Emily looked at me.
I looked at her.
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked Emily.
She didn’t answer.
Miranda did.
“She’s sure of it,” Miranda said. “It gives you both something to do. Have fun at it. That way I get to go to this conference. I get to see what jobs are possibly out there. And I get to have my dream wedding without the work. No offense to you two.”
“None taken,” I said.
“Oh, and another thing,” Miranda said to Emily. “Do this and forget about that stuff we talked about. The papers? The extra money? I’ll cover it for you. I should have never brought it up.”
“Uh… right…”
“So what do you think?” Miranda asked.
“I think you two should keep talking,” Emily said. “Alone. I don’t want to be in the way. I think it’s… yeah, it’s a good idea… but you two need to make sure of it all…”
“Okay,” Miranda said. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for something to eat?”
“No,” Emily said. “Liam’s had a rough day. You two need to talk.”
“You had a rough day?” Miranda asked me.
“Work,” I said. “Let me walk Emily to the door and then we’ll talk…”
Miranda’s phone started to ring.
She took the call and walked out of the kitchen.
I looked at Emily, she had already got up and was walking to the door.
I hurried after her and got to the door first.
I opened it slowly. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what she’s thinking right now.”
“She always had crazy ideas,” Emily said. “You two should talk about it.”
“We will. I had no idea that was coming.”
“It’s okay,” Emily said. “I’m used to it.”
She smiled. For a quick second.
Emily was halfway down the hallway when I stepped out of the apartment.
“Hey,” I called out.
Emily looked back.
“Steve wanted to hook up with Meghan,” I said, finishing my story from earlier. “So he wanted to build a fire and tell ghost stories. So he could scare her then comfort her. I told him he was building the first too close to the tent. That’s how the tent caught on fire.”
Emily shook her head. “All that for nothing.”
“You know what a guy will do to get the attention of someone he likes.”
“Have a good night, Liam,” Emily said.
“You too…”
She disappeared and I stood there for a few seconds.
I felt like everything around me was going up in flames.
Chapter Twelve
Emily
The whole ride back to my apartment, I stared out the window.
My nerves were jittery. I was so unsettled. I couldn’t stop picturing Miranda and Liam standing there, gently arguing, talking about their wedding, only to have me pulled right into the mix of it all.
Which I did not need. I did not ask to be part of it.
Watching Miranda and Liam get closer was one thing. Even when they got engaged… that was a whole other thing to hear about.
I was never sure if it was actually real or not.
Then to hear that Liam had been handling most of the wedding plans…
The car came to a stop.
I climbed out without saying thanks or goodbye.
Not that it was a requirement, I felt guilty as I slammed the door and the car sped away.
I wandered into the building and up to my apartment, alone, my head kind of spinning.
What the hell did Miranda want me to do? Stand in for her and pretend to be Liam’s fiancée? And do what? She’s the one going to Boston. She’s bailing, right?
Well, no, she’s going to a conference and then she’s going to network. That’s what her dream is.
But why even mention the wedding plans then? Does it mean that much to Liam? Why does it mean that much to him? If she’s not involved…
None of those questions or their answers were my business.
I didn’t make it ten steps into the apartment before I turned around and left.
I stopped at Miss Crabapple’s apartment to see if she wanted to go up on the roof for a little bit.
Since that was her only adventure left in life, she wasted no time in grabbing a light jacket and joining me in the hallway.
“You look sad, Emily,” she said to me.
“Ever have a day where nothing bad happens, yet it feels like it did?” I asked.
“Sure. We all have those days.”
“That’s today for me.”
“Can I tell you something you won’t want to hear?” Miss Crabapple asked.
“Of course.”
“What you just said… was a total lie.”
“What?”
“If you feel like you’re having a bad day, it’s because you are. Because something is eating at you.”
I opened my mouth to respond but knew better.
Cancer or not, Miss Crabapple was smart and fierce.
“Right now I just want to look at the stars,” I said.
Miss Crabapple gently elbowed me. “And think about some guy that broke your heart?”
“No,” I said.
She winked at me.
I was such a bad liar.
When we got up on the roof, I saw Buzzy near the edge of the building, hugging herself, crying.
I looked at Miss Crabapple and she nodded to me.
It meant to let her stay in place and I needed to go get Buzzy.
I touched Buzzy’s shoulder and she let out a scream.
“Buzzy,” I said. “It’s just me. What’s wrong?”
Buzzy turned and hugged me.
She all but collapsed into me.
I looked at Miss Crabapple and she was slowly starting to sit down.
My fingers caressed Buzzy’s soft hair. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay.”
Buzzy looked up at me. “Oliver said I’m fat.”
“He what?”
“What was that?” Miss Crabapple yelled.
“Come on,” I said. “Come sit down and talk.”
I took Buzzy by the hand, walked her to a chair and made her sit down.
She pulled the sleeves of her long shirt over her hands and wiped her eyes.
“Tell me this story,” Miss Crabapple said in an angry voice.
“Let her talk,” I said.
“I don’t know what to say,” Buzzy said. “I thought Oliver and I were getting close. You know? We were texting a lot. He asked to come over and I said I didn’t feel comfortable about it. Not with my mother being gone. And I just… I don’t know. I don’t think I want to be alone with a boy.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “That’s your decision to make.”
“I guess Oliver got mad,” Buzzy said. “He told everyone that I was too fat to hug. And he would never kiss me. Or do more. Because I was too… big…”
I saw her teeth chattering as she fought back the urge to cry.
“Oh, that little shit stain,” Miss Crabapple said. “You take me to his house right now and I’ll beat him with my cane. Emily, go get my cane. I swore I’d never walk with it, but that damn thing can smarten him up.”