Page 34 of Truth Be Told
“Yes,” I set the mug down firmly, “he is. But so what? Money doesn’t matter.”
“Stella, you never cease to amaze me. You didnotreally just say that, did you?”
I shrug. “I just mean, money doesn’t matter when it comes to relationships. Because it doesn’t. Right?” She glares at me. “What?”
Lorelei shakes her head. “Nothing. You’re right. I’m just trying to tell if you’re serious or not.”
“Of course I’m serious.” I disappear into my bedroom and return with the outfit she’d been looking for. “Here you go. Sorry about missing your texts. I hope Mama May wasn’t too mad.”
She takes the outfit from me, her frown finally starting to turn upward into a smile. I’m relieved to see that. If I ever lost Lorelei’s friendship, I’m not sure how I’d face the world.
“She wasn’t.” Lorelei toys with the freshly-washed fabric, feeling the lace. “I got lucky this time. I wore something from as early in the week as possible and I don’t think she noticed.” I sense a sudden sadness in her, one that tells me my news about Cohen goes deeper than just jealousy. “Well, this is all I needed. Thanks.” She turns to leave, but I stop her.
“One other thing.” I cringe.
“Oh, no. What?”
I cringe even more at that response. I’ve been dreading telling her this. “I’m sort of… quitting my job.” The last three words come out of me slowly and carefully, as though someone’s pressed a slow motion button in my brain.
She tenses. “Please tell me you’re talking about your day job.” And herwords are strung together and panicked, as though she’s on fast forward.
I shake my head. “No. Sapphire.”
“And there’s one other thing, too.”
“Stella,” she moans, “you’re killing me.”
“Are you ready? This is the biggest one of them all.”
“I’m not ready,” she says with a sigh, “but I have no choice. I’ll be either shocked or devastated, I’m sure. Shoot.”
I take a breath. “I think I’m falling in love with him.”
COHEN
Two Weeks Later
A stranger holds the door open for me when I arrive at the coffee shop closest to home.
“Thank you,” I say. I rub my hands together when I make it inside, then take my usual place in line.
I stop in here every morning before work. It’s on the way, and I have yet to find a better cup of coffee in this city. I like it here. No one knows who I am, and I usually place my order undisturbed. I casually rub sleep from my eye and stifle a yawn. I really need this to get me going.
I haven’t heard from Stella since that night.
She didn’t come back again. I haven’t seen her since. She left because she had to, and she didn’t leave her number. As for why she didn’t return? Well, I like to think of it as none of my business.
That isn’t to say I don’t think about her. A day hasn’t gone by that I haven’t gone over what happened in my mind, remembered her face, her smell, the feel of her.
I’m a believer in fate when it comes to everything except business. In the business world, nothing’s going to come to you if you don’t go out there and take it by the horns. In your personal life, past trying your best, it doesn’t make any difference to struggle against the inevitable. Actually, it can backfire. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. If it’s not, then don’t fucking push it.
When it’s my turn, I place my order, throwing in a bagel for good measure. I’m going to need all the strength I can get for the day I have ahead of me. It’s a day packed full of meetings and negotiations – two of the most stressful aspects of my job.
I take a sip at the same time that I turn around, and when I do my eyes lock on a figure outside the shop, on the other side of the glass. Something about her is familiar. I squint, trying to make her out. She looks freezing. She’s bundled up with a hat covering her hair and a thick grey scarf wrapped around her neck and pulled over her chin and cheeks. Her shoulders are scrunched up with one hand stuffed away in her pocket. She moves swiftly, and my entire image of her was little more than a flash over the span of a few seconds. I have to react quickly so I don’t lose her.
“Hey!” I call.
She turns at the sound of her name, or maybe it’s more so at the sound of my voice. It’s hard to tell, but either way, when she sees me, her eyes are already lit up with recognition.
