Page 66 of Hale Yes
I take a sip of my drink, the flavors bursting on my tongue with a mixture of tanginess and sweetness. “It was at first, but then a group of older girls took me under their wing. Muriel was one of them.” I laugh. “I met her when she needed a tutor for advanced placement chemistry. After that, she and her friends invited me to sit with them at lunch every day. I couldn’t hang out with them on the weekends because of my age, but Pop did agree to let me come to her quinceañera.”
“Do you still talk to her?”
“Just on social media. She lives in France now with her husband.”
“I’m glad you had someone,” Helix says. “High school is hard enough without being the odd man out.”
Lowering my voice, I lean forward, catching a whiff of his cologne, something with dark notes. Maybe bergamot? It’s extremely appealing.
“It helped that none of those girls liked my sister. When they learned she was… you know, like she is to me, they decided I was their new buddy.”
He chuckles. “I could totally see Angelica being a mean girl in school.”
Speaking of the mean girl, she approaches in a pearl-white dress and matching heels. She’s followed by Annette, one of the bitchy girls my sister has known since high school. Angelica roves an assessing gaze up and down my body, the fakest smile ever on her lips.
“You know it’s against wedding etiquette to wear white, right? Only the bride is supposed to wear white,” she says through clenched teeth.
I feel Helix’s hand on my exposed back, and the warmth and strength seem to seep through my skin and into my bones.
“Um, yes, I’m aware,” I say. “Have you suddenly gone color blind, Angelica? My dress is black. And as far as I know, this isn’t your wedding.”
Her nose pops up in the air in that superior expression she’s perfected so well. “The bow on the back is white, and you have white on your shoes. I don’t like it. You’re committing a fashion faux pas atmyengagement party.”
Annette doesn’t say anything, but her wildly darting gaze tells me maybe she thinks my sister is overreacting.
“Would you like for me to rip the bow off and hide it somewhere?” I take a slow drink of my martini and smile sweetly. “Because I have some ideas of where I can stick it.”
Angelica’s blue eyes widen in shock. I haven’t talked back to her in years because I was always reprimanded or grounded by our mother when I did. But now I’m a grown-ass woman.
No, screw that. I’m a fuckingelephant.
Angelica’s lips tighten, and I can practically hear her teeth grinding. “Fine, I’ll allow it for now but just remember who’s the bride here and who’s not.”
And with a sniff, she stomps off, her friend in tow.
Helix’s grin is the picture of gleeful pride. “Well done, Dr. Bell.” Then he taps the tip of my nose. “You’re the fiercest elephant I’ve ever seen.”
Holy shit! Swoon city, anyone?
We mingle with the crowd, and I introduce Helix to some of my extended family, mostly aunts, uncles, and cousins I haven’t seen in years. The food is served by roaming waiters in matching suits and is obviously expensive. I worry how much debt thisparty is putting my father into and what my bridezilla sister will demand for her wedding.
Again, I remind myself that it’s not my problem. Pop has to learn to put his foot down and say the wordnoto Angelica and Ma. I glance over at him. He’s handsome in his gray suit, but the man looks tired and browbeaten.
Clarity hits me that that’s probably how I used to look when I was around my family. I know I kick ass at my job. It’s where I’m the strongest. I can run a lab, supervise employees, and develop new products like a boss bitch. My weak spot has always been with my family. Ma had all the authority over me, and through the years, I’ve let myself be pushed down and down until I was trained to be nothing more than an insignificant place at the table.
But no more. I feel so much freer now, and I realize all it took was some separation. And a man who told me I was strong and encouraged me to stand up for myself.
Helix.
Damn, I really like him.
He’s chatting with one of my male cousins, and I nudge his arm and tilt my head to indicate that I’m going to the restroom.
“I’ll walk with you,” he says immediately before turning to shake my cousin’s hand. “Austin, it was good to meet you, man.”
“Same,” Austin replies before smiling at me. “Nicolette, nice to see you again. Helix was just telling me how lucky he feels to have you at Hale.”
I’ve always liked Austin. He’s a year younger than me, but we played together at family get-togethers when we were young.
