Page 18 of Shadows of Obsession

"Luna, he mixed up two wedding dresses. One bride nearly took my head off when she saw she got a dress three sizes too small."

"Ouch."

My face probably says it all. I imagine you want everything to go right on your wedding day, and I know Roxy. She takes any failure very personally.

"I had to run across town to fix what he did because, guess what? He wouldn't answer his phone."

I see her huff and notice her dark circles.

Not bigger than yours, relax.

"Remind me again why we're not on a Greek island being served gyros and ouzo like tourists?" I ask jokingly to lift her spirits.

We both need some humor in our lives, and that's always been the bridge connecting us. The way we can make jokes even on the darkest days.

"Because we're idiots. We said we wanted to be independent career women. Please find me a rich Prince Charming. And make him look like Henry Cavill. I won't accept anything below this standard," she tells me, laughing.

"Hold on, let me call him and see if he's interested. Should I ask when to set the wedding?" I say, sinking into the couch beside her. "But weren't you with Stiles?" I add, slightly confused because even though my head's a mess, I'm sure she hasn't mentioned any breakup.

"Ooh, I closed that chapter. Sealed it with industrial-strength glue to keep it shut," she answers, and I know she sees my puzzled look. "He cheated. Two days before our three-month anniversary. If you can't go three months without landing in another woman's vagina, no thanks. She can keep him. Hope she gives him syphilis."

God help anyone who ends up on Roxy's bad side. I'm convinced this woman sleeps with a spell book next to her.

"Roxy, I'm sorry." Because I know that, just like for me, jokes are a way to hide when something hurts her.

Maybe she wasn't head over heels for Stiles, but Roxy puts her heart into everything she does, and if it doesn't turn out perfect, she tears herself up inside.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask, feeling guilty that she kept this to herself, even if just for a few days.

"Because I know how your last relationship went, and I didn't want to confirm that men are trash."

I look at her and see the compassion in her eyes. Because although she's crazy in many ways, my best friend has a heart as big as the North Avenue Bridge.

"But hey, single life is full of opportunities. What's meant for me will come," she tells me, and suddenly I hear my mom, who always said ‘What's meant for you is set aside,’ but looking back at everything that's happened to me, it seems the universe lost my package and then got amnesia.

I just hope that, for Roxy, the courier at least has the right phone number.

Chapter 10

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Luna

Phew, now this is opulence.Right from the entrance to the headquarters, you can tell BTech doesn't do things halfway. I feel good about choosing to wear Tiziana Terenzi Il Piacere. It's my most expensive perfume and makes me feel like I'm made of gold.Literally. Looking toward the entrance, I even see valets for the cars.

I check the WhatsApp group I have with some colleagues and notice they're all already inside. It took me longer than anticipated to get ready, considering I haven't felt the need to do this in so many months. I'm firmly convinced my foundation has expired, but hey, who checks expiration dates on these things?

I feel a shiver at the base of my neck, the same shiver I used to feel when Aidan would follow me, but when I turn my head, I don't see any suspicious figures.I'm losing it. First time out of the house and my paranoia has already kicked in.

I show my ID at the entrance, and they even scan my fingerprint and...WTF, do they want my blood type too? But the man at the entrance doesn't seem to notice my shock, so I try to move past it and head to the lobby where I see several people chatting with champagne glasses in hand.

Musical notes drift from an adjacent room, and not seeing any familiar faces, I let myself be guided by the melody until I reach a space so vast and sumptuous it could rival any royal ballroom.

I'm still admiring the chandelier, which I'm firmly convinced is gold from how it sparkles, when someone touches my shoulder and I jump as if electrocuted.Damn, I'm going to die of heart failure.

"Luna, calm down," Tim, one of my colleagues, says.

"You scared me." I try to breathe to calm my racing heart.

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