Page 16 of Desirous

Yeah, I know. The girl he cheated on me with. The girl who was so desirable that he felt he needed to throw away a year-long relationship with me to be with her. That girl.

Every fiber of my being feels even worse than when Diedre told me I’d been demoted to salads and lost two dollars an hour of my salary, but I don’t want Heidi to know that. So I smile and shrug like nothing about what Rafe and that girl do interests me.

“Well, let’s hope they’re happy,” I manage to get out and sound almost sincere.

Heidi waits a moment to say anything, probably studying me to see if I’m actually okay with my ex-boyfriend marrying the one person in this world who hurts me the most. “Good, I’m glad you aren’t feeling bad about that. He’s a real shit, Kat. I always thought so, but when he screwed you over like that, I knew I was right about him all along. Let the two of them go off and be whatever they are together.”

“Exactly! I need to get into the kitchen. Boss lady is on me hard already, and I’m barely back an hour.”

Heidi, all too familiar with how rotten Deidre is since she’s never been kind to a single server in all the time I’ve worked here, nods. “Don’t let her get to you either.”

“I’m going to grab a breath of fresh air and then it’s back to the salt mine. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

I don’t give her a chance to reply before I hurry out of the ladies’ room toward the back door to get that air. My lungs feel like someone’s stomping on them wearing work boots, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep standing if I don’t take a few deep breaths.

Thankfully, no one is outside, so I’m alone. I tilt my head back and inhale deeply as I silently ask the question that’s been on my mind for days. “God, I can’t catch a break, can I? Just one?”

The blue sky above doesn’t give me any answers, so I take another deep breath and turn to head into the building. Just then, my phone vibrates. It’s probably another message from Alex. He sent me two already today.

I shouldn’t read any more of them because they keep saying the same thing over and over, but right now, I can’t help but feel happy to hear from him. I haven’t forgiven him, but my white-hot anger has abated enough that I don’t hate him anymore.

Sliding my phone out of my pants pocket, I open my messages and see it’s not from Alex but Emma. That’s okay too.She was the person I liked the most on the show, other than him, so maybe she wants to tell me she misses me. That would be thoughtful of her.

My eyes glide over the words as a feeling of utter dread fills me. Yes, she misses me, but she says she’s making sure to keep an eye on Alex since they’ve been partnered together by Maria and Shane in a romantic storyline.

And to make things even worse, they’re going out tomorrow on a date for the show.

Those words echo in my head as my brain puts them on repeat. A date for the show. Alex and Emma are going out on a date for the show.

So much for God cutting me a break.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Alex

After a day filledwith bullshit I’m not even sure I want to deal with anymore for a chance at that million bucks, I sit on my balcony with a cold beer. I close my eyes as that first refreshing sip washes over my tongue and try to push away the day from my memory.

A few minutes of pure relaxation go by and I have to check my phone to see if Kat messaged me back. Nothing. She still hates me.

While I read over all the messages I’ve sent her, I’m interrupted by a phone call from a number I recognize as Maria’s. Great. She and Shane probably want to chastise me for not being lovey-dovey enough with Emma after they talked to me the first time. Why I don’t know. I smiled more. Hell, I even fed her some of the chocolate soufflé like she suggested because it would look convincing for the cameras. What do they want me to do? Throw her down on the countertop and do her right there in front of all of them?

I barely get a hello out when Maria breathlessly launches into what she wants to talk about. “Hi, Alex! This is so exciting! First of all, you don’t have to come to the studio tomorrow. We have something even better planned for you. How does an off-sight event sound to you?”

Truthfully, it sounds terrible, but I pretend like her excitement is contagious and say, “Sounds great! What is it?”

“Well, Shane and I talked, and we thought you and Emma might be struggling a bit with your romantic storyline because of where you were today, so we’re sending you out on a date! How cool is that?”

Not cool at all. Now I have to pretend to like this woman in a public setting? People are going to think we’re really a couple, and God forbid Kat sees this if she watches the show.

“We’ll send over a limo to pick you up and then you can pick her up before heading to the restaurant. We’re so excited about this! I think it’s going to be wonderful, so sleep in tomorrow morning and be ready for tomorrow night!”

“Sounds good. I’m assuming there will be cameras for this date, right?”

“Of course. It is a reality show, after all. So be ready. Have a great time! I can’t wait to see the footage Randy shoots. It’s going to be such a great part of the first episode, Alex. Night!”

She ends the call, and I take a gulp of beer, no longer satisfied with simply enjoying the taste. Now I want to get drunk off my ass so I can forget this is my life.

At least I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. That’s about the only good side I can find to this entire thing. Maybe Cade and I can go out on the boat before he has to go into work.

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