Page 18 of Just for Fun
“It’s true,” I laugh. “But this one is different.”
“Oh, how so?” He doesn’t sound interested at all, but whatever.
“She is the girl who is going to be my plus one at Ray’s wedding.”
Alex snorts sarcastically. “And where, pray tell, does she strip?”
Zara’s picture pops into my head. She looks so incredibly proper, and she’d probably faint if anyone accused her of stripping. I am a little offended on her behalf.
“She’s not a stripper,” I tell my friend. “She is a nice girl.”
“Yeah, right,” he laughs again.
Rolling my eyes even though he can’t see me, I grab my tablet and log into myHolidatesaccount. I then find Zara’s profile and take a screenshot of the picture she has on there.
“Hold on, I’ll prove it to you.” A couple of taps later and the picture is on its way to Alex via text. “Check your messages.”
I hear some shuffling from his end when he puts me on speaker and checks his texts.
“Huh,” he mumbles. “This is different.”
“Right?” I am so excited about it, I about jump up to sit on the back of the couch.
“What’s wrong with her?”
Alex’s question stops me in my tracks. “What do you mean?”
I stare at Zara’s picture that’s still up on my tablet. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. She’s just plain, but nothing wrong about that. That’s what I was looking for anyway.
“She’s not even smiling in this picture,” Alex points out. “She’s probably some sociopath if you’re asking me.”
“Sociopath?” My eyes bug out of my head. “Why do you think that?”
Alex huff into the phone. “Because she gives off that vibe. I bet you she hates people. And the ones she does like are probably paying her to be her friend.”
The tone of his voice sounds hateful. It’s very confusing how much he hates this girl on sight. He doesn’t even have to talk to her when I bring her to the wedding, so what’s the big deal?
“That’s a little harsh.” I try to laugh so we can break this weird tension suddenly floating over the line.
“Excuse my honesty,” he deadpans.
I frown in confusion. “You’re in rare form today.”
Not that Alex is usually the life of the party, because that’s me. But there’s just this weird undercurrent that tells me whatever is bothering him today is more than his usually deal about Mona or people being after his money.
He sighs into the phone a couple of times, like he’s building himself toward telling me what his deal is. I’ve never been one to push, and I know he hates it when people get into his personal business. But will admit that he’s never actually called when upset or needing someone to talk to. He never needs anyone from what I’ve gathered over the years.
“I ran into Mona last night.”
I groan in frustration but don’t say a word. He’s always been oddly sensitive about this girl despite the fact that he never really wanted to commit to her. His parents’ divorce fucked him up in the worst of ways. I’ve never met them though, so I couldn’t say one way or another.
“She was on a date.”
That last bit of information gives me pause. I’ve always got the impression that Mona was just waiting for Alex to call herto him anytime he felt like. That’s why I never held her in high regards, because I felt she had no self-respect.
“With another man?” I ask for clarification, just in case.
“Yeah, with another fucking man.” He is back to being condescending.
