wife was coming home early as well.
He’s not called me since. No texts, only a check deposited into my account to cover my rent, with ‘sorry’ as the reference.
It’s Saturday. I know I won’t see him tomorrow because of their family stuff, and I doubt he will come to the club. The only time I ever saw him at the club was the night we met. I am almost certain he was there on the prowl for bunnies, and I just happened to be the one he caught.
Tonight I don’t want to party. I feel like crap and I’m exhausted, but Ailee has a free pass because her husband is going to be there too and I want to catch up with her a little.
At some point I am going to have to tell her what’s going on in my life. At some point I’m going to have to admit just how much shit I am in.
The building crew has started work upstairs, so the bang and clang and incessant jackhammering all day adds to my already aching head and fatigue.
We all pile into the staffroom to get changed as soon as the last customer has been booted out the front door. Everyone is buzzing and excited for the week to officially end, except me. Something is off. Sal ignoring me isn’t helping either.
I guess his wife came home pissed off and needy. Or, he’s busy with work. He doesn’t usually shut me out like this though. Checking my phone before I change, there is still no text from him, so I slip out of my work jeans and into a miniskirt.
Fuck him.
I am the slowest one tonight, but I don’t mind. I’m going in my own car. I love having my own car. In the past I would crash at Ailee’s apartment on Saturday nights and we’d go to the diner and eat shit, greasy hangover food in the morning, but now she’s married and I’m all alone.
Shoving my work clothes into the shoulder bag that held my party gear, I slip on a pair of black heels and head out the back behind the others. I have keys to lock up now. As I am about to turn the key in the door I hear someone shouting from inside.
“Wait, I’m in here!”
It’s a man’s voice. I look behind me and see both Romi and Alistair are outside getting ready to leave, so who the fuck is inside? I’m sure all the customers are gone.
Pushing the door back open I peer inside to see who I am about to trap for the weekend, when one of the construction guys comes barreling towards me. He’s smiling when he slips out the door and stops, toe to toe with me.
“Thanks, I was just using the bathroom.”
With that he jogs down the alley to the front of the building. He has a smile that makes me smile. I haven’t smiled in a few days, so I notice it.
I lock the door and walk carefully across the uneven parking lot to my car, put my bag in the trunk and drive out a few minutes behind everyone else. My stomach growls at me and I am glad we are going to grab dinner first. I missed lunch because I had a walk-in gents cut – we have had a few of them since the barber closed down.
The restaurant is loud and filled with regulars. We have a huge table put together so we can all sit. I look over at Ailee with Rain, who pulls out her chair like a gentleman. It’s odd seeing him and not Trent. He’s this impostor in our lives, this giant lie she told.
Anger niggles in me. Her secret really hurt me. To me, we were best friends who told each other everything, well, I had told her everything.
She sits opposite me, when we used to sit next to each other so we could whisper and gossip. Now he sits beside her. The thief, he stole her from us, made her better than us, changed things. I’m bitter.
I shouldn’t be bitter, but my whole fucking life is falling apart, and hers has just turned out perfectly. We exchange a strained smile. I want to be friends, I want it to be okay, but it just isn’t.
Everyone is sitting down, engrossed in chatter and comparing weekly duster stories. Romi is next to me on one side and Alistair on the other, who is just nosy about Rain and wants