answer, sitting down in the big comfy chair and bringing up her legs so they’re crisscrossed. She’s rubbing her left elbow, a sign she’s nervous.
Liza takes the floor and won’t look at me. Chloe keeps shifting around in the recliner.
“What’s up guys?” They better not have drunk the bottle of expensive wine I had been saving.
Maya pauses her elbow rubbing and licks her lips, “Okay, so I don’t want to make a big deal out of nothing, but I’d want to know if I were you.”
Now I’m getting nervous as she goes back to rubbing her elbow. Maya diverts her eyes over to Liza and Chloe before she continues.
“Okay,” she licks her lips again, avoiding eye contact and rushing it all out, “We saw Vic having dinner with another woman.”
My stomach bottoms out and I grow dizzy, blood rushing from my head.
“They were sitting close,” Liza adds when Maya stops.
“He laughed. A few times,” Chloe includes.
“He did?” I whisper, my heart now feeling frantic. “I didn’t even know he could do that.”
“We were just as shocked.” Liza comes and sits next to me, “It could just be a friend.”
Chloe lets out a sharp laugh, “Right. Like he has friends.”
Liza and Maya shoot darts at Chloe with squinty eyes.
“Sorry,” she mumbles.
“Are you sure it wasn’t a business meeting? He could have met with his realtor or something?” I describe what Nadine looks like, using hand gestures like it will help them to better picture her.
“No,” Maya frowns in sympathy. “It definitely wasn’t professional.”
“What were they doing?” I’m still talking in a hushed tone, my brain telling me to know all the facts before I worry, but my heart is already in freak-out mode. I’m trying my best to ignore the latter.
“Eating,” Maya tries to sound nonchalant about it, but it couldn’t have appeared that way for them to come to me about it or to be acting like this. “Well…mostly,” she nervously looks to the others.
“What? Tell me?”
“She put a hand on his, and he reached over and cupped her face, stroking it with his thumb, then they were oddly silent as they stared for a while.” Maya looks guilty. It must have looked worse.
I think I might throw up. “Where were they? How were you there?”
“Keith and I were having dinner at that great Italian place in Petaluma,” Chloe explains, referring to a town halfway between here and San Francisco. “I saw them arrive. Even Keith admitted to them being far too familiar with each other–”
Liza cut in, “She texted me for backup on what to do. I called Maya at work–”
“–We spied from the bar,” Maya finishes.
“Did he see you?”
Maya shakes her head, “No, we stayed closer to the door and used a plant to hide us. We left before they did. Now we’re here.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask, having never been in this situation before. I don’t want to call Vic and accuse him of anything, especially since I didn’t see it for myself.
“When you talk to him next, ask how his night went,” Chloe suggests. “You’d do that anyway, right?”
I nod, “What if he doesn’t mention her?”
“Then you know.”
“Know what?”
The room is silent. No one wants to say the answer out loud. No one wants to say that he may be cheating on me.
I think it’s time I open up that expensive bottle of wine. I go and get it, only pouring myself a glass; I’m going to need the whole thing. I don’t want to think about what I’ve just learned, not yet. Not when I can’t do anything but obsess all night, and that won’t do me any good.
We watch a French thriller on Netflix that we’ve all been hooked on, and the show gets creepy enough that for brief moments I don’t think about Vic with that woman, possibly touching her at that very moment the way he does me. The girls drink with me, all of us consuming more than a bottle each. All the wine has me easily able to pass out. Unfortunately, I still wake up
Liza takes the floor and won’t look at me. Chloe keeps shifting around in the recliner.
“What’s up guys?” They better not have drunk the bottle of expensive wine I had been saving.
Maya pauses her elbow rubbing and licks her lips, “Okay, so I don’t want to make a big deal out of nothing, but I’d want to know if I were you.”
Now I’m getting nervous as she goes back to rubbing her elbow. Maya diverts her eyes over to Liza and Chloe before she continues.
“Okay,” she licks her lips again, avoiding eye contact and rushing it all out, “We saw Vic having dinner with another woman.”
My stomach bottoms out and I grow dizzy, blood rushing from my head.
“They were sitting close,” Liza adds when Maya stops.
“He laughed. A few times,” Chloe includes.
“He did?” I whisper, my heart now feeling frantic. “I didn’t even know he could do that.”
“We were just as shocked.” Liza comes and sits next to me, “It could just be a friend.”
Chloe lets out a sharp laugh, “Right. Like he has friends.”
Liza and Maya shoot darts at Chloe with squinty eyes.
“Sorry,” she mumbles.
“Are you sure it wasn’t a business meeting? He could have met with his realtor or something?” I describe what Nadine looks like, using hand gestures like it will help them to better picture her.
“No,” Maya frowns in sympathy. “It definitely wasn’t professional.”
“What were they doing?” I’m still talking in a hushed tone, my brain telling me to know all the facts before I worry, but my heart is already in freak-out mode. I’m trying my best to ignore the latter.
“Eating,” Maya tries to sound nonchalant about it, but it couldn’t have appeared that way for them to come to me about it or to be acting like this. “Well…mostly,” she nervously looks to the others.
“What? Tell me?”
“She put a hand on his, and he reached over and cupped her face, stroking it with his thumb, then they were oddly silent as they stared for a while.” Maya looks guilty. It must have looked worse.
I think I might throw up. “Where were they? How were you there?”
“Keith and I were having dinner at that great Italian place in Petaluma,” Chloe explains, referring to a town halfway between here and San Francisco. “I saw them arrive. Even Keith admitted to them being far too familiar with each other–”
Liza cut in, “She texted me for backup on what to do. I called Maya at work–”
“–We spied from the bar,” Maya finishes.
“Did he see you?”
Maya shakes her head, “No, we stayed closer to the door and used a plant to hide us. We left before they did. Now we’re here.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask, having never been in this situation before. I don’t want to call Vic and accuse him of anything, especially since I didn’t see it for myself.
“When you talk to him next, ask how his night went,” Chloe suggests. “You’d do that anyway, right?”
I nod, “What if he doesn’t mention her?”
“Then you know.”
“Know what?”
The room is silent. No one wants to say the answer out loud. No one wants to say that he may be cheating on me.
I think it’s time I open up that expensive bottle of wine. I go and get it, only pouring myself a glass; I’m going to need the whole thing. I don’t want to think about what I’ve just learned, not yet. Not when I can’t do anything but obsess all night, and that won’t do me any good.
We watch a French thriller on Netflix that we’ve all been hooked on, and the show gets creepy enough that for brief moments I don’t think about Vic with that woman, possibly touching her at that very moment the way he does me. The girls drink with me, all of us consuming more than a bottle each. All the wine has me easily able to pass out. Unfortunately, I still wake up
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