Page 9 of Between Love and Loathing
“Then make it belong there. You were never made to fit in, Clara. Stand the hell out. Honestly, it’s probably why your dad wanted this for you.”
“Ourdad wanted a lot of things, and he was terrible at voicing them.” She always did that, left herself out when she shouldn’t. Evie had come into our lives a year ago after being estranged from her biological father, Carl, most of her life. She’d bore the brunt of Carl’s “conditional gift” clause in the will, which forced an arranged marriage on her.
Or so I thought.
Dealing with Dominic Hardy proved to beverydifficult. I wonder what she would say if I told her I hadn’t seen that pompous disgrace of a man since the day I’d arrived a month ago. He’d written me off, apparently, since he’d never stopped by again.
And as I started scrolling through my emails, I knew dealing with him was about to get worse.
I hopped off the chair fast. “Crap, I have to go. I’m late for a meeting, I think.”
“Oh, is it at your bakery? Send pics of that too!”
“Oh my God. Goodbye.”
I hung up, and proceeded to scurry around like a madwoman, frustrated that I hadn’t checked my email this morning. We were all working around the clock for the reopening, and I knew better than to take a day off. I ripped open my closet door and scanned my options.
I pulled out a flowy dress that was cream colored with coral peonies on it, took out a small Birkin bag that matched to throw just a few pieces of makeup in. I never wore a purse because I just had my phone with my credit cards and ID stuffed into my bra, but today, having the bag would make me feel the part. Then, I texted Paloma back.
Me: Thank you! I didn’t see the email until now and haven’t left yet. Is everyone there?
Paloma: Yes. Rita texted everyone too, but I just checked and you’re not on the text thread. So hurry up.
“Of course she left me off the thread,” I grumbled. I didn’t care what anyone said, Rita hated me. Even still, I avoided thinking about it. My self-esteem didn’t need another person to be wary about. That’s why I moved away from my sister and mother in the first place.
I punched in for an Uber as I pulled on the dress, no time to iron out the wrinkles. I couldn’t bother with curling my hair, so I threaded some cream through it and let my waves hang naturally before I applied concealer to cover my freckles, added red lipstick, and went to work on my eyelashes before I ran down the couple of flights of stairs in my apartment building and waited for the Uber to show.
Me: Well, at least she finally approved my pink seating.
Paloma: Oh really?! That’s fantastic. Tell me about it when you get here. Did you leave yet? Dominic Hardy just showed up, and you know how he is.
Me: It’s fine. There’re a lot of us. He won’t notice.
Paloma: He notices everything. Perfect example, my pink fitting rooms just yesterday.
I sighed. Well, he hadn’t noticed me for the past month, right? So, one could hope.
Me: I’m still jealous of them. They’re the perfect pink that I wanted in my bakery.
Paloma: Yeah. But my store is on the strip. Yours is in the freaking lobby, Clara. And plus, don’t be jealous. I’m still wondering if I should change them just because he stared at it for an eternity.
I knew he stopped by other places to see how things were going too. Paloma was always on edge about it.
Me: He said he liked it though. Don’t you dare change them.
Paloma: Well, right. I can’t because when he hands out a compliment, it’s a win.
As I got into the Uber and told him to take me as fast as possible to the Pacific Coast Resort, I sighed at the traffic. No way was I making it on time unless it parted like the red sea for us. So, I asked the driver about his life, learned a bit about his three kids and tried to make the best of our time. I even memorized a few new turns to take if I decided to bicycle to work in the future, considering I’d found a cute old teal bicycle at a yard sale.
“Traffic is usually okay on the weekends, but this is something,” the driver mumbled as we came to a complete stop in traffic. “Want me to drop you off at the back of the resort? Might be a while otherwise.”
“Would that be faster?” I asked.
“Maybe. You can walk around and avoid all this traffic.”
I nodded, thinking I still had a chance. I’d attempted to navigate the resort a few times but mostly I’d just gotten lost, so I stuck close to the bakery and lobby where I was actually needed.
I realized my mistake as soon as I stepped out of the Uber and he sped off, leaving me feeling small by the magnificent but extremely large white building that practically loomed over the ocean. Every time I saw it, it stole my breath.
