Page 18 of Loving London

I can’t help but smile back. She’s such a great friend.

I raise my now mostly empty glass and tilt it in to tap hers. “To moving on and being happy.”

Paige continues, “To realizing that we only have one life to live and to live it to the fullest.”

I start to say,Cheers, but Paige keeps talking in the never-ending toast, “To friendship and new experiences. Andc’est la vie.”

I wait hesitantly, expecting more to come.

“Cheers!” Paige clinks her glass against mine.

“Cheers!” I drink down the rest of my mango drink. Dropping my glass from my lips, I say with a tilt of my head, “Are you seriously using sayings from other languages as advice now?”

“It’s a universal saying, and at least this one applies to the situation.”

“Are you sure?” I throw Paige a smirk, the corner of my lips turning up into a grin.

“Yeah, I think so.” Paige’s eyebrows furrow in the center, like they always do when she’s deep in thought. “Doesn’t it mean, like,seize the day?”

“It means,that’s life.” I shake my head with a laugh.

“Whatever. It still applies.” She tosses a chip in her mouth. “Hey, did you call Maggie today?”

“Yeah, I did…this morning.” I raise my empty margarita glass toward the waiter who’s across the room.

With a smile, he mouths,One more?

I nod. I hardly need a second one of these bad boys, but the feeling is so much more preferable to the deep-seated misery that’s been saturating my mind as of late.

“And?” Paige asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, well…it was weird,” I admit.

“Why?”

“Well…” I think back to the awkward conversation that I had with Maggie earlier. “It wasn’t a natural talk. It felt forced.”

“Really?”

I nod. “Yeah, it’s almost like Maggie feels torn between Loïc and me, and she has more history with Loïc. Plus, you know…Cooper and Loïc were so close. So, for that fact alone, I figure, if she has to choose sides, she’ll choose Loïc. I got the feeling that she felt guilty for talking to me, like she was abusing Loïc’s trust or something.”

“Did she say anything about Loïc? Has she talked to him about you?”

“She said that she’s seen him recently, and he looks tired but okay. She said that she brought me up, but he quickly shut her down, stating that he didn’t want to talk about me. So, she didn’t bring me up again.”

“Ouch.” Paige makes a face.

“I know.” I roll my eyes. “Not good.”

“Well”—Paige lets out a large sigh—“it’s not surprising though either.”

I look down to my half-eaten burrito. “I know, but it still hurts.”

“I’m sorry.”

I frown, raising my shoulders and letting them fall. “It is what it is,” I say without conviction.

“Señorita!” Our server places another giant glass in front of me. “You look like you need this.”

---