Page 82 of The One I Need
The table falls silent. No one even moves after an order of waffles that I didn’t order magically appears from our waitress.
“No one? No one’s going to say anything? Simon, you have to want to say something.”
“I do,” he says, but he turns his gaze to Shane. “Can we please go back to the part of the conversation when you lied about when you talked to Amelia and why you stuttered and sounded like you got caught doing something you shouldn’t have done?”
I laugh as I sit back and enjoy not being in the spotlight for the first time in a few months.
“I misspoke, is that a fucking crime?”
“I don’t know, Officer Cunningham, is it a crime?”
Wes and I try to keep our laughs to ourselves, but fail miserably.
“I hate every one of you assholes,” Shane says as he stands up and storms out of Mona’s.
Simon watches him leave before turning back to us. “Was it something I said?”
Chapter28
Izzy
Oliver: What do you feel like for dinner tonight?
Izzy: Hmm…maybe Mexican? I could go for some queso.
Oliver: That will work. Maybe a few margaritas to go with it?
Izzy: No. Never again.
Oliver: Oh come on, what’s the harm? We can’t get more married.
Izzy: Let’s just play it safe…
“Look at our girl,Jules. Who knew she could smile like that?”
“I know, Hazel. It’s like every day is filled with rainbows and sunshine in this office.”
I put down my phone and shoot a look at my two supposed friends. “Very funny.”
“We’re just making an observation,” Hazel says as she and Jules take a seat in my office. “We like to call this The Oliver Effect.”
“The Oliver Effect?”
“Yes,” Jules says. “Since Oliver came into your life, you’ve become more…pleasant.”
“Pleasant?” I wasn’t expecting that word to be used. “Are you saying I wasn’t before?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying…it’s just…”
Hazel holds up her hand. “What Jules is trying to say is that there were times when everyone in this office was mildly terrified of you. But since Oliver came into your life, those times are…well…gone.”
“Interesting. I didn’t realize that.”
“Which part?”
“All, I guess,” I say. “I mean, I knew I could be a little standoffish at times. But I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“We’re exaggerating…slightly,” Hazel says with a smile. “But in all seriousness, I hope that when you two get divorced he stays around. Because he’s good for you.”
