- Gemma -
e’ll need a final signature from you once this is processed,” the officer explained over the phone.
“Of course,” I said, leaning against the counter. “Is Thursday soon enough?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Quietest time is before ten. Otherwise, we’re a bit understaffed, so there might be a wait.”
“Okay, thanks.” I glanced over at Jeanie and Tink on the couch, neither of whom had blinked since I took the call.
“Sorry again for the late hour. Have a nice night.”
“Officer—” I said before he could hang up. “Can I ask you one more question?”
“Certainly.”
“The man who came in with Ray… Is he still there?”
“I’m not actually at liberty to give you that information.”
“Really?” I asked, employing my most unabashed puppy dog voice. “Because he works for me, and I need to find someone to cover for him if he won’t be in tomorrow.”
“I see.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Mr. Becker was released on bail earlier this evening.”
A sharp pang pierced my chest at the realization that he hadn’t called. Then again, I’d told him not to. “Thank you, Officer. Have a nice night.”
“Well?” Jeanie asked as soon as I set the phone down.
“They finally have enough evidence to process my restraining order against Ray.”
“It’s about damn time.”
I slumped on the couch beside her.
“Why don’t you seem happier about it?”
“I know this is going to sound crazy,” I said, tucking my feet under me. “But Ray feels like the least of my problems right now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Alex has been lying to me,” I said, scratching Tink behind the ear. “I just found out today.”
Her face paled. “Lying? About what?”
“About who he is.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Come here,” she said, throwing the end of her blanket over my legs.
“He’s been playing me for a fool since day one.”
“We’re talking about the same guy, right? The guy who’s been staying over every night and telling you he loves you every day? The guy who fucking tackled Ray in the Pump parking lot like an animal today?”
“That’s the one.” I could still hear the smack of his knuckles against Ray’s jaw. “He owns Pump.”
“What?”
“He’s my boss.”
She squinted at me. “Wait, but I thought—”
“I’m not his boss at all. It was a big hoax.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know.”
Her brow furrowed. “Why would he pretend to be someone he’s not?”
“I don’t know.” I smoothed her blanket over my thighs. “But if he’d lie about that, how could I possibly believe his feelings for me were genuine?”
Her almond eyes drooped at the corners.
“Not to mention my recent promotion,” I said. “I mean, did I get promoted because I deserved it or because I was unknowingly fucking my boss?”
She flinched. “So he’s your boss?”
“He’s everybody’s boss.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
She raised a hand to her cheek. “So he owns a bunch of gyms but still drives a Panda?”
“It’s his mom’s car.”
“I thought you met his mom?”
“I did.”
“Did she know he was lying to you?”
I exhaled. “Who knows? She didn’t strike me as a scam artist, but then again, neither did her son.”
“So now what?”
I shrugged. “I guess I keep going to work and try to forget what a fool he’s made out of me.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t his intention.”
“Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t change anything.” I ran a hand through my hair. “No wonder we never went to his place.”
“I’m sorry, Gemma.”
“How am I supposed to face my staff tomorrow and explain that we’ve all been duped?”
“Is that really necessary?” she asked. “I thought you said most of them had already gone home.”
“Yeah, but I can’t expect them to keep secrets from each other. They won’t. And they shouldn’t have to.”
“What about Alex?”
“What about him?”
“Have you talked to him since he got arrested?”
“What would be the point?” I asked.
“I’d want an explanation if I were you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’m up for a bunch of bogus bullshit about why he thought it was okay to fuck me and lie to me at the same time. Like, the old me would give him another chance, but I don’t want to be that girl anymore. I’m sick of being a sucker. Of getting burned like this.”
“Mmm.”
“That’s all you’ve got for me?”
She hugged a patterned pillow to her chest. “I don’t know what you want me to say. He seemed crazy about you, and you seemed…”
“What?”
“Happier than you’ve been in a long time.”
“It was all a lie, though.”
“Your feelings weren’t a lie.”
“My feelings were based on lies,” I said. “Besides, I knew something was off in my gut. That’s why I’ve been holding back with him.”
She laughed.
I glared at her.
“Sorry—I just—if that was you holding back…we share a wall, Gemma. I’m not buying it.”
My cheeks burned. “So I wasn’t holding back physically. That’s not what I meant.”
She scoffed.
“Jeanie! What the hell?”
“What?”
“Whose side are you on?” I asked, my voice reaching a high pitch. “The guy’s been taking advantage of me for weeks!”
She rolled her eyes. “Excuse me for not seeing it that way.”
“What?! What other way is there to see it?”
“Well, compared to your ex he’s been a goddamn prince.”
“But it was a farce!”
“The way he looked at you wasn’t a farce.”
I crossed my arms and thought about how it felt to have his eyes on me. “You don’t know that.”
“Neither do you.”
“You don’t systematically deceive someone if you actually love them.”
“Oh please,” she said. “What do you think dating is?”
My neck hinged forward.
“Because unless everyone I know has been doing it wrong, systematic deceit for personal gain is as good a definition as any.”
“How romantic.”
“Think about it,” she said. “Are we not all just pretending to be versions of ourselves we hope the other person will fall for?”
“That’s not the same as pretending to be someone—or something—you’re not. He took it too far.”
“If you say so.”
My fingers found my temples. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this! How can you possibly think this is okay?”
“I didn’t say I thought it was okay. I said I would give him a chance to explain himself.”
I groaned.
“What else are you going to do? Avoid him? If he’s actually your boss, I can’t recommend the whole woman scorned tantrum angle.”
“I’m not throwing a tantrum.”
“You’re not exactly showing gratitude for what he did today either.”
“Gratitude?! For embarrassing me in front of my staff? For thinking it’s okay to screw me and deceive me at the same time?”
“I didn’t hear any complaints through the wall last night.”
“Because I didn’t know then!”
“What’s the big deal? You thought it was okay for him to fuck his boss? Why isn’t it okay for you?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “He’s embarrassed me enough. If you think I’m going to spread my legs for him again after—”
Her thin eyebrows crept up to her hairline.
“Forget it.” I was so frustrated I wanted to scream.
“Well, I liked him,” she said. “And I’m not sure I can hate him for being more successful than I thought he was.”
I thought of my mom and her split personalities, of her declarations of love that weren’t worth shit. They were nothing more than a shiny distraction. Just as Alex’s had been.
“You did say he seemed too good to be true.”
“I did, didn’t I?” I stared down at my lap where my hands were holding each other. “Being right is so overrated.”