Page 55 of Endless Obsession

“Yeah? I’m at lunch. Oh—okay. Yeah, I can come back. I’m leaving early, then. Okay. Be right there.”

She tucks her phone back into her purse, that same apologetic look still on her face. “I’m sorry,” she says, pulling out her wallet. “I have to run back to work. There’s a tech problem, and my boss is about to go into a big meeting. I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get lunch,” I add, as I see her about to put some cash on the table for her meal.

She frowns. “Are you sure? I?—”

“It’s fine,” I assure her, and she flashes me a smile before jumping up from her chair, hurrying abruptly away from the table and towards the door of the cafe.

I watch her go, a strange, tight feeling in my chest. I want to go after her, but I can’t. I feel helpless to fix a situation that I can see spiraling out of control, and that, more than anything, makes me feel more than a little unhinged.

I have a feeling that whatever happens at the gala Friday night, it’s not going to be good.

17

CHARLOTTE

I’m more excited, getting ready for the gala Friday night, than I thought I’d be.

I brought my dress over to Sarah’s apartment, and now we’re in her gorgeous pink and gold and quartz bathroom, getting ready side by side like we’re in high school again.

“This is why I can’t move in with a man,” Sarah says dramatically. “Can you imagine any guy being fine with a bathroom like this? He’d try to change my whole aesthetic, or make me move in with him to his bachelor pad. Colin complained so much every time he spent the night.”

“It’s stupid,” I assure her, and in my opinion, it is. Sarah’s apartment is a luxe feminine dream, all soft cream-colored carpets and blush textiles, with pink and white striped wallpaper accenting some of the rooms. Her bed is one of those four-poster canopy beds with gauzy fabric draped around it, like a grown-up princess, and every time I come over, I feel like I’ve entered some kind of fantasy land. It feels like her own private haven, and one of the things that made me detest Colin was how hard he tried to convince her that they should move into a more “polished” apartment of their own.

Now that I think about it, though, a lot of the dreary greys of my own apartment that I’m thinking about updating were because of Nate. He liked it, and so I never thought about what I might like instead.

“A man can pry my pink bathroom away from my cold, dead hands.” Sarah leans forward, rolling another piece of her blonde hair up in a hot roller before pinning it. She grins at me as she puts the final one in place. “I’m going to go get dressed.”

I slip into my own dress as she goes into the bathroom, leaving the back so she can zip it for me—I can’t quite reach it. My own hair is still wet, tucked up into a towel on my head, and I plug in my curling iron as I unzip my makeup bag and start on my face for the night.

An hour later, we’re both ready. Sarah looks like Cinderella in her blue gown, her blonde hair loose in thick Hollywood curls around her face, her makeup soft and flawless in delicate rose and champagne shades. I went for darker and more glamorous, curling my dark hair and pinning the front back, adding bronze eyeshadow, a cat eye, and dark brown lipstick to match the autumn tones of the dress.

“Look at us.” Sarah smiles as she looks at our reflections in the mirror, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close for a hug. “Thank you for coming,” she adds. “This will be so much more fun because you’re here.”

I squeeze her back, just as her phone buzzes, telling us that our Uber is almost here.

The gala is being held at the Natural History Museum. There’s a dark blue carpet rolled out along the steps, making it feel extra fancy, and I point it out to Sarah as we step out of the Uber. “I feel like I’m at the Oscars,” I whisper to her theatrically, and she laughs as we both walk up the stairs towards the lights at the top, where two black-suited doormen are waiting to check our invitations—or rather Sarah’s invitation, since I’m her plus one.

Inside, string music fills the cavernous main space, where tables are spaced out among the exhibits, and a podium has been set up at the far end, with tiles put down for a dance floor on one side of the room. As Sarah leads me towards our table near the front, I see a man I recognize—one of the older partners from Nate’s law firm, and my chest seizes with a sudden cramp of alarm.

“Shit,” I whisper. “I didn’t even think about the fact that Nate might be here.”

Sarah looks in the direction I’m staring, biting her lip. “I didn’t see his name on the guest list,” she murmurs. “I would have said something if I had. I knew the main partners would be here, but he’s not anywhere on?—”

“Maybe he won’t be here.” I bite my lip, sinking into the chair where a small name card with my name written in black script is tilted against a China plate.

“And if he is,” Sarah says firmly, “then he’ll just see what he’s missing out on. You, looking like this.” She waves a hand up and down in the air, gesturing at me, and I manage a small, nervous smile.

“You’re right,” I tell her, and she is. If Nate is here, he’s going to be alone, and he’s just going to see me dressed to the nines and enjoying a night out with one of my best friends. I don’t want him to see that he’s crossed my mind for even a second. I just want him to see me happy and having a good time—without him.

That’s the best revenge, right?

Still, I can’t help keeping an eye out for him as the night progresses. There’s speeches from Sarah’s boss and other members of the charity about the purpose of the dinner tonight, interspersed with the courses of the meal—which, while delicious, are probably not worth seven hundred dollars. There’s a crab bisque, and Caesar salad to start that is phenomenal, and after that, a starter of delicate lamb lollipops with red wine glaze and scallops with a lemon butter finish, followed by filet mignon with gorgonzola cheese crust and roasted potatoes. I’m more than happy to dig into the meal, enjoying every bite, and Sarah and I are deep in conversation about what I could do to renovate my apartment when I suddenly see Nate out of the corner of my eye.

For all that, I told myself I didn’t care, and that I just want him to see me enjoying my evening, the tender filet feels like it turns to cardboard in my mouth. Even more so when I see the woman on his arm, and I drop my fork next to my plate, swallowing hard.

I see Sarah follow the direction I’m looking in. Nate is in one of his Tom Ford suits, a light grey one, and an absolutely stunning woman is on his arm. She has dark auburn hair pulled back in an elegant updo, and she’s wearing a dark green silk dress that almost looks black. It’s simple to the point that it would be boring, if it didn’t cling to her so perfectly, outlining every inch of her perfect body in a way that’s alluring without being too sexy. She’s wearing diamond waterfall earrings as her only jewelry, drawing attention to her sculpted shoulders, swanlike neck, and sharp collarbones, and I stare at her until Sarah elbows me, bringing me out of my jealous haze.