Page 8 of Rush
With her was blonde Belinda and chestnut Heather, both rabid social climbers with rich boyfriends. Neither of them worked. Instead, they spent their days perusing the designer stores on Collins Street, nibbled at fancy food they never digested because they wanted to keep their figures, and fawned over Margaret’s every word like she was the reincarnation of some long-lost messiah. The goddess of passive aggression or something just as shallow.
When we were together, we looked like a still from an episode ofSex and The City—the two blondes, the brunette, and the ginger—except without the undying friendship part.
“You’re late, Jade,” Margaret said as I sat down.
“Brunch has always been at eleven,” I said. Glancing at my phone, I saw it was ten fifty-nine.
“Ten thirty,” Heather said reaching for a pink macaroon from the spread in the center of the table.
I narrowed my eyes, knowing better than to argue. I’d always been the last to arrive, and now I knew why. Likely, for Margaret’s own amusement and her misdemeanor scorecard, I was deliberately told the wrong time.
Setting my bag underneath the table, I held my tongue and promptly poured myself a cup of tea. Then I loaded my plate with an assortment of cupcakes, macaroons, and sandwiches, all of which I intended to eatand fucking enjoy.
Margaret watched my every move, her perfectly plucked eyebrows raised.
“How are you, hon?” she asked, leaning toward me, her voice all hush hush.
“Fine…” I said carefully, dumping a sugar cube into my tea. My skin was going to hate me tomorrow.
“I’m sorry about you and Hunter,” she went on as if I hadn’t replied. It didn’t escape my notice when her lips quirked…and not in a good way.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my throat tightening. Hadn’t I put enough concealer on my baggy eyes this morning? Or like vultures, could they smell the opportunity for a shred of juicy gossip radiating around me?
“He changed his relationship status to single,” Margaret replied with a smirk. “The Internet is great for those little tidbits, don’t you think?”
My mouth fell open.It had only been a day. Hunter wanted to cut ties that quickly? Was he waiting for an excuse to cut off our engagement? I was beginning to think he felt lucky I’d caught him because that way, he didn’t have to have the ‘difficult conversation’ with me.Coward.
I felt sick, the colorful array of cakes and fluffy white sandwiches I’d piled onto my plate turning my stomach.
“I’m so sorry, hon,” Belinda said gently. “He could’ve at least waited until the end of the week or something.”
“Yeah, that’s cold,” Heather added.
“You were together for so long,” Margaret declared, reaching for her cup and saucer. “To do that to you…” She shook her head, her blonde locks shimmering like spun gold.
I glanced up at her and scowled. “To do what to me?”
“Well, I assume he must’ve cheated,” she blurted a little too quickly. “He was always like that.”
She knew. She fucking knew Hunter had cheated. Which meant…
“Excuse me,” I declared, rising to my feet. “I just have to powder my nose.”
Practically fleeing across the restaurant, I hid around the corner, half a dozen steps between them, me, and the bathroom. Leaning my back against the wall, I listened to the hushed conversation that had begun the second I was out of view.
My skin popped and fizzed as nausea rose.Deep breaths, Jade, I thought to myself.Deep breaths.
“Did you know he was sleeping with someone behind her back?” Heather asked.
“Please, Hunter was fucking bimbos all over town while Jade was chained to her desk. She worked so much she never even had a clue.” Margaret snorted. “She couldn’t keep him faithful in high school, so what did she expect.”
“It wasn’t the first time?” Belinda sounded shocked.
“Let’s just say…revolving door.”
Heather gasped. “Oh, my God.”
“I wonder if she ever got itchy.”
