Chapter Eighteen
With a sigh, Meg dropped into her favorite leather chair in the corner of Lucy’s coffee shop in need of something supremely caffeinated to pull her out of her slump.
“I’m shocked you wanted to meet this early.” Lexi’s voice caught her off guard.
“Early? It’s ten thirty.” Meg looked past Lexi and waved hello to Sam and Lucy at the counter. “How did I not see you when I walked in?” she asked more to herself than anything.
Lexi answered anyway. “You’re in your own world.” She touched Meg’s shoulder. “What do you want—I’ll get it for you.”
“Just coffee, but it’s fine, I’ll get it.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lexi asked, settling into the spot across from Meg.
Meg looked out the storefront window and shook her head. “Nothing to talk about.”
“Bullshit, Meg.” Lexi tucked one leg under the other and paused for a second as she sipped her drink. When Meg still didn’t respond, she pushed. “No mission today?”
“Nope.”
“So you’re just done with that now?”
“Third degree much?”
“I’m sorry. I thought we were friends.” Lexi’s voice was loaded with spirited snark as she punched Meg’s knee. “Hey, when I’m upset, I talk to you. When something’s up with you, you talk to me. That’s what we do, Meg. If you’re not ready yet, that’s fine.” She leaned all the way forward keeping her hand on Meg’s jeans. “You’ve been off the radar for over a week now, so you know I’m going to make sure you’re okay. You would do the exact same thing for me.”
“I know.” She patted Lexi’s hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, settling in to the worn chair. “I’m all over the place.”
“This is because of Sasha and the movie thing?” When Meg looked at her with an obvious question in her eyes, Lexi fessed up. “Sam filled me in.”
“But how did she—”
Lexi raised her shoulders. “She saw you there that night. She said you were a mess and that you left in a hurry with some bogus story about your sister needing you. Then she spotted Sasha and her friend and the two guys. Not that hard to put together.”
Meg rolled her neck and looked at the ceiling. “It’s not just Sasha. I mean, it is. But that is my own stupid fault for letting myself get caught up again.” She leaned forward and touched the edges of her short hair for comfort. “I know what she’s like. I should have seen it coming.”
“Meg, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” She looked right at Lexi. “Admit the truth? Sasha just wants attention. She’ll take it anywhere she can get it.” Meg let out a nasty smirk. “Even better if she can have it from everyone at the same time.”
“Come on, Meg. I don’t think that’s true.”
“Oh no?” Her voice was filled with anger and hurt and she knew Lexi heard it. “What’s the truth, then?”
“She wants to be with you, Meg.”
“Yeah, okay,” Meg said with a dismissive laugh.
“Look at me.” Lexi waited until Meg gave her her full attention. “I’m not guessing or surmising or anything like that. Sasha wants to be with you. She told me, Meg. She’s still in love with you.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lexi let out a deep sigh. “Look, she came to me. I don’t know, months ago, now.” Lexi chewed her lip. “She asked for my help. She told me she’d made a huge mistake with you. And she wanted to win you back, essentially.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Because she wanted to prove it to you herself. Which was the right thing to do, I think.” Meg tried to interrupt, but Lexi stopped her. “Wait.” She held up her hand. “I don’t know exactly what happened during that stupid zombie movie, but I know she’s upset about it and I know you’ve been blowing her off.”
“Part of that is because of work.” Meg held her head in her hands. “I need to get my head on straight if I’m going to get this promotion.”
“Well, you should tell her that. The fact that you won’t talk to her”—Lexi twisted the ceramic mug in her hands—“it’s really hurting her.”
“Lex—”
“Don’t get all full of pride.” Lexi rolled her eyes. “You love her. I know it. You may be able to BS everyone else, but I know the truth. And so do you. So stop being a baby and talk to her.”
Lucy arrived with a fresh cup of coffee and Meg thanked her, wasting no time before taking a huge sip of her drink.
