Page 57 of Stroked
“No, I dropped him at the club, then came here. So much for dinner out.” She blew out a breath that ruffled the curls around her face.
“I need to cool off. We can grab something on the way to the hospital. My treat.”
We stepped off the elevator and headed outside. It was still strange that she was parking in the guest spots out front and not the parking deck.
We stopped at a drive-thru and then headed to the highway. We were just two lights away from it when I saw glass and skid marks covering the street.
“Is this…”
Lucy nodded, then reached over and grabbed my hand. “I promise, she’s fine. Just customary to go to the hospital after a wreck. She was talking to Jason and everything.”
I took a huge sip through the straw of my cherry-flavored slushie. The cold tampered the pressure that kept trying to return.
“Hey, why did you say this was your fault?” Lucy asked, biting her burger as we sailed down the highway.
I looked out the window, my lips thinned in the reflection. “We got into an argument, and she left, really upset.”
Lucy sloshed her ice in the cup. “What were you fighting about?” she asked before she took a sip, then put the cup in the cupholder.
“Okay, this initially sounds bad, so let me finish, please.” She nodded and took another bite of her burger, so I continued. “I had a business meeting with her mom today at work, and she asked me to have lunch.”
“And you said no.”
“I said, let me finish.” She held her burger up, waving it to go on. “Anyway, she asked me to lunch and was very insistent, so I agreed.” Lucy’s chewing slowed but she didn’t interrupt me. “She’s my first big client and I couldn’t be rude. Plus, I thought it would be more suspicious to not go. So, I went.”
I took a big sip, again, of my slushie for a break to gather my thoughts. “I go to lunch, we talk about work, then out of nowhere, she asks me how I came out to my parents.”
Lucy started choking on her food, coughing and banging her chest after she dropped the burger in her lap.
“Shit, pull over. Oh my God,” I screeched.
She coughed again, shaking her head and took a sip of her drink. “I’m okay, I’m okay. Sorry. Shit, what did yousay?”
I drew in a deep breath, relieved my friend wasn’t choking on her dinner. “I told her the story. Then she asked about school and stuff. I answered vaguely but honestly. What was I supposed to do? She knows I’m gay!”
“Calm down. We can’t go inside if you’re all worked up.” We were pulling off the highway and the hospital was just down the street. “How does she know you’re gay? Do you wear a sign at work or something?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. It came up in conversation before.”
“So, what happened with Val?”
I looked out the window again and sighed. “I asked her to come up so we could talk, and she thought I was breaking it off. So, I tried to explain that wasn’t it at all.At all!” I cut my hand through the air. “But as soon as I mentioned the words ‘mom’ and ‘gay’ in the same sentence, she lost it. I tried to get her to hear me out, but she just left.” I fumbled with my straw, still staring out the window.
“Shit. I hope she’s not mad if we show up. But she told Jason to tell you.”
I whipped my head to her. “She did? What did she say?”
“Well, you know Jason, but he said, ‘Here’s her bag and phone. She said to tell Amy,’” Lucy said, imitating his low register.
Men. They suck at details. But the tightness in my chest melted into tingles. I was still a bundle of nerves, but the fact that she specifically told him to tell me had to be a good sign.Didn’t it?
“Okay, here we are. Hope you plan to pay me for parking. Ready to go in?” She grabbed my hand and I squeezed hers back.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 30
Valentina
