Page 86 of Mr. Big Mistake
“I know you do, Daddy.”
After nailing down hard and fast dates with my father on when things needed to be set in motion, I packed up my presentation. I tossed my things into the trunk of my car, then raced home to catch Roxy before she left again. I wanted to tell her the good news. I wanted to celebrate with someone. I wanted to at least have a glass of wine with her before she dashed out the door to spend time with whatever man she was entertaining that week.
“Roxy! Roxy! Roxy! Guess what!?”
I charged through the apartment door, and I found her standing in the living room with two glasses of wine in her hands.
“Did you really think Dad would say ‘no’ to you?” she asked.
I closed the door behind me. “I can’t believe it. We have release dates. In three months’ time, my fall line is going to be debuted. I can’t believe it!”
We embraced as I plucked my wine from her hand. We clinked our glasses and chugged them back before I reached for the bottle on the coffee table. We both sat down on the couch as I refilled our glasses. Then, I slid my heels off and crossed my legs.
“My God, I feel so much better,” I groaned.
Roxy patted my knee. “It’s good to finally see you smiling about something.”
I grinned. “Yeah. That Brenden thing was pretty fucked up.”
“But, I know you well enough to know you’re not out of the woods yet. Are you?”
“Do we really have to talk about this --?”
“Oh, oh, oh! Hold on. Have you told Karina yet?”
I shook my head. “No. Why?”
“She’s calling. Hold--wait. Yeah. Okay. Just--hold on. One second. Okay?”
I furrowed my brow. “Is everything all right?”
Roxy held up her finger to me. “Hey there, Karina! Let me get into the kitchen.”
I paused. “Wait, is Karina all right? Is it the baby!?”
My sister waved me off. “She’s fine, just hold on!”
I turned around and watched as my sister tucked herself into a dark corner of our small kitchen. I watched her set her glass of wine down, so I did as well. I slowly got up and tried to make my way toward her, but she scolded me with her eyes and held her hand up. Every once in awhile, though, she peeked over at me. And that’s how I knew they were talking about me.
“You’re not very good at this, you know!” I exclaimed.
Roxy quickly hung up the phone and came back into the living room.
“Okay. So, that was Karina. She and Zane want to throw you a congratulatory party tonight at the club.”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
“What?”
“Karina’s how many months pregnant? And she wants to do something at the club?”
“It’s just something low-key. You, me, her, Zane.”
“Is Brenden going to be there?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I specifically told her that he wasn’t allowed to come. And she was just fine with that.”
I paused. “Something about this feels off.”
