Gracie said, “See you this afternoon, then, Lawrence.” Then she ended the call. “There. All sorted. Now where were we?”
“Lunch,” Kelly put in quickly.
“Yes, lunch,” Stephanie said. “Italian?”
At Buon Appetito along Madison Avenue, Alex watched as Gracie and Kelly strolled side by side into the flashy restaurant. When she was sure they wouldn’t be able to hear her, she quickly caught up with Stephanie.
“Stephanie? Can I ask you something?”
Stephanie gave her a smile. “Of course. Go ahead, sweetheart.”
“I was just curious. Well, I was kind of wondering, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Who’s Sarah?”
Stephanie paused and grabbed Alex’s hand. “You poor girl,” she began, patting Alex gently. “Jay hasn’t told you, has he?”
This didn’t sound good. Now Alex wondered if she wanted to know who Sarah was.
“Well. No, not really,” she said, going along.
“She’s no good for him. Such a slut,” Stephanie said. “He loved her so much, you know. Then she goes and hurts him, sleeping with his best friend the way she did.”
Alex shut her eyes for a moment, trying to take it all in. What was Stephanie talking about?
“Wait! Stephanie, who loved Sarah? And who did Sarah sleep with?”
Stephanie sighed. “Come on. I’m hungry,” she said, and they started walking toward the restaurant again. “It’s Jayden, of course.”
Alex came to a halt. She suddenly felt sick.
“Hey, Alex?” Stephanie stared at her. “You all right?”
Alex blinked and said in a shaky voice, “I’m fine.”
“Good. Oh, I see.”
Alex was confused. “Huh? What? What do you see?”
“You’re tired and hungry. You’re so pale just now. Come on. I don’t want you to faint. We have a lot to do this afternoon.” She led Alex into the restaurant.
They saw the maître d’ in a very neat black-and-white uniform, leading Gracie and Kelly toward a table near the window. As they were approaching the two women, Alex asked, “Was Sarah Jayden’s ex-girlfriend?”
“Yes,” came the prompt reply from Stephanie.
Alex could feel the room swirling around her. “Who was Jayden’s best friend?” she asked. She couldn’t help herself. She simply needed to know.
“Kyle Shore. Never liked him much, to be honest.”
Alex was feeling shaky as they took their seats. She grabbed for the glass of water Kelly poured for them and gulped it down. She told herself to calm down before she embarrassed herself and fainted.
“Alex, are you all right?” Kelly asked.
Alex put the empty glass down, her hands still shaking. “Where’s the restroom?”
“That way,” Kelly directed. “You don’t look too good.”
Alex saw that Kelly was staring at her intensely, as though she thought something had disturbed her emotionally. Alex knew she mustn’t let anyone know Jayden had lied to her. She swallowed. She could feel herself sweating.
“I just feel sick at the smell of food, that’s all.” She lied, and before any of them could ask her any more questions, she rushed away.
Gracie said, “Oh.”
Alex was in such a hurry she didn’t look where she was going and bumped into somebody along the corridor.
“Sorry,” she said apologetically, glancing up.
“Watch where you’re going!” the woman snapped, her hazel eyes intense on Alex, her bright-red lips twisting in obvious disgust.
Alex thought the woman was incredibly gorgeous. She had long blond hair styled elegantly like a movie star’s and a pastel-green suit that fit her perfectly, showing off her Victoria’s Secret body.
Alex wanted to get past her, but the blond woman seemed to be in no hurry to move.
“Excuse me,” she said, stepping forward.
“Ugh,” the woman gasped. “Don’t come near me.”
“Huh?” Alex was shocked and confused as to what she meant.
The blonde glared at her. “Get out of my way,” she snapped.
Alex quickly stepped to one side because the woman looked as though she were about to shove her back. Before she moved, the blonde frowned at her and shook her head. “Your manager should train you better.”
Alex was too stunned to reply.
“You know you shouldn’t treat people that way,” a male voice said from the end of the corridor.
Alex glanced to her left and saw a handsome young man there, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. The moment she met his eyes, she regretted it. His stare sent a chill down her spine. There was also a glint of something in his eyes that told Alex he was not to be trusted. He looked ruthless.
The woman flicked her blond curls over her shoulder and said, “It’s none of your business, Kyle.”
Kyle moved forward and brushed his finger against her cheek. The blonde shoved his hand away and snapped, “Don’t touch me.” She glanced over at Alex and said, “She’s your type. Low and dirty. If you don’t get to sleep with that slut Britney tonight, go for her.”
“Sarah, that’s enough,” Kyle said, his voice hard.
“Make me,” she mocked, sneering at him.
Alex thought this woman looked like an angel, but her character was like the dark lord Satan himself.
When Kyle glared at her, Sarah stood back and folded her arms across her chest in satisfaction. She turned to look at Alex and said, “Those toilets are dirty. Do your job properly.” Then she strode away, her expensive heels clip-clopping on the expensive marble floor. Kyle shook his head and followed her.
Once Alex had freshened up and felt better, she returned to her seat.
“Feeling better?” Gracie asked.
“Yes, thank you,” she replied.
As the other three women made small talk while they waited for their food, Alex was consumed with anger. She couldn’t believe Jayden had lied to her. She couldn’t believe she actually had believed him. Oh, how he tormented and teased her. Then the picture of her half-naked in front of him rushed back to her in full force. She blushed at the thought. He had seen her breasts, touched her bare skin, and kissed her. She was furious thinking about it as she stuffed down her spaghetti Bolognese.
“Alex?” Kelly’s voice echoed faintly in her head. “Are you all right?”
Alex paused. She had just realized that her plate was a mess of red sauce, meatballs, and spaghetti and that she was eating without manners. She sighed. It was all that damn Jayden’s fault. She didn’t normally behave this way.
“I’m sorry. I’m just suddenly very hungry,” she said apologetically, putting her fork down. “This is delicious.”
Gracie reached out and patted her hand. “You’ll need the energy for the long afternoon,” she said, winking at her.
Alex blinked. “Yes, that’s true,” she replied absentmindedly. She’d need all her strength to confront that lying son of a— “Don’t swear, Alex,” she murmured under her breath.
“What was that?” Stephanie asked, looking at her.
“Nothing,” Alex replied and even managed a full grin.