Page 23 of Love Me

Chapter 13

Despite my protests, Owen insisted on taking me out to celebrate my showing and the new job. The only problem was that I didn’t get out of work until nearly midnight. A bouquet of roses and a note in black ink on a white card was delivered to the gallery:

we yield and we surrender

when it comes to Love.

—O.L.

I called him, blushing. “What did I tell you about roses?” I said.

“I couldn’t send the note by itself,” he laughed. “I bought tickets to Twenty-One to Terrible for tonight.”

“Misty’s show?” I asked. “The opening night?”

“I’m sure your employer won’t mind if you take the night off,” he said. “You were feeling unwell this morning.” I mean, that was every morning lately. I could hear the faux concern in his voice. I knew what he was getting at.

“Terribly unwell,” I said.

The play was hilarious, and the costumes were as gorgeous as I expected from Misty. She had helped with everything, from the set design and writing, to cleaning the toilets after everyone had left. We found her in the lobby afterward with a smile on her face and a bouquet in her hand.

“That was amazing,” I said.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” she said, squeezing me in a hug. “I wish Clay could’ve seen it in person.” A light sparked in her eyes. “Hey, Owen, can I borrow your driver in a few weeks? I need to pick Clay up from the airport and—”

“Of course,” he said.

Misty mouthed her thanks, and I nodded at the flowers. “Clay?” I asked. Her beaming smile answered the question without any words.

“He had a stagehand Skype the entire show. I don’t know how he pulled that off, but—” she sighed, “at least he’ll be here in a few weeks.” Misty saw someone and shouted, “Holy crap, Cocheta! I can’t believe you made it!”

We turned, and there was a woman with dark hair, tattoos on her arms and neck, wearing a halter top and jeans. It took me a minute to realize it was Coco. Coco was smiling until she saw me. Then she wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Misty,” Coco said, hugging her. “That was badass.”

“Oh, you know how it is. Remember how hard we worked in drama?”

“Do I ever,” Coco said.

“I’m so glad you made it,” Misty said. “It’s like the old days.” Misty’s eyes glanced over to me. “We know each other from high school,” she said. She recognized something in my eyes, then looked back to Coco. “You two know each other?”

“Sort of,” I said.

Coco shrugged. “I gotta get to work. See you around, Misty. Keep it up,” she said.

I watched her walk away, feeling angry, though I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was because she had refused to acknowledge me, and we happened to have more in common than we originally thought. Owen watched her leave too.

“You know her too?” Misty asked Owen.

“She looks familiar,” he said. “But everyone in New York looks like someone you know from somewhere else.”

That told me that at the very least, Owen’s relationship with Coco had been a fling, something truly insignificant. I had a hard time believing that their escapades would escalate to a risky play, like choking, when Owen didn’t even recognize her.

“You don’t know her?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I know a lot of people,” he said.

I decided to let it go for now. I wanted to hold onto the good mood from seeing such a humorous play. There wasn’t any reason to press those matters right now.

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