just pathetic,” she snapped. “This whole thing is pathetic. It’s like you’ve lost a bunch of weight, and now you’ve inherited this money, and suddenly you’re on the same level that he is, so he can be seen out in public with you. It’s okay now, but it sure as hell wasn’t ten years ago.”
“Stop it!” I shouted. “Seriously! You’re acting like you were the one he said all this stuff to! If I can get over it and move past it and forgive him, then you should be able to, too!”
“This is ridiculous,” she
said. “I’m leaving. I’m not going to continue to have this conversation with
you. No, he might not have been making fun of me, but I was the one on the
phone with you every night hearing about it. I’m the one you called up crying
all those times, telling me how fucking miserable you were there and how much
you hated it. Oh, but I guess that’s all forgiven now that Levi has decided to
grace you with his kindness.”
“Sophie,” I said. “Okay, I can see that you’re pretty pissed about this. I’m
not trying to make you mad, I hope you realize this. And you’re right: You are
the one I called up all those nights, and you were there for me and I am so
incredibly thankful for that. But . . . that was a long time ago. Levi’s
different now. If you’d give him a chance, I think that you’d see that, too.”
“I don’t give assholes like that a second chance,” she said. “You might be willing to, but I’m not. And it doesn’t matter that he never said anything specifically about me—he said all that shit to you, and seeing as you’re my best friend, he might as well have said it about me.”
“I don’t want to fight with you,” I said. “Let’s just forget about this whole thing, okay?”
She gave me a look as though I’d just suggested we scrape some dog shit off the sidewalk and make a sandwich with it.
“I’m not just going along with this,” she said. “Isla, if you want to completely degrade yourself and go out with someone who’s said all these shitty things about you, go ahead, but I in no way support that.”
“It’s not up to you, though,” I said. “Who I go out with.”
“You’re right. It’s not. But that doesn’t mean I have to be okay with it. Which I am so totally not. I have to go.” She stood up.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to leave? Are we never going to talk again or something?”
“I have completely lost my appetite, so it seems rather pointless to sit here at a restaurant.”
“You’re being serious?”
“I am.” And then she left.
I watched her go, my throat constricting. I didn’t care that the people sitting
closest to us were sneaking looks at me. Sophie and I had never fought before.
Sure, we’d have a disagreement every now and then, but nothing that wasn’t
resolved in a day, usually less. This felt different, though. This felt like
the sort of thing that might never get resolved.
I could understand where she was coming from, sort of. I tried to put myself in her shoes, if the roles had been reversed and she was getting involved with someone who had made her feel like shit the way Levi had used to make me feel. And yes, she was right—she was the person I’d confided in, that I’d called for support; she was the one who had been there for me. So was this wrong? Was I being foolish?
If only she’d let me explain. If she’d just let me explain how it was between Levi and me now, how he’d changed, how I would never allow myself to get involved with someone if he wasn’t going to be respectful . . . but I knew there was no way she’d ever give me the chance to tell her. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was done and over with.
I got my purse and got up, telling the waitress as I left that I wasn’t feeling well and I was sorry for taking up a table. That much was true, anyway; I definitely had a sick feeling in my stomach. I didn’t like fighting with anyone, but especially not Sophie.
I didn’t want to have to explain to Levi why I was home so early, so I drove around for a while before I went back home.
“Did you have a nice time?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, putting
my purse down. “It was good. Did you enjoy yourself?”
“I enjoyed Netflix and chill for one, yes.” He stretched. “Cal’s been blowing
up my phone like crazy. I’ve been ignoring him, but I should get back to the
city.”
“Now?”
“No, not this very second. I’ve actually been enjoying my time here very much.”
I smiled grimly, wishing I could say the same. If anything, being back here was just making me feel more stressed out.
“What’s your plan?” he asked. “If you need to stay here, I can find my own way back.”
“How?” I asked.
“Oh, you know. Hitchhike.”
“You’re not hitchhiking back to New York.”
“I know, I was joking.”
“Though you’d probably have no problem getting someone to pick you up.”
“I can take a bus.”
“You don’t have a driver
you could call?”
“I do, but I wouldn’t mind taking the bus, either. I’m not one of those people
who’s afraid of using public transit.”
“Do those people exist?”
“They most certainly do. I had this friend growing up, and his mom refused to
take the subway or a cab. They were loaded, so of course they had their own
drivers and everything, so it usually wasn’t an issue, but one day I remember
overhearing her say to one of her friends how she’d never be caught dead taking
the train, that she couldn’t think of anything more humiliating than that.”
“Yeah, see, I don’t want to turn into one of those people.”
“You would never turn
into that. You’re not someone who’s capable of having such a narrow view of
things.”
“I’d like to think so.”
Levi got up off the couch and came over and hugged me. “Everything okay with you?” he asked. “You look about as stressed out as I feel.”
“Tonight actually wasn’t so great. Sophie and I got into a fight,” I said, realizing the second the words were out of my mouth that I shouldn’t have brought it up.
“Oh, shit,” he said.
“That sucks. What happened?”
There was no way I could tell him the real reason that we’d been fighting. She’s pissed at me because I developed
feelings for you when I was supposed to just be interested in you to get
revenge. In fact, she even named it Project Revenge. No way in hell I was
going to tell him that.
“Money can do that,” he
said. I didn’t say anything; I’d let him think that was the real reason. “It
sucks to admit, but it’s true.”
“We’ve had arguments and stuff before, but nothing like this. It just feels
weird. Being here feels weird. I don’t know. If you want to go back to New
York, I’m all for it.”
He gave me a playful
look. “Are you inviting yourself over?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. Is that all right?”
