Page 71 of Mr. Wrong Number

Dammit. I agreed wholeheartedly, but it was wrong for me to see that when it wasn’t intended for my eyes. I responded with:Wow.

Olivia:Right? I mean, it was going nowhere and we’d already agreed that it’d never happen again, butsleeping with him was like the MOST fun. That is, until I woke up to the worst morning of my life.

I couldn’t stop myself. I texted:How do you know he’s the one who told?

Olivia:No one else knew.

Me:You sure?

Olivia:Absolutely. And he’s totally the dickhead type to ruin me for fun.

I sent one more text before turning off the lamp and going to bed, frustrated that I couldn’t do anything to help the absurd situation.

Me:Well at least the sex was good.

15

Olivia

“Honey, slow down on the pancakes.”

I rolled my eyes while chewing with an overfilled mouth.

My mother said, “Don’t roll your eyes at me. You’re twenty-five years old, for the love of God.”

I breathed in through my nose and looked across the table at Dana, who looked like she was trying not to laugh. I’d joined the whole family for Sunday breakfast at IHOP, and though the pancakes were delicious, the company was working on my last nerve.

The minute I’d walked in, my mother said, “Did you really get fired already?”

It’d been a week since it all went down, so I supposed I should thank my lucky stars that she’d given methatmuch time. The hostess eyeballed me like I was a loser while I explained tomy mother the “misunderstanding” that had transpired between me and my former employer.

To which she’d responded with, “Youhadto have known they thought you were a parent if they hired you to be a parenting columnist. Come on.”

My mom was a lot of things, but stupid she was not.

I sat at the other end of the table, by Dana and Will, hoping she’d move on, but my mother just yelled questions louder in my direction. “So how are you going to afford your fancy new apartment?”

As if that weren’t crappy enough, Kyle and Brady were at Dana’s parents’ house, so I didn’t even have my little buddies to play with.

“You guys seriously do this every Sunday?” I shook my head at my brother and his wife, in awe of their patience, and muttered, “Is it worth it? I mean, pancakes are good, but come on.”

“It’s just because you’re her favorite.” Will took a sip of his coffee and said, “You’re her baby girl, so she’s always been a little more micromanagerial with you.”

“That’s just a lie—Jack is her favorite.”

“Right?” Dana smiled and leaned her chin on her hand, clearly just enjoying a kid-free meal. “Jack can do no wrong in her eyes.”

She leaned closer over the table and said, “Are you okay, by the way? If you need any help with rent or something, I’m sure we could—”

“I’m fine.” She was the nicest, and I felt like the absolute biggest loser in the world that she thought it necessary to offermoney. “Yesterday I got a freelance job, so that’ll cover me until I find something else.”

“Congratulations!”

“What are we congratulating?” My mother, from the other end of the table, poked her nose right in it. “Did you get your job back?”

I sighed. “Since you asked me about it ten minutes ago? ’Fraid not.”

“So...?” She looked at me with an eyebrow raise.

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