Page 12 of Bidding War

I’ve had a lot of emergencies lately.

“Well,” I tell no one but me, “it’ll have to do.” I pour it in anyway, give it a stir, and plop down in front of the TV for some romantic movies to make me cry more and get it out of my system so I can function like an adult again. The moment the synth piano and sax-heavy opening theme of Baby Boom comes on, out come the tears.

The vodka cannot work fast enough.

Baby Boom is an old eighties rom com my mom loved, and we used to watch it around Valentine’s Day when she got mad about my dad. She joked that she should have moved to upstate New York and started a baby food company just like the heroine because I made fun of her mushy food. Mom is my favorite person, but a good cook, she is not.

I wish I could tell her what’s going on. I wish I could?—"

Someone knocks at my door. That’s weird. I haven’t ordered food. Pretty sure Anderson knows not to show up after everything I said to him. I could check the peephole, but ever since I saw a thing on the news about putting your eye up to peepholes lets bad guys know where your head is, I’ve been shouting through the door instead. “Yes?”

“It’s me, June. Open up,” Callie shouts back.

I fling the locks and throw the door open. She’s gorgeous always—long, shiny blond hair, deep brown eyes, the kind of body men lose their minds over—but tonight, she looks different. Worried. It panics me. More bad news? “What’s wrong?” I ask as I pull her in.

She laughs. “You’re asking me that?” She holds up a heavy bag from the grocery store. “I just heard about everything, honey, and I am so fucking sorry, so I wanted to bring you supplies for the night.” My heart warms, but that only makes me cry more. She comes for a hug. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

“How did you find out? Did he call you?”

She scoffs at that. “I’m not talking to him. Let me get the groceries put away, and we’ll talk.”

“Okay, you talk, I’ll drink.”

“Whatever you need.” She scoots off to the kitchen to stow whatever she bought me, and I resume my plopped position on the couch. When she joins me, there’s a bag of chips under her arm, a pint of ice cream in her hand, a cocktail in the other, and a bag of microwaved popcorn in her teeth. Somehow, she gracefully manages to sit without spilling or dropping any of that. “What’s this one?”

“Baby Boom. An old favorite.”

“I would have figured you’d be on a horror kick. It’s your favorite genre. I thought you had to have a go-to splatter fest in mind for such things.”

“Not enough horror movies show the girl going after the boy. Figured sappy rom coms will work to get the tears out.”

She nods. “Oh. Okay.”

“So, is everything alright with you? With your personal day, I?—"

She huffs and turns on her seat to face me. “Sweetie, I am so sorry for that. Daniel didn’t tell me anything at first. He said he wanted to go out on his boat for the day?—"

“I thought you looked tanner.”

She shrugs. “He didn’t say anything about you getting laid off until we got back home. Said he didn’t think it would be good for me to see it happen. God, I’m so sorry, and he is on my shit list for the next week over this. I wish I could have been there for you, June. I hate this.”

I blink at her. “Wait, what?”

“Oh my god, please tell me I didn’t just break the news about you getting laid off?—"

“No! No, no, no!

“Phew.”

I laugh and shake my head. “I mean, yeah, I’m pissed about getting laid off. It’s certainly not helping things. But I’m upset because I broke up with Anderson today.”

“Oh no.” She looks heartbroken for me, and I love her for that, but I hate it at the same time. Pity grates on me. Always has. Especially when it comes from the incredibly fortunate. On top of being conventionally pretty, Callie Brown comes from a wealthy family. The kind of wealthy family who summers in the best of New England towns. But I know her heart is in the right place, so I try not to bristle at it. “Sweetie, what happened?”

“Well, I told you about the whole kidnapping fiasco, right?”

“That you and Anderson tried to scam his dad for the money Anderson owes you?”

I nod. “He got the money in cash. Still hasn’t told me how he convinced his dad to fork it over, but I know it was something illegal. Anyway, the money was sitting in a bag on the table when we were going at it like bunnies. We had just finished when his dad walked in, said a few choice words, grabbed the money, and left.”

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