“Absolutely,” he said, pulling me toward him. “And I think I’ve got an idea or
two about how we can reduce some of this stress you’re feeling . . .”
*****
The doorbell woke me up the next morning. I could tell by the way the sunlight was slanting into the bedroom that it was fairly early; I reached over and picked my phone up off the bedside table and saw that it was quarter past eight. I sighed and got up, leaving Levi in bed, sound asleep and snoring lightly.
It was my mother.
“I’m sorry to drop in so early,” she said as she came in. “I’m on my way to work, but this is going to bother me all day if I don’t say something.” She looked around. “Is Levi still here?”
“He’s asleep. I think we’re heading back to New York later today. He’s got some work stuff that he needs to take care of.”
“And you’re going with
him?”
“I am. I’m not really interested in whether or not you think it’s a good idea.
I’m going with him to New York, and I’ll stay there for a little while, and
then I might go somewhere else. Despite what you may think, I really haven’t
gone crazy spending money; I haven’t gone out and bought a mansion in L.A. or a
private jet or anything. Really, I went out and got some stuff for you, which
you didn’t want. Fine, okay. You don’t have to take it, that’s your
prerogative. But me going with Levi back to New York is my prerogative, and I don’t need your judgments about it.”
There was a part of me that felt bad for speaking like that to my mother, but I
couldn’t deal with her coming over here to give me more shit.
“I just ran into Sophie
while I was getting a coffee this morning. She said you two weren’t speaking at
the moment.”
“I didn’t realize Sophie was such an early riser.”
“You two got into a fight?”
“That’s correct.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“People get into arguments. I’m hoping that we both just need some time to cool down and then we’ll be able to move on.” Yet even as I was saying it, I was aware there was a part of me that had my doubts of that happening. She’d been so angry—I’d never seen Sophie so mad about something before. This seemed to run deeper than a normal spat. “Did she say anything?” I asked.
My mother raised her
eyebrows. “Other than you two weren’t currently seeing eye to eye on something?
No, she didn’t say anything more than that, and I didn’t ask. Though I will ask
you now.” She glanced toward the bathroom. “Is it because of Levi?”
“He had something to do with it. She doesn’t like him.”
“For good reason, wouldn’t you say?”
“What? Because of the things he said to me almost a decade ago? Do any of you
people believe in forgiveness? Or do you just think I should hold a grudge
against someone forever?”
“Isla, it’s not that we think you should hold a grudge forever,” Mom said. And
just the way she said it, I knew that she and Sophie had talked a lot longer
about this than she was letting on. They probably sat and drank a cup of coffee
together while they talked about it. “But neither Sophie nor I want to see you
get hurt. Levi hasn’t had the greatest track record with you in that
department, and while I realize that all of that happened a while ago, it still
doesn’t change the fact that it happened. And that there are so many other nice
men out there that would be better suited to you.”
“Oh really?” I said. “Is that so? Where exactly are these other men? Are you hiding them from me? Is Sophie hoarding them all for herself? You’re making it sound like I’ve got guys lining up to the with me when that’s not the case at all! And even if it were, I like Levi! I like who he is now, and I like spending time with him, and, as I said when you first showed up, I’m not interested in hearing any of your judgments about it! I’m a grown ass woman and I don’t need to get your permission or approval regarding who I hang out with!”
My voice got louder with each word, so by the time I was finished talking, I was practically shouting. Levi could probably hear me, even over the shower.
“I think you should just leave,” I said. “It would be better if you left.”
“All right, Isla. I’ll go. I wasn’t coming over here looking to start a fight with you. I was actually coming over here to tell you that I was sorry that things have seemed strained between us since you’ve been back, but clearly you just want to continue that trend. For whatever reason. Have a good time in New York.”
My mother and I were never good at arguing; there had certainly been a few times it had happened when I’d been growing up, but we tried to avoid it when we could. So I didn’t know what else to do but stand there as she left, and I watched her walk down the driveway to her car.
“Were you yelling at
someone out here?” Levi asked. He was standing there, a towel wrapped around
his waist, his hair damp. “I thought I heard yelling. Or was that just you
protesting my singing in the shower?”
“No, that was me yelling. I couldn’t even hear you singing. My mother stopped
by. I think to kind of apologize, but we ended up getting into an argument and
I basically just kicked her out. Which feels weird. But her coming over here
and being all judgmental also feels weird.” I brought my hands up to the side
of my head and squeezed my temples. “I just really want to get away from all of
this.”
Levi came over and wrapped his arms around me, his skin smooth and warm. I
turned my head and rested the side of my face against his chest, wrapped my
arms around his back.
“How about this,” he said. “We’ll go back to New York for a little while, you can relax and do whatever; hang out at my place, go spend the day at the spa, whatever you want. I’ll try to appease Cal, and then we’ll go back to Ibiza for a little while. Our sole purpose being just to enjoy ourselves and tune out all this other bullshit that people are trying to throw our way.”
“Yes, please,” I said.
“Hey,” he said. I lifted my head and looked at him. “I’m sorry everyone’s giving you such a hard time about us. I wish it didn’t have to be that way.”
“I do too, but it is. I think they just need to get used to it.”
It’s true that this wasn’t the original plan, that I hadn’t ever thought Levi and I would be together like this. And if I was really honest with myself then yes, I could admit that I certainly had feelings for him. Perhaps, if I was smart, I wouldn’t go back to New York with him, I wouldn’t continue to see him. It seemed to be what everyone else thought I should do.
But that didn’t matter to me so much right now. What other people thought. I wanted to do what I wanted. And right now, all I wanted was Levi.
And to maybe go back to Ibiza again.