Page 4 of Falling Hard
I rolled my eyes. "I'd say you've asked Solange the most important question there is."
Luke laughed, the sound grating.
I didn't think there was anything funny at a time like this.
"She isn't Beyoncé's sister. Her name is Solenne. But sure, keep calling her Solange. I'm sure she'll love that at Thanksgiving."
"Whatever. Anyways, I'm meeting the girls tonight."
"What's the emergency meeting for? Today isn't your scheduled dinner with Demetria and the rest."
Of course Luke knew my schedule like the back of his hand. Yet I found out after the fact that he was engaged.
I rolled my eyes. "They miss me, so we’re meeting at my house."
"What time?"
"Sorry, no men allowed," I warned.
Suddenly, the noise in the background disappeared; Luke had either moved or all of New York stopped on his account. "Liv, I've never invited myself into a place where I'm not welcome. I only asked so I could swing by after the weeklywe hate men dinneris over."
I explained, in vain, that we didn’t hate men. My friends and I just knew our worth and refused to be trampled on. Plenty of other women tolerated that crap, but not us.
"We normally wrap things up by nine," I told him reluctantly.
"Great, I'll see you then."
Silence. I didn’t want to see Luke. Perhaps for the first time in our friendship. I was still recovering from the bombshell he’d dropped in my lap earlier, but I wasn't about to let him know how shaken I was. "Bring a good bottle of wine with you."
"I’m engaged; you should be offering me champagne."
I'd celebrate that wedding when hell freezes over.Olivia, remember your game face.
"I don't think I have any at home, but I'll tell Dorothy to order some."
"That's what best friends are for. I have to run, see you later."
"Okay," I said. Hanging up, I wondered what had happened to the day I’d planned this morning when I woke up. My itinerary was simple: coffee, drive to work, eat Zac for lunch. At no time did I plan to get the worst news ever: My best friend had become an idiot. I sat alone in my office, staring at nothing, the quiet wrapping itself tightly around the room. Somewherebetween the missed calls and the wrong words, the day had unraveled faster than I could catch it.
After what feltlike the longest day, I dragged myself through the front door to find that Dorothy, my housekeeper and lifesaver, had already let my girlfriends in. Back at Aston Lane College in Boston, our classmates liked to call us The United Nations, thanks to how mixed our crew was. To our faces they used one name. Behind our backs, it was bitches, and we claimed it without apology. The Bitches were all already waiting for me, chilling around the dining table, nursing glasses of wine. Seeing them filled me with warmth. I was glad they were in my life. Thank goodness we’d all connected when we did. I needed my girls right now.
Demetria was the first person I spotted. She reminded me of Naomi Campbell, tall and beautiful with dark skin and tightly coiled hair that brushed her shoulders. The oldest and wisest of our circle, she was the one who kept us in line when we acted like children. She pulled me into a hug.
"Why are you hugging me?"
"You've had a long day," Mei said beside her, carrying an expression that irked me.
God only knows what they were saying about me outside the group chat.
I couldn’t help staring at Mei, effortlessly striking as always. Her sleek black bob framed her face, and her almond eyes seemed to see straight through me. The part-time model and full-time med student finally turned away, and I could breathe again.
"Guys, I'm fine."
No one replied to my words.
Alex, who had the art of looking like trouble wrapped in bronzed skin, spoke next. "You don't have to pretend with us."
While I'd never visited Spain, I'd always said if that place had other dark-haired women with perfect bronzed skin who looked like Alexandra, I'd avoid the country entirely. I couldn't handle the competition.