They watched Lucy return to Sam’s side. “Now, moving on,” Lexi said.
Meg laughed a little. “I know, I know. We have to get on the planning of the summer carnival idea we tossed around in the spring.”
“Forget that.” Lexi waved her off. “Sam and I figured it out.” She shook her head. “We bailed on doing the carnival.” At Meg’s surprise, Lexi broke it down. “A carnival would be really expensive, and in the summer”—she shrugged—“we just don’t get the numbers to make it profitable.” She pushed her hair off her shoulders. “Maybe next year if we do it early and really promote it, but now, it’s just too late in the game. I feel like in August everyone’s away on vacation or running out to Fire Island to get their last shot at the beach.”
“So we’re just dropping it altogether?”
“Well, I think it’s better to put more of our effort and resources to the singles event we talked about for the fall.” Lexi tucked one leg under her. “But in the meantime, Sam and I hatched a plan to do a luau.”
“A luau?”
“Yep.” She tossed her hair lightly over her shoulders. “Think about it. Right off, the vibe is much lower key than a traditional social. We’ll do tropical drinks and traditional food, like a pig roast but without the pig actually being here. Because, gross.” She laughed at her own squeamishness. “Sam already has a local restaurant on board.”
“All right. I can see it.”
“Set up tiki torches all around. Throw down a makeshift dance floor. Keep the pool open. The whole thing will be outside. Unless it rains. Then we’re fucked.”
“It sounds really nice.”
“It’s different. Kind of chill. I think it will be a hit.”
“Did you run it by Kam?”
“Not yet, but she’ll go for it. Particularly once she hears how cost-effective it is. Even if the turnout is low, we won’t lose money.”
“I feel bad that you guys did all this without me. I suck.”
“Not at all.” Lexi rubbed her stomach gently with both hands. “Once this little peanut comes out, you’ll be picking up the slack.” She smiled at her friend. “We’re a team.”
“Thanks, Lex.” Meg stood and kissed Lexi’s forehead. “I’m going to go thank Sam too.”
“When you’re done with that, will you please call Sasha?” Lexi called over her shoulder. Meg didn’t say yes, but she certainly allowed herself to consider the possibility.
*****
Meg wasn’t able to commit to a phone call but late in the afternoon on the following day she sent a text to Sasha. She apologized for missing out on her volunteering duties for the past few weeks and cited work as the culprit. She couldn’t bring herself to ask about Evan or the movie, and when Sasha attempted to bring it up, she dodged the subject. They kept it light like this for the next two weeks, and while Meg knew she was being purposely distant she justified it to herself as something she would deal with after the promotion had been announced. Truth be told, she needed the next three weeks to blow the roof off the Dillinger Pharmco folks to land the spot.
The week of the LOL—Ladies Only Luau—Meg worked her ass off at Sullivan. Finally coming through the door to her condo at ten p.m. Thursday night, she scooped Spencer up in her arms and cuddled her at the base of the staircase. She felt Spencer’s sharp claws knead into her legs as she scratched behind her ears.
“You love that, don’t you,” Meg said.
Spencer answered with a loud purr and a turn of her tiny head as she touched Meg’s nose with her own. Meg couldn’t help herself. She reached for her phone and snapped a pic of Spencer’s sweet face. Without spending a half hour overthinking her word choice, she threw it in a text to Sasha with the comment: Come to Bay West’s luau on Saturday. I really want to meet you!
It wasn’t the warmest invite, but she hoped the exclamation point made it less awkward.
Sasha’s response was immediate. Yes! I look forward to seeing you, adorable Spencer.
Her text was followed immediately by more bubbles, so Meg waited to see what else Sasha had to say.
One question. What does one wear to a luau?
Duh. The corner of Meg’s mouth curled into a tiny grin as she typed. A coconut bra, of course.
LOL. Got it. See you Saturday, Spence. She punctuated her comment with a heart emoji and Meg felt her own heart beat faster in response.