Page 49 of Endless Obsession

“Was it a meeting for that nonprofit you’re on the board for?” Zoe asks, and Sarah nods.

“I’ll tell you all about it in a minute. But first, I want to hear about Charlotte’s date.”

The whole table—even Jaz—is rapt as I fill them in on the details: the restaurant, the play, the second date he agreed to, the lack of a kiss at the end. Zoe frowns when I say that last, unsurprisingly a similar reaction to Jaz.

“Okay, but if a guy didn’t want to kiss me at the end of a date, I’d be worried,” she says with a frown. “Like maybe he was just into me as a friend.”

“I definitely don’t think it was that.” I bite my lip as the server brings our breakfast orders: smoked salmon eggs Benedict for me, a vegan omelet for Zoe, a ham and Swiss croissant for Sarah, and avocado toast for Jaz. “I could definitely feel that there was—something there. I think he was just being polite. Maybe he picked up on the fact that I didn’t want to take things too far on the first date.”

“You were pretty clear about that with me.” Jaz shrugs. “So maybe he did pick up on those vibes.”

“He agreed to go on an apple-picking date with me next weekend.” I can’t help but smile at the memory of that conversation. “I really didn’t think he would, but he seemed—I don’t know, kind of excited about it. Which was surprising.”

“I would not have pegged him for the kind of guy who would go apple-picking,” Jaz agrees. “So yeah, he must really like you. Even without the kiss.”

“There doesn’t have to be a kiss on the first date,” Sarah argues. “I’ve had plenty of good dates that didn’t end in a kiss. Colin didn’t kiss me until date three.”

Jaz smirks. “And how did that go?”

“Aw, that was a little low.” I give Sarah a sympathetic smile. She’s only a couple of months off from that breakup, and I know she hasn’t been out much since. Much like my relationship with Nate, she expected that one to go for the long haul.

“Well, that brings me to what I was going to ask,” Sarah says with a small laugh. “Like I was saying, I’m on a board for this nonprofit. My work has been encouraging us all to get involved with some charity work, and I picked this one—it helps fund inner-city schools. Anyway, there’s a gala for it Friday evening.”

“A gala?” Jaz looks at her curiously, and Sarah nods.

“They hold them now and then, dinners for fundraising. Seven hundred dollars a plate,” she adds, and Zoe whistles.

“I’m a trust-fund baby, and that’s too rich for even my blood,” she says with a laugh. “But some of them buy dresses for the evening from my boutique, so I can’t argue that it’s not stimulating the small-business economy,” she adds, still laughing.

“Who goes to something like that?” I ask curiously, and Sarah shrugs.

“Politicians, wealthy investors, those kind of people. Anyone important who wants to be seen doing good. Some people who do…less than savory business, too, but who need to seem aboveboard. I don’t doubt that there’s some money that gets laundered through their contributions. But I guess overall, the nonprofit sees that as a lesser evil.”

I can’t help the shocked expression on my face. I know, of course, that there are criminal operations in the city—there are in every big city. I know that there are a few that have been caught because they’ve slipped up somehow with the federal organization that Sarah works for. But I always thought of them as secret, shadowy, like creatures living underground. It never occurred to me that they might be out and about in the real world, among all of us, doing something as outwardly charitable as contributing to the betterment of city public schools.

“It happens all the time,” Sarah adds, clearly seeing the look on my face. “Anyway, I was going to ask if one of you wants to come with me as my date. I don’t have one, and I’d rather not go alone. It feels a little depressing, especially since Colin was going to go with me before the breakup.”

“I can’t,” Zoe says apologetically. “Like I said, people get dresses from Velvet Luxe for these things. I’m going to be exhausted by then. I’ll want to go home Friday night and soak in a hot bath with some trash TV, not be out chatting up the creme-de-la-creme of Chicago.”

“I have a date,” Jaz says with a grin. “With a super hot guy I matched with on Tinder last night. I love you, Sarah, but there’s no way I’m putting this off.”

“Charlotte?” Sarah gives me an entreating look, and it’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her no. The gala sounds exhausting, to be honest, and I’m not really good at parties. But I can see from the look on her face that she really, really wants one of us to go.

“Sure,” I tell her, and I can see the look of relief on her face instantly. “It’ll be a fun excuse to dress up and eat whatever constitutes a seven-hundred-dollar a plate meal,” I add with a laugh, and Sarah grins.

“It’s probably not going to be as good as what you had out with Ivan,” she cautions. “It’s definitely over-inflated. But still pretty freaking good. And you’ll have fun, I promise.”

“Are you going to come get a new dress?” Zoe asks with a smirk, and I sigh.

“I guess I’m going to have to. I probably need a long dress, right? The velvet one or the one I bought for my date with Ivan won’t work?”

“You do need an evening dress,” Sarah confirms. “A lot of people rent one if they don’t want to commit to buying.”

“Come on, come give your credit card a workout at my place,” Zoe says. “I’ll make sure you look fabulous. You’ll leave with so many numbers.”

“I’m not sure I want that,” I say with a laugh. “But okay. My credit card really is getting a workout lately, though.”

I notice, as we start to talk about dress options, that the man at the far side of the patio is packing up. I really have no reason to look at him—he’s just an eccentric patron—but something about him keeps drawing my attention. I watch him in my periphery, trying to figure out if I’ve seen him somewhere, but I can’t place anything. It’s just a feeling, and then he’s slipped out of the side gate and is gone.

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