Page 83 of Not Your Basic Love Story

“You didn’t see it?” I asked and then gulped down half of my glass of shiraz. “He punched a hole in their wall, too.”

Miranda’s eyebrows shot up. “Again? He always does that. No, I was looking for Angelina. Have you seen her?”

I shook my head. Shawan and Jag came in then, too.

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I’m so embarrassed. I’ll pay for your wall.”

Jag shrugged. “These things happen. Don’t worry about it. We have a cousin who’s a contractor. Is your brother okay?”

I nodded. “He’ll be fine, thank you. Is Moe…?”

“Fine, yes.”

“Have you seen Priya?” Shawan asked, mouth downturned in concern.

“Can’t find Angelina, either,” Miranda said.

Shawan pushed past us and went up the stairs in search of her daughter.

Miranda seemed to notice Sonja for the first time and introduced herself. To my utter despair, the two of them really hit it off. Miranda brought up how we’d accidentally ‘liked’ one of her old pictures when she was doing the requisite best-friend snooping, and Sonja thought it was hilarious. I wished Miranda hadn’t brought it up. From there, they dove into an effortless conversation as if they’d known each other for years. Jealousy piqued inside me and my skin felt hot.

She’s my goddamned best friend, not yours! First it had happened with Nicole, and now it was happening with Sonja. I wanted to hurl what was left of my wine at her annoyingly perfect face but lifted it to my lips instead.

A scream echoed through the house. Startled, Dev bumped into me, which made me bump into my wine, which caused it to slop all over my priceless dress.

Miranda, Sonja and I stared at the red stain, mouths agape.

“Mom! Get out of my room!” Priya yelled.

Our group made their way to the bottom of the stairs in time to see Shawan dragging Priya down by her wrist, a flurry of angry Punjabi escaping her lips. Shawan pulled Priya past us, an intense aroma of marijuana accompanying them.

At the top of the stairs stood Angelina, having followed behind the two of them.

“Angelina! What the hell!” Miranda chastised.

Angelina descended the stairs, righting her dress and wiping a bit of lipstick off her mouth. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the lipstick wasn’t hers and hadn’t been applied the traditional way.

“Yeah, we should probably go,” she said, nonchalant as ever. “Shawan walked in on us doing… things.”

“Hot boxing her room?”

She smirked. “That, among others.”

Miranda groaned. “Sorry, Becky,” she said as she walked past. Derek offered me a smile and nodded to Dev. Angelina winked at me. Winked! Then the three of them trailed out.

Which left me with Sonja and Dev.

And a huge, red stain on my dress.

I sighed. “I’m going to go try and get some of this out.”

“Need some help?” Sonja called as I walked away.

I ignored her and made my way to the hall bathroom, locking the door behind me. Closing my eyes, I rested my back against the door and counted to ten. It didn’t help. Still unsettled and irritated, I gave up and looked into the mirror to assess the damage.

My dress was ruined. My perfect dress, with the buttons up the back and the lace and the everything… it was done. Sorry, Margaret. Your good luck wasn’t enough to help me.

A quiet knock interrupted me before my thoughts could begin to spiral.

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