Coffee Cup Confessions - Trish Williford Page 0,56
the old Misha?”
“The old Misha who beat around the bush until the topic finally came about? I’m not going to lie to you, Noah. I’ve changed a lot in the last year. Maybe it’s selfish, but I’ve been focusing on me and what my goals and aspirations are. And with recent events and information that have come to light, honesty and straightforwardness are more important to me now than ever. So, I’m sorry if I’m not the same girl, but she’s tired of getting her heart broken.”
Tears have formed in my eyes, which pisses me off. Anytime I talk about or refer to the situation with Jake, my stupid eyes try to leak.
“Fair enough. I’ll give you the same courtesy. Last week, I broke up with Mandy, and she moved out. I’ve been wanting to come over here and talk to you for a few days, but I wasn’t really sure if you’d want to see me. I want you to know that I had no idea about Mandy hiring Jake, and if I had, I would’ve told you.”
How in the world does he know? There’s no way in hell Mandy just volunteered that information.
“How did you find out?”
“Jake. He came to my house and filled me in.” He says it like it’s not a big deal.
I’m left with my jaw gaping open, and Noah chuckles at my reaction.
“Yeah, I thought you’d be surprised about it too. Jake told me everything—Mandy hiring him, them both being escorts, and the fight at your parents’ anniversary party. Let’s just say, my eyes were opened pretty damn wide by the time he left my house.”
“I can’t believe he did that.”
“I’ve never approved of how Mandy treated you, and anytime I mentioned it to her, she would accuse me of still having feelings for you. But when I heard about her hiring Jake to keep you occupied so she could go public about our relationship … that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“Right.” I roll my eyes. “You broke up with Mandy because of what she had done to me, not because she’s a prostitute.”
“I’m serious. Just because you and I aren’t together doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. What she did was fucked up, and I don’t want to be with someone who could treat their own sibling like that. And she’s not a prostitute. And neither was Jake. Escorts and prostitutes are two completely different things. Although I was pissed she lied to me about it, I probably could have dealt with it. Definitely would have asked her to find a new job, but I think we could have worked through it.”
“How do you know for sure? Just by taking Mandy’s and Jake’s word?”
“No. I went to the office they worked out of. I had a really long chat with Natasha, who owns the company. She assured me that’s not the type of business she runs. She even showed me contracts and client testimonies. It’s legitimate.”
“They really didn’t sleep with their customers?”
“No. If they had, they would have been fired. Natasha has very strict guidelines for her employees. So strict that when Natasha found out that Mandy had hired Jake to take you out without your knowledge, she fired Mandy.”
“Mandy lost her job too?”
He shrugs, and this cold side of Noah is new. “She deserves everything she gets. Maybe hitting rock bottom will change her fucking attitude and outlook. She’s lost just about everything in the last week, and I have absolutely no sympathy for her.”
“Ouch.”
“She made her bed …”
“Looks like Karma is a bigger bitch than Mandy.”
With everything raining down on Mandy, her perfect little life coming undone, I thought I’d feel happy about her misfortunes. It’s the opposite, however. Her life taking a nosedive doesn’t make mine any better.
I take the two cheesecakes out of the oven, and Noah eyes them closely.
“What kind are they?”
When we lived together, I had to nearly lock the cheesecakes in the spare bedroom, so he wouldn’t eat them. It looks as if he hasn’t changed in that aspect. Opening the refrigerator, I pull out the remaining pieces of cheesecake I made for sample boxes and slide them across the table to him.
Noah’s eyes grow wide, and he smiles his boyish grin that I remember from so long ago. “Really? I can have them?”
He accepts the fork I hand him.
“Thank you for coming over and talking to me about everything.”
He shovels a hunk of cheesecake into his mouth, and his eyes flutter