Page 63 of The Close-Up
He huffs out a frustrated sigh. “Yeah.”
“Does she do the same kinds of things with them like you do with Gretchen? Does she go out to dinner with them regularly and text them at all hours of the day and night? Does she wear their clothes?”
Derek swallows. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know if your fiancée wears another man’s clothes?”
He glares at me. “I don’t think so.”
“Would you like that? If she started hanging out with, oh. I don’t know. Let’s say Simon.” I point to him. “If you knew that Simon was sending your fiancée flirty texts in the middle of the night, if you knew that Simon was taking her out to dinner—if you knew that she was going about her day, going to work, walking around in your house, spending time with you while wearing Simon’s clothes. If you had to witness day after day as Simon employed all these low-key plays for your fiancée, how would that make you feel?”
“Um well, I guess I would...” Derek’s face twists, like he’s just swallowed something rancid. “That’s different.”
“Is it?” The rapid-fire rhythm of my questions and comments seems to catch him off guard. “Why is that different? Is it becauseyou’rethe one having your feelings hurt in that scenario?”
When he says nothing, I keep going. “Or is it because it’s okay for you to disregard and disrespect your fiancée’s feelings, but it’s not okay for her to do the same to you? Because if that’s the case, Derek, I have to tell you, that is all sorts of screwed up.”
Again he gives me nothing in response.
“Here’s the thing. In addition to this crappy double standard you’re employing in your relationship, your best friend is part of it too. Yeah, Gretchen may be your buddy and workmate and whatever else, but if she’s being as flirty as Holly says she is, she’s undermining your relationship with your fiancée. And she knows it.”
Murmurs echo around me.
“Now, you say that nothing has ever happened between you two. I’m going to assume you’re not lying, so I’ll take your word for it. But if nothing has truly happened between you two, then Gretchen has been carrying a torch for you for years, it sounds like. She likes you, Derek. She likes hanging out with you, flirting with you, getting any bit of time you care to toss her way. Because she has a crush on you and is hoping that someday, you’ll come to your senses and finally ask her out. And it sounds like you’re either utterly clueless to it—and if that’s the case, start forcing yourself to pay attention to the world around you because, my god, there is nothing more annoying than a grown man who has no awareness for himself or the world around him.”
I raise my hand, pointing a finger to the air. “Or—and this is what my money’s on—it sounds like you’re the kind of guy who likes keeping a flirty female friend around for the ego boost. Every time Gretchen texts you or compliments you or goes out of her way to hang out with you, it’s a pathetic little bump to your ego. It’s so obvious. And I can guarantee your fiancée sees it too. And I can also guarantee that it kills her to see the man she loves disrespect her in this way.”
When I finish speaking, I realize just how fast my heart is beating. I have to remind myself to breathe so I don’t start panting.
There’s a low whistle in the back. Someone in the front few rows says, “She’s good.”
Derek’s expression is dazed mixed with embarrassment. Either he truly didn’t realize any of this or he didn’t think I would call him out in such a public way. Little did he know.
“And you know what? If your fiancée were here right now, I’d tell her to break up with you. Yeah, that’s probably not what Simon would advise because he’s a therapist and would likely recommend that you two at least consider counseling. And you should probably go to individual counseling too to figure out the root cause of why you keep engaging in behavior that hurts your fiancée’s feelings even though she’s asked you multiple times not to. But I honestly think she’s put up with enough. She deserves better.”
Nothing but silence meets my final words. With the adrenaline still pumping through me, I spin back around to my position in the corner, avoiding eye contact with everyone around me. I probably took it too far. But screw it. I’ve reached my limit when it comes to dealing with obnoxious behavior from men, no matter how oblivious or well-meaning. I’ve had to deal with Simon’s overprotective alpha bodyguard act from the other week. I’ve had to deal with Landon’s days-long radio silence. And I’ve had to listen to Derek act like it’s no big deal that he openly and knowingly hurts his fiancée’s feelings. I’m officially done.
Just then there’s applause. I jerk my head up and see everyone clapping around me. I’m in shock as I take it all in. I catch Derek lowering back into his seat, a contrite look on his face.
The applause dies down, and Simon speaks. “Did you catch all that, Derek?”
His only response is silent nodding.
Simon turns back to me. “Thank you for that insight, Naomi. It was eye-opening to say the least.”
I offer a flustered smile as a guy in construction gear sitting in the row in front of me twists around to offer me a thumbs-up.
“That was badass,” construction guy says.
“Thanks,” I say softly, still thoroughly flustered at the positive reaction I just received from everyone in the room.
“You two should do a seminar together. You’d make a killing.”
I let out a soft chuckle. “Maybe someday.”
“Gotta say. That footage of you ripping Derek a new asshole? That was otherworldly.” Harper points her sandwich at me in approval before taking a bite as we sit at a deli in the Presidio neighborhood of the city.
I chuckle, almost choking on the fries I just shoved in my mouth. It’s the day after the seminar. Harper and I just finished a hike along the Batteries to Bluffs trail and are treating ourselves to greasy sandwiches at her favorite dive deli. While waiting in line, she asked how work went yesterday, so I showed her a clip of the raw footage that I saved on my phone.
