Page 83 of Absolute Certainty
“Text her and tell her to meet in front of the coffee shop instead. We can walk with her,” Jay said. “And hit send,” he punctuated.
Alex looked down at her phone, and then up again, pointing to a woman walking toward them. “We can just tell her ourselves,” she noted.
Sahar glanced at the blonde woman as she stepped toward them.Oh.Alex was a carbon copy of her mum, except with darker hair. A low wave of anxiety crashed over Sahar, small yet obvious, nevertheless. She’d briefly met Martin’s mum at the opening night ofHatchard’s Academy,but outside of a quick hello, she hadn’t bothered to actually speak to her during the rest of the night, even as Sahar made the effort. His dad had been sick at home, so Sahar had brushed off Mrs. Tucker’s indifference, thinking maybe she would’ve preferred to have been there with her husband instead.
Looking up at Jay, he had his eyes tethered on hers, a glimmer resting at the center of his gaze.
She smiled at the woman who was now hugging her daughter.
As his mum turned to face them, Jay’s arm hovered over her back. “Mom, this is our friend Sahar,” he introduced.
Sahar extended her right hand forward, and the older woman did the same. “Hi, it’s so very nice to meet you!”
Joy spread across her face, and something about the look in her eyes reminded her of her own mother’s warmth. Of Alex’s kindness on the first day they met. “Lovely to meet you, Sahar.”
“I’m an idiot. I completely forgot that I made two different plans,” Alex interjected.
Their mother rolled her eyes fondly. “In that case, where were you all off to?”
“There’s a Spanish place nearby we can go to,” Jay said.
Nodding, she gestured for them to lead the way.
They satat a small booth nestled toward the back of the restaurant, surrounded by red brick walls and cushy leather seating. Jay sat across from Sahar and next to his mum, while Alex was beside Sahar. After ordering and some small talk about Alex’s inability to text properly, their mother, whom Sahar learned was named Elena, mentioned that she’d worked with the director ofMidnights at Pemberleyback when they were younger and she was on Broadway.
“Oh, that’s wicked. I can’t believe you know Jeff. He’s my favorite director I’ve had so far.”
Jay’s mum smiled, but the heartbreak in her eyes was unmistakable. Sahar hadn’t known the full extent of her story apart from what she had just told her, so it felt far too private to ask why she’d left the industry behind. Still, she wondered if it was tied to her ex-husband. “Yeah, he and Greta have been inseparable since they first met at Juilliard. Everyone knew they’d make it big. Andtogether,” she underscored.
“They really are a dream to work with,” Sahar agreed.
Alex popped a fried chicken croquette into her mouth from beside Sahar. “Better than the deadbeats running my show,” she bit out.
“Alexandra,” their mother chided.
“You hate them, too.”
“Yes, but we’re in public.”
Jay let out a low grunt.
“I didn’t say it loud enough for anyone to hear,” Alex rebutted.
Smiling, Sahar looked back at the older woman, changing the subject. “So, I have to know: which of them was the bigger troublemaker?” she joked.
Elena laughed, taking a sip of her lemonade. “That little menace sitting next to you. She had so much energy as a kid. I never knew what to do with her.”
Sahar held out her hand to Alex in a high-five gesture. “So was I, apparently.”
“She once brought home a box of stray kittens from God knows where and insisted that we name them all Alex,” Jay added.
Chewing on her paella, Alex mumbled, “Don’t pretend you didn’t get sad when we couldn’t keep them.”
“Sure, but I didn’t want to name them all Alex.”
“That’s because you suck at naming things. We can all thank Maya that Eloise is an adorable name.”
Sahar nudged his foot underneath the table, catching his attention. “So you weren’t being humble about being bad at names and titles.”
