hand and holding up three fingers to the waiter.
I was going to decline. But then Kia said, “Yes please! I need to let off some steam. I wasn’t in love with Owen, but I liked him—a lot. And to find out that he’s not only the type of asshole that cheats, but he’s the type to cheat on his pregnant wife. It stings, you know? It’s like… did I ever really know him? How did I miss the signs?” She let out a sigh. “Tonight turned out to be exactly what I needed. I needed to tell him to his face that he wasn’t shit. And I needed this girls’ night out to keep me from being sad about getting played.”
When I searched her face, I knew I needed to have one more shot with my girl.
“We’ll toast to Owen’s karma already coming back on him,” I declared, putting my phone away. “And his karma started the moment his wife called you. He lost you. He lost the trust of his wife. And he came here and made an ass of himself in front of all these people.”
“I hope his wife leaves him. He started the week thinking he was a big man with two women and then he ends the week with no one. The ultimate karma would be if the kid turned out not to be his because the wife had been cheating on him.” She kissed her fingertips. “Ah! Perfect!”
“Now that would be wild,” I exclaimed quietly, my eyebrows shooting up. “But Owen and his wife are in the past. Kia Knight, you are the whole package. You are the prize. And this situation doesn’t change or take away from that.”
“Tomorrow you will have another boyfriend,” Lilith proclaimed, nodding her head profusely.
I shrugged. “You really might. No one moves on faster than you do.”
Kia giggled. “I take a couple days to mourn and then I’m fine. The problem is that somehow, moments later, I’m in another relationship. But not this time, I’m going to date around and be single. I told Zola that I’m going to date like her.”
“Yeah right,” Lilith scoffed.
I pointed to her as I stared at Kia. “Clearly no one believes this but you.”
She grinned. “I’m serious! I’m going to date multiple men and just enjoy being single. I’m going to—”
Lilith gasped, tucking her newly dyed honey blonde hair behind her ear as she leaned forward. “It’ll probably be that man in the building next door,” she interjected. “He is hot, and he’s been after you for a minute.”
Kia looked at her blankly. “The one with the dead tooth?”
Lilith’s eyes widened. “What? No! The one with the beard and the little twists.”
“And the dead tooth,” my best friend reiterated. “If he’s not ready to have a funeral for his tooth, that tells me that he has issues letting go or he can’t tell when something has gone bad. Either way, that’s a red flag.”
I was barely able to hold it together as the music for the next artist thumped through the speakers. As he started to rap, our shots were delivered.
For the rest of the night, we moved to the music, rejected advances from men, and ate a ton of food. We drank more than our usual Thursday night intake. We were celebrating Kia’s newfound singleness and mourning the loss of who she thought Owen was. To the soundtrack of the unmatched talent Richland had to offer, we enjoyed our girls’ night out. Before I knew it, the night was over and we’d each taken a car service home.
That was the last thing I remembered.
Friday morning, I groaned as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
The makeup stains on my white satin pillowcase caught my attention first. I rubbed my eyes and then looked at the back of my hand. I pushed the covers off my body. I was completely naked—which wasn’t abnormal. But I never went to bed with my makeup still on my face.
Groggily, I padded across the room, tossing my lipstick and eyeliner stained pillowcase in the dirty clothes hamper in route. I flipped on the light and the moment I saw myself in the mirror in the brightly lit bathroom, I stopped in my tracks.
“The fuck happened to you?” I asked myself as I did a double take. I had to film a podcast episode and I looked like a mess.
I just stared at myself.
My caramel colored skin looked splotchy. My heavy-lidded eyes wouldn’t open wide. My long lashes