“What does it say?”
“Lying scumbag.” A chorus of gasps erupted all around. “The thing is, I looked at the database, and it was written by the same woman who wrote the first review. So I’m not sure if I should even believe it.”
“Why shouldn’t you believe it?” Lia’s question sounded suspiciously like an accusation.
“Don’t you think it’s strange that the same person posted two different reviews?”
“No. Not if she was hurt and wanted to warn other women about his despicable behavior.”
I shook my head, more confused than ever. “I’m just not sure.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please.”
Man, Lia was really fired up. Tequila and heartbreak were a dangerous combination. I looked to Whit and Dani for backup, but they were suddenly regarding the ceiling as if there was a Michelangelo fresco up there.
“If you’re really that unsure,” Lia continued, “why don’t you just ask him about it?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” Anger burned in her eyes.
“I told you—it would be too weird.”
“So, you have all this information that he doesn’t know about, all these suspicions and doubts, and you’re just gonna keep them a secret?”
That was exactly what I’d planned to do. But hearing Lia articulate it like that made me think twice about whether it was such a good idea.
“Forget it,” she said, pouring herself another shot of tequila and guzzling it down. “It doesn’t really matter what you do. Your relationship’s doomed either way.”
Dani squeezed my thigh, an unspoken message: Let it go.
But I couldn’t let it go. “What do you mean by that?”
“Have you told him you run JerkAlert yet?”
Ashamed, I muttered, “No.”
“So, how do you expect him to be honest with you if you’re not being honest with him?”
“It’s completely different.” Even as I said the words, I knew my argument was flimsy. “No one can know I run JerkAlert. It’s the whole secret marketing plan, remember?”
“Okay. Fine. But eventually the cat’s gonna get out of the bag. And if these reviews turn out to be phony, do you really think he’ll want to stay in a relationship with someone who knowingly allowed people to trash him on the internet?”
A fierce pressure began to build throughout my body. My eyes stung, my throat tensed, my heart clenched. Because I knew everything Lia said was true.
In an instant, I was on my feet. “I should get going.”
“You just got here,” Dani said.
“It’s laundry day. I’m down to my last pair of underwear.” It wasn’t laundry day, and I had at least three more clean pairs of panties in my dresser drawer. But I couldn’t stay here when Lia was obviously so upset with me. I felt bad for everything she was going through with Jay, but that didn’t mean I was willing to be her punching bag. Patting her on the back, I said, “If you need anything, just call me.”
She nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Thanks.”
Whit walked me out. In the hallway, she said, “Don’t listen to her. She’s a train wreck right now because of that asshole. Who, by the way, I hated from the very beginning. And it is taking every ounce of my strength not to scream, ‘I told you so.’ But I won’t, of course, because I’m a great friend.”
“What if it’s true?” I asked.
“What if what’s true?”
“All that stuff about Alex on JerkAlert.”
“Honestly? I can’t see it. He really seems like a stand-up guy.”
I nodded, feeling relieved. Whit had killer instincts. If she thought Alex could be trusted, she was probably right.
“That being said,” she continued, “you can never know everything there is to know about someone. And even if you did, there’s still a chance you’ll get your heart broken. Dating is always a risk, no matter how much you know about a person beforehand. Sometimes, you just have to cross your fingers and hope everything works out.”
“Wow. That was profound, Whit. For someone who shuns relationships, you know a lot about the way they work.”
“I shun relationships because I know a lot about the way they work. I do not have the patience for that bullshit.” She squeezed my shoulder. “Anyway, don’t let Lia make you feel bad about anything. Especially not about JerkAlert. You’re doing good work with that site. And there’s so much excitement building about it. I’ve been working a couple of my contacts, trying to score this amazing opportunity I heard about.”
“Really? What is it?”
“I don’t wanna jinx it. But if I manage to pull it off, you’ll never have to work another day at your shitty job.”
That was the best news I’d heard all day. Possibly all week.
With a hug and a kiss, Whit and I said our goodbyes. As I walked toward the subway, I lost myself in daydreams, speculating about this “amazing opportunity.” Maybe there was an angel investor with deep pockets who wanted to sink some cash into JerkAlert. Or maybe the lead engineer at some tech company was impressed by my coding skills and wanted to offer me a high-paying job.
The whole way home, I was so preoccupied with my own fantasies that I didn’t bother to look at my phone. It wasn’t until I’d arrived back home that I pulled it from my purse to find a message waiting for me from Alex.
Got pulled into meetings all day but wanted to see how you were doing. Everything OK after that thing with Bob?
I forgot Alex had witnessed me getting pulled into Bob’s office. That was embarrassing enough without having to tell him the whole story of what went down behind closed doors.
MEL:
Totally fine. It was just a misunderstanding.
ALEX:
Cool.
ALEX:
You free to talk?
Ugh. I’d had enough talking for one day. I knew what he wanted to talk about, too: he wanted to pick up where we’d left off earlier, when I’d called him out on his Rico Suave act with Greg. I was in no mood to deal with this right now.
I typed two letters—N-O—but hesitated before hitting Send. There was no avoiding this conversation; we’d have to have it sooner or later. And I’d rather have it in private, on the phone, than in my cubicle, surrounded by a bunch of eavesdropping Hatchlings. So I deleted my response and tapped the call button.