Page 26 of Meet Me in Montreal

“Yeah, we’ve got the routine down. Land, unpack, eat tons of Nonni’s dope pasta. What’s going on over there?”

Slowly, gritting her teeth into a smile, Vanessa said, “Renfield… you have betrayed me.”

“Wh-what?” Suddenly Dani didn’t sound so cheerful anymore. “What do you mean? Are you…Dracula?”

“Santino blew my shit up. Somehow, he found out about Scott and Montreal, and he paid him a little visit. Then Scott broke the whole thing off. Any idea who might have let her little lip hang loose and tell on me?”

Dani’s laugh was hearty and fake, fake, fake. “Girl, I don’t — uh-oh, Adriano is crying, gotta go.”

There was no crying in the background. None.

“Why, bro?” Vanessa exclaimed, then lowered her voice when Jace looked over at her from his office across the aisle. “Why would you tell him anything? You said you were putting that shit in the vault. Fort Knox. Fort Knox!”

“Alright, alright,” Dani said quickly. Then she gave a weak chuckle. “You see, what had happened was…”

The story was brief. Dani blamed it on the alcohol. But then she said, “Are you sure you didn’t want him to know?”

Vanessa’s eyes popped wide. “What?” she breathed indignantly.

“Are you sure you didn’t want Santino to stop you from doing something you knew would be a mistake? Like maybe you telling me while pouring shots down my throat to practically guarantee I’d talk wasn’t your backdoor way of getting Santino’s attention?”

Vanessa was stunned. “I — I— Oh, you know what? I think Idohear Adriano crying. You better go get him. I’ll talk to you later.”

Quickly, before Dani could say anything else, Vanessa pressed “end” on that conversation and slumped face-first onto her desk. Was it true? Had she mindfucked herself into this whole fiasco rather than admit she really hadn’t wanted to take things further with Scott?

Before she could examine that, a notification popped up from the app. She’d gotten her first match and a “like.” Grateful that it hadn’t taken all that long, she smiled, wiping away another tear.

It was from JazzyJeff, 28 years old. Location: Montreal, Canada. That name sounded familiar. His picture was taken from above rather than at a direct angle and it was blurry. She couldn’t be sure if his hair was light brown or dark blond. He wore a pair of shades and was throwing up a rock devil sign.

“What kind of pics are these?” The other photos were of scenery. A boat, a tree in a yard, a tropical beach scene. “Good enough, who cares. Have dick, will travel.”

She tried expanding the picture, but it only got blurrier when she did. Next, she read the short bio. “I love jazz. We will have a good time at the festival. Let’s meet up and eat lots of good French food. Mercy boocoo.”

Mercy boocoo? Was that supposed to be a joke or did a man from Montreal really not know how to — Oh God no.No. This was Santino. It had to be.

Had he totally lost his mind? Did he really think she was that stupid? The answer to both seemed like a definitive “yes.”

“You are ruining my life,asshole!” she shouted into the phone.

Jace stared at her, mouthing, “What the fuck?” She flapped her hand at him, putting her attention back on the phone. No one else batted an eye.

She was about to shut the whole app down, delete it, start from scratch somewhere else. But before she did, she had a better idea. Santino wanted to insert himself into her business and play games? Okay, time to fucking play.

Vanessa smirked and wrote: “Hey Jazzy. I’ll be up there next Saturday. Let’s meet for coffee when I arrive.”She opened up the browser to quickly search for and locate the garden café she’d had her heart set on trying out. “Meet me at Café Fleurs in Old Montreal at high noon.If things work out, I hope you’re upto FUCK because I’ve never had it good. My ex never gave me an O, not even once. Small dick, bad oral. If you think you can do the job, let’s go!”

His response: “Wow, harsh. U must be exaggerating, I bet he was much better but then I wouldn’t know just guessing. C u there.”

Her laugh was short and bitter. “Yeah, no you won’t.”

Jace came over and leaned his elbow on the cubicle wall with a concerned expression. “What’s going on? You’re…” He gestured at her snarling face and her lopsided topknot with the ends sticking out like she’d been electrocuted. “Discombobulated.”

“I have to make new arrangements for my trip to Montreal this Saturday.”

His eyes widened. “You’re still going? I thought you were gonna cancel. What about Claremore? You’re not ready for his examination,” Jace argued, trying to keep quiet. “Don’t leave us in the lurch, Watson, please.”

“I need to get the fuck outta here. Otherwise.” She hooked her fingers around an imaginary neck and choked it dramatically. “We’ve got some time to prepare after I get back. I can handle it. I’ll work on the statement while I’m there. I’ll be ready.”

He put up his palms in surrender. “Alright, alright. But the second you get back, we’re a hundred percent on this. Two hundred.”

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