knows I was with him. Maybe she could have even found out I slept with him; Thomas could have told her to save himself.
She’s punishing me.
I feel her hand gently pat my back and I whip around.
“Don’t!” I say. “You got me fired. You told BeautyBuzz I was freelancing when I went to Reyna and Tiffani!”
“Slow down, Jessica,” Dr. Shields instructs.
She returns to her stool and crosses one long, slender leg over the other. I know what I’m supposed to do, the part she wants me to play, so I sit down on the stool next to her.
“You didn’t tell me you lost your job,” she says. To an observer, it would look like she’s truly concerned: Her brow is furrowed, and her tone is gentle.
“Yeah, someone turned me in for violating my noncompete clause,” I say accusingly.
“Hmmm . . .” Dr. Shields taps an index finger against her lips, and then I see the lower one looks slightly swollen, as if it was recently injured. “Didn’t you tell me that the boyfriend who was on drugs was so suspicious of you? Is it possible he might have reported you?”
She gives me a slight, Cheshire-cat smile. She has an answer for everything.
But I know she did it. Maybe she didn’t give them Reyna and Tiffani’s names, but she could have made an anonymous call pretending she was a client I’d solicited. I can see her saying something in that fake-concerned voice, like, Oh, Jessica seemed like such a nice young woman, I hope I don’t get her into trouble.
But then I remember Ricky’s insistent questions before I pushed those free cosmetics into Tiffani’s hand and fled. I’m certain the tubes had the BeautyBuzz logo on them; all my lip glosses and balms do. It would be easy to track down my employer.
“Jessica, I’m very sorry you lost your job,” Dr. Shields says. However, I certainly did not cause it.
I rub my temples; everything was so clear just a few minutes ago. But now I don’t know what to believe.
“I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but you look unwell,” Dr. Shields remarks. She nudges the platter closer to me. “Have you been eating?”
I haven’t, I realize. When I saw Noah on Friday night at Peachtree Grill, he kept trying to tempt me with fried chicken and biscuits, but I only managed a few bites. I don’t think I’ve had anything but coffee and a LUNA bar or two since then.
“But what about Noah?” I say, almost to myself. My voice breaks on his name.
He was happy to hear from me this morning, though he might have thought my request was strange. I keep picturing his hand held up like a barrier, stopping me from getting close.
“Who?”
“The guy I was seeing,” I say. “How did you find him?”
Dr. Shields cuts a piece of cheese and puts it on a thin round cracker before handing it to me. I stare down at it and shake my head.
“You never even told me you were dating anyone,” Dr. Shields says. “How could I engage in a conversation with somebody I didn’t know existed?”
She lets silence hang there for a moment, like she’s punctuating her point.
“I have to tell you, Jessica, I am beginning to resent your accusations,” she says. “You completed your assignments, for which I paid you. You assured me that Thomas was faithful. So why would I be interfering in your life now?”
Is it possible? I put my head in my hands and try to replay the past few days, but everything is jumbled. Maybe Thomas is the one who has been lying to me. Maybe my own instincts were wrong. They’ve been off before; I trusted Gene French when I shouldn’t have. Maybe I’ve done the opposite now.
“Have you been sleeping, you poor thing?”
I lift my head. My eyes feel gritty and heavy. She knows I haven’t been, like she knew I haven’t been eating; she didn’t even need to ask.
“I’ll be right back,” Dr. Shields says. She slips oft the stool and disappears. Her footsteps are so light I can’t tell where she is in the house.
I’m completely depleted, but it’s the kind of tired where I know I won’t be able to sleep well tonight. My brain feels thick and sludgy, but my body is jittery.
When Dr. Shields returns she is holding something, but I can’t tell what it is. She walks into the kitchen again and pulls out a drawer. I hear a faint rattle, then I