Page 85 of The Jilted Lovers Club
Leave it to Alexander to ruin one more good thing.
I go to the bathroom, then look in the mirror when I’m done, grimacing at what I see—yesterday’s makeup with black smudges under my puffy eyes, my hair all over the place, and my lips chapped from not enough water. I’m a wreck.
My phone vibrates on my bedside table, and I cross the room to see Nina’s face on my screen. I think about ignoring it. But more than anything, I need a friend.
“Hello?”
“Oh, there you are, stranger. I was getting ready to send the brigade out.” Nina’s voice is perky for the morning. I imagine she’s already had several cups of coffee, and I desperately need to catch up.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” I say, standing up to stretch. I look around the room for the coffee pot, but I’m interrupted by a knock at the door. “Hold on a sec, kay?”
I set the phone down and cross the room. Bernie is on the other side of the door, a wheeled tray in front of her. “Coffee and breakfast?” she asks, then rolls it into the room. She lifts the lid to the plate, revealing a simple meal of eggs, bacon, and toast with jam. It looks absolutely perfect.
Where was this woman weeks ago?
“Bernie, you’re a lifesaver.” I go for the coffee pot, but she waves me off so she can pour a cup for me. Then she sets everything up on a table next to the window.
“You can return the favor after breakfast,” she says as she opens the curtains.
“I’m leaving after…”
“Tut tut,” she interrupts. “You can leave later today, but we can’t do this without you. Eat your breakfast, then meet me at the front desk when you’re ready.”
“But Alexander. I don’t want to see him.”
She thinks for a moment. “You’re right, meet me at Charred. It’s closed, so just knock on the door.”
Once she’s gone, I dive for my phone on the bed. “I’m sorry about that.” I sit down at the table and rest the phone against the coffee pot while I eat.
“No worries. It really has been busy, hasn’t it? Want to Facetime?”
“Sure,” I say. “But you’re going to have to watch me eat.”
I switch the phone to video, and there’s Nina. Then her eyes widen at the same time I realize how awful I look.
“Oh man, I’m sorry. I just woke up. I was so tired last night, I didn’t even wash my face.” I glance out the window, peering down at Timeless. There’s a delivery truck outside, and I realize the watches have arrived. Alexander appears just then, emerging from the shop. I duck, even though he can’t see me.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
I straighten, feigning a laugh. “Sorry, I just thought I saw someone.”
Nina’s expression lets me know she’s not fooled. “Jordy Gallo, you’ve barely talked to me for weeks. You look like death warmed over. You told whoever was in your room that you don’t want to see Alexander, except that he’s your boss and the whole reason you’re in New York instead of here where your family is. Now you’re acting like a scared little girl. The Jordy I know faces her fears head on. She doesn’t hide behind curtains or fail to say what’s bothering her. So tell me, what’s going on? The truth.”
I let out a breath, feeling the full weight of this past week pressing on my chest. I’m without an ally. Even if Bernie is being nice by letting me stay in the hotel, I don’t have a friend here. More than anything, I need someone on my side—someone who knows all the good and bad parts of me and still loves me.
I need my family. Fuck this NDA.
“Alexander isn’t who I thought he was,” I say, sinking on to the bed against the pillows. I told her everything, starting with the decorating job and going on about the picketing, being blackballed by the whole town, then staying with the Felixes. I tell her briefly about Ashton, but it feels too sad to talk about him. I end with the party, which was sabotaged by Alexander’s bombshell.
“I’d never even heard of a corporate town before this, but it’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s going to strip this whole town of everything that makes it special, and I can’t help feeling responsible.”
“You’re not, though. Jordy, you had no idea.”
“I know.” I move the eggs around on my plate. They’ve already grown cold, but I keep taking occasional bites, knowing they came from someone’s farm here in town.
“Where are you, exactly?” she asks.
I swallow a bit more egg, then wrinkle my nose. “Uh, Lahoma Springs?”
