Page 50 of Kiss Me at Midnight
“You’re blaming me?” Lily was incredulous.
“Yes!” Rachel raged on, punching her arms out. “Do you know what it was like for me after Mom died? My dad was suffocating in his efforts to protect me. If he wasn’t working some new business deal on the way to creating this global conglomerate of businesses, he was telling me what to wear, what to say, how to act, making a fool of me in front of my friends. In front of you!” Rachel jabbed a finger toward her. “The only way I ever felt in control was to be in control, to mesmerize all the men, to outwit and out-talk all the women. And to never, ever again allow someone to make me feel the way you did.”
No wonder Rachel’s so-called friends had turned down wedding invitations a second time. Rachel was just as out of touch with reality as Grandma Dotty. Only Rachel had fangs and minions.
Although Marta was slowly backing toward the door, most likely not wanting to be a part of this showdown.
And there was going to be a showdown. Lily had been bullied, tested, submitted to personal attacks and ridiculous accusations. Anger ran through her veins and balled her fingers into fists. She got out of the stylist chair and stood her ground. “According to you, everything bad that happened when we ran away was my fault.”
“Yes.” Rachel laid a hand over her chest as if ready to swear it could be nothing else. But then she paused, the way Grandma Dotty did when she thought a reality check was in order.
“You can blame me if it makes you feel better.” Lily refused to believe it did. “But things weren’t fine in the pop-up club after you left. Things got worse. Much worse. And I was lucky to make it home. But then, like you, I was grounded. After which, it was months before they allowed me cell phone privileges. And like you, I checked my messages.” Lily held out her arms. “Nothing from Rachel.”
Rachel’s hand rose to cover her mouth.
“And now I’m here, at your father’s request, trying to talk you into taking a breath and taking stock of what’s happening in your life. And I’m realizing that you’ve been too quick to judge a lot of people. Yes, you.” Lily shook her finger at Rachel the way Grandma Dotty often shook her finger at others.I have been hanging around her too much.“Yes, I dropped you cold, the same way you dumped me. And I probably should have been the bigger person and reached out to you, but I was hurting and healing from things that happened after youabandonedme. But unlike you, I didn’t let things get twisted in my head until I accepted no responsibility for what happened. Geez, Rachel. We used to be friends. I used to think you were one of the happiest, funniest girls I knew. We used to recite lines fromThe Hunger Gamesand complete each other’s sentences. What happened to us?”
Rachel blinked rapidly, gaze sweeping the floor. “You can’t talk to me like that.” Her words were little more than a whisper.
Lily made a snap decision. She marched over to Rachel. “I think what we went through gives me every right to talk to you like that.” Lily hugged her, a quick catch-and-release. And then Lily moved toward the door, passing Marta, passing the red dress. She paused, hand on the knob, unwilling to flee before she tried one last time to reach the Rachel who used to be her friend. “I hope you find a happy place, Rachel.” Lily opened the door.
“Don’t go.” Rachel’s plea surprised Lily. It shouldn’t have. It wasn’t a plea. It was a trap. “I need to show you the video with Jud and Darian. I’ve got it all cued up to the important part. The wind sometimes interferes with the audio, but you’ll get the idea.”
“No.” Lily held up a hand as she stepped into the hall. “Not interested.”
“I’m going to play it anyway.” Rachel fumbled with her phone. “You deserve to hear it.”
*
Safe and mundane.
That’s what Jud thought of her. That’s what she’d heard on Rachel’s video.
The only reason Jud had asked her out was because he wanted a fake girlfriend to help his image and make investors feel more comfortable buying into his film. Someone no one in the media would be interested in. Someone he wouldn’t be tempted to sleep with.
Lily wanted to be sick. Instead, she prepared for her final big scene in this Rachel-fueled drama.
Rachel, who thought she was protecting her former friend/former enemy/refound friend by playing that video.
With friends like Rachel, who needed enemies?
Lily stared at her reflection. Her brown hair had a bad case of the frizzes. Her plain, black-framed glasses seemed as mundane as her label. And her dress? Well, she hadn’t gone with the red designer number. She’d put on the simple gray sheath she’d brought to wear to Rachel’s wedding before she’d been recruited as the maid of honor.
“Tell me again what I do in my supporting role?” Grandma Dotty had changed into a long brown dress and an orange sweater.
Someone knocked on the door. “Room service.”
“About that…” Lily went to answer the door. “I want you to sit this one out.” Rachel was an emotional rollercoaster.
The porter stood in the hallway holding a plate with an egg salad sandwich. “Compliments of the chef.”
Lily took the plate and put it on the small dresser beneath the television. She thanked the porter and closed the door. “I took the liberty of ordering in for you tonight. You know how high strung Rachel is.” Lily was just as high strung and there was no telling how this dinner and break-up plan was going to go. “Two egg salad sandwiches in one day. That’s lucky.”
“But I’m part of your supersquad. We’re on a secret mission.” Grandma Dotty approached the plate. “It looks like a plain egg salad sandwich. How did you manage this?”
“I asked nicely.” Actually, Lily had gone into the kitchen after Rachel’s heartbreaking reveal, needing something to occupy her brain. Discovering the chef was still shopping in town, she’d made the sandwich herself and devised a time for delivery with the porter.
Grandma Dotty picked up the sandwich and took a bite. “It’s quite good. Just like I make it at home.”
