Page 247 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 7
"The only thing out of place is...that." She nodded towards the kitchen table. It was still covered with Monopoly games and the creepy black wig. I had started to clean it up, but I couldn't even. Having to do one return was bad enough, but we had gotten them from like twenty different stores. And I hated people.
"I think I'm just going to keep them," I said.
"Didn't you say they cost $1300?"
"$1314 to be precise, and that’s just the Monopoly games. Don't even ask me how much the wig was."
"I still can't figure out why we bought that thing," said Chastity. We had texted about it multiple times throughout the weekend, but neither one of us had any recollection of why we’d purchased it. I'd read the contract front to back looking for any mention of a wig. No such mention existed.
There was only one explanation. "It was probably Liz's idea."
"That makes sense. Really, how much was it?"
"Oh, only $1500."
Chastity nearly choked on a French fry. "Holy shit. Ash, you have to return everything."
I casually took a bite of my burger to appear like I didn't care. "It's not worth it." But I did care. I cared so much. Wasting money made my skin feel like it was melting off. The prospect of my fake security deposit getting returned at the end of three wishes softened the blow a bit, but it seemed too good to be true. They'd probably realize their error and refuse to pay me. Or just pay me in Monopoly money.God knows I already have enough of that.
"What if I help?"
"You'd really go with me?" That was good. Having her there would make it less awkward. If I was tricky enough, I thought I might even be able to get her to do most of the talking.
"You don't even have to come if you don't want to. I don't want to disturb your vow of reclusivity." At first I thought she was being the best friend ever, but then I noticed the twinkle of mischief in her eyes.
"What's the catch?"
She pretended to look hurt. "Why do you think there's a catch?"
"First you're eating burgers with me and it's not even your cheat day. And now you're offering to run around town returning all that crap. There's no way there's not a catch."
"That depends. Do you consider making you go out tonight a catch?"
"Definitely."
"Then I guess there is a catch."
"Forget it. I'll keep all of it. Maybe Monopoly will go out of print and they'll suddenly be worth millions on eBay."
"Oh come on. I found this awesome little speakeasy where famous actors like to hang out."
"Tempting, but no thanks."
"Why not? You have to go to work tomorrow anyway. You're just going to be more nervous than usual if you haven't reintroduced yourself into the wild yet."
"Into the wild? What am I? A zoo animal?"
"Speaking of zoo animals...what do you think the odds are that the guy at One57 will be wearing a leopard print suit tonight?"
I shook my head. "Unlikely. He never wears the same suit twice, and he wore leopard print five Thursdays ago."
"Okay, stalker."
"What? I was kidding." I laughed awkwardly. "I don't remember his suits."Besides, he’s the stalker, not me.And having a good memory didn’t make me a criminal.
"Sure you don't. Well, either way. I bet he's going to look super hot. Oh no, and you’re staying here so you can’t see him. Do you want me to try to take a selfie with him so you can see?"
Damn it, damn it, damn it!Why had I ever told her about my stalker? I should have known she would use it against me. At least I didn’t actually tell her that I thought he was stalking me. She never would have believed it, even though it was 100% true. "Okay, here's the deal. You return all that shit we bought, and I'll go to spin class tonight, no speakeasy though."
