Page 107 of Love Undiscovered
Holy Shit.
Do Connie and Helen know one another?
Fuck.
Helen rises from her booth and starts walking toward us. She reaches our booth and I brace myself for the interaction.
“Connie, how lovely it is to see you! How long has it been?” Helen exclaims as she leans down to embrace Connie.
“Ohmigod, Helen! What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since Gramma Nono’s reunion dinner. How have you been?” Connie says.
“So, good,” Helen says. “Couldn’t be happier.”
I clear my throat to try and draw Helen’s attention. Because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her ignore me. She knows who the fuck I am.
“Oh, sorry Remi,” Connie says. “Helen, this is my co-worker Remi, she works in the chemical engineering department. Remi, this is my second cousin on my mom’s side, Helen.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Helen says to me, holding out her hand limply.
“We’ve met,” I say quickly grasping her hand in a firm shake, then dropping it just as fast.
“Oh?” Helen pretends to be surprised.
“At the Night Moves show? I’m dating Chance.”
“Hmmm,” Helen says, giving me the once-over with her eyes.
What a bitch.
“Hmmm,” I say.
I give her the same elevator stare back. Because, fuck this bitch.
She turns away from me abruptly, toward Connie. “So, I’ve got to get back to my friends, but it was so good to see you again, let’s not make it so long between visits this time.” Her eyes have a weird glint to them.
“Totally,” Connie says. “Let’s do happy hour or something.”
“That sounds perfect,” Helen says as she air kisses Helen’s cheeks.
She turns toward me. “Nice to meet you, Mimi.”
I narrow my eyes toward her. She knows damn well my name is Remi. But I don’t bother to correct her. Because she doesn’t matter innew Remi’slife.
Helen leaves to go back to her table. I turn to Connie, one eyebrow raised in a question.
“What are the chances?” she says a bit nervously.
“Right,” I say.
“So, that was my cousin, Helen,” Connie says, twisting her napkin around her fingers.
“I got that,” I say.
“You guys met?” Connie asks, her voice awkward and high pitched.
“Connie, she’s my boyfriend’s ex.”
“Right. Of course.” She clears her throat.
