Page 56 of A Constant Reminder

Chapter 35 – Sam

Tyler’s whole body seemed to go rigid as he noticed someone walking toward us.

No fucking way.

Marisol.

I wondered if Tyler had seen her before he made his last statement, but the look on his face showed he was just as surprised as I was.

She walked over to us in a tight red dress and that million-dollar smile of hers.

“Tyler! Sam!” She said each of our names before giving each of us a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, Mer,” Tyler said trying his best to hide the annoyance in his tone. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Always,” she smiled. “But I had some late meetings and actually just got here, so I missed dinner. Just stopping by to make a quick appearance and give my donation.”

“We were actually just about to head out,” he said as I shot him a confused look.

“Well, you both look lovely. It was good seeing you again.”

I watched her walk away and head toward the ladies’ room. Tyler was no longer paying a lick of attention to the Hispanic bombshell, but I wanted a quick word with her, so I too excused myself to the restroom.

When I got done doing my business, I stepped to the sink to wash my hands, and Marisol was there touching up her lipstick.

Washing my hands, I was apparently staring at because she put the tiny tube away and leaned her back against the sink crossing her arms.

“Sam, are you okay? You look like you want to ask me something.”

Grabbing a paper towel to dry my hands, I sighed. “Okay, I know you and I are complete opposites, and maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here, but how do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Do this whole thing…” I gestured around me. “The fancy parties with everyone staring at you, and every girl staring at him.”

She let out a small laugh. “Oh yes, Tyler is extremely attractive and attracts a great deal of attention.”

“Yeah, no shit.” The statement came out much blunter than I intended, but she didn’t seem phased by it.

“Here’s the thing, Sam…girls are always going to stare at Tyler, but the thing I noticed tonight is that he didn’t notice a single one of them because he was too busy looking at you. You can’t worry about anyone else. This world of ours is full of rich assholes, but he’s not one of them. Ignore all the bullshit and just live your lives.”

If only I could tell someone that we couldn’t begin to live our lives until James was out of the picture. But I wouldn’t bring anyone else into our mess. My mess.

She went to walk out the door. “Take care of him.”

Before she swung the door back, I said, “Why’d you do it? Why’d you give him up?”

Her smile showed a deep sadness. “Because I am one of those rich assholes.”

And with that, she glided out the door. Although I wasn’t Marisol’s biggest fan due to her history with the man I loved, I appreciated her always treating me with kindness.

When I exited the restroom, Tyler startled me by standing right outside the door.

He raised his eyebrows at me. “Have a nice chat?”

My cheeks burned bright red. “Yes,” was all I could manage to say.

He didn’t press the issue, but I knew he’d bring it up later when we were alone.

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