Page 8 of Imperfect Saint
Millie stood in the middle of her living room, hands on her hips, surveying her apartment. She knew she’d forgotten to pack something but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what it was. Her eyes searched the room again but nothing stuck out at her. She frowned but went back to digging in her purse to check she’d tossed her phone charger, emergency battery backup, and spare glasses inside.
If she’d been her usual, responsible self she would have been packed for her brother’s wedding over a week ago. She’d have carefully laundered and folded her clothes into her suitcase. She’d have hung her bridesmaid dress over the coat closet door in preparation. She would have been ready to go so that all she had to do this morning was grab her things and walk out the door. But of course she didn’t want to go to this wedding, so instead of packing in advance she’d put it off until the last possible minute and had spent all morning running circles around her apartment, haphazardly tossing things into a bag and praying that she wouldn’t forget anything that was irreplaceable.
Why couldn’t a meteor have hit Nashville and stopped this horrible weekend from happening?
She sighed and put her purse aside after checking all of her necessities were inside for the third time. She checked the gold watch on her wrist and frowned. It was five minutes after one. Her date was officially late which made her officially nervous. She hated being late. She’d had the principles of business drilled into her since she was a child and she could practically hear her father’s voice in her head.
“If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. And if you’re late, you’re not worth my time.”
Millie bit the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit she’d been trying to break for years. In times of great stress she often ended up chewing a hole into the sensitive tissue. More than once she’d ended up with blood pooling in her mouth and the taste of mercury on her tongue, making her nauseous. She hated the stupid automatic reaction to her nerves being fried and popped a mint to keep herself occupied. She’d packed several of those as well, certain that by Sunday when she returned home she’d have a hole chewed straight through her cheek if she didn’t.
She told herself not to worry. Lemon had set this up. Even if her friend had been weirdly mysterious about the identity of Millie’s date, she’d assured her that he knew his role and was looking forward to the weekend. Millie still didn’t understand Lemon’s secrecy but she’d decided she had more important things to worry about. If Lemon had hired a date from some expensive escort agency, Millie didn’t even care, so long as he was good looking and up to the task of keeping Joshua away from her.
She scolded herself for hoping her date was good looking. It didn’t matter… not really. She was only being vain. She wanted Joshua to think that she’d moved on, even if she hadn’t. She wanted him to be jealous that not only was she with someone else but that she had in no way downgraded by leaving him. She didn’t want to care what he thought of her. She hated herself for worrying about him at all. She should have been strong enough to show up to her brother’s wedding with her shoulders back and her chin held high without needing a man at her side. Yet even when she’d thought about doing just that over the past few months, she’d known that she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Because she didn’t trust herself alone with Joshua, not even after all the things he’d done.
Her phone buzzed on the counter and she quickly crossed the apartment and picked up, “Lemon?”
“Your date should be downstairs any minute.”
“Oh thank God, I was starting to worry.”
“I knew you would be, that’s why I decided to call.”
Millie’s brow furrowed slightly, “Why didn’t he call me?”
“Well, there’s something else I need to tell you so I thought it would be better if I called instead.”
Millie didn’t like the sound of Lemon’s voice. She knew that cautious tone. Lemon was about to say something that Millie wasn’t going to like. She’d gotten to know that tone of voice well over the years. Lemon had settled down a lot since she’d gotten married but that impulsive streak inside her still got the better of her sometimes and now Millie worried she would be the one dealing with the fallout of whatever Lemon had done this time.
“Lemon.” She used her warning tone, “What’s going on?”
“You’re all packed up and ready to go?” Lemon ignored her question and posed one of her own.
“Yes, but…”
“Good. Go ahead and get your things together and he’ll meet you downstairs, outside your building. No use parking when you should be getting on the road anyway, right?”
“Right, but…”
“So you’ll head down and meet him outside, there’s just one thing I wanted to tell you before you do.” Lemon cut her off again and Millie felt uneasiness spread through her belly.
Lemon was being more than just mysterious now. She was being downright secretive and Millie did not like it. She was starting to think that whoever it was Lemon had sent to pick her up, that she wasn’t going to appreciate the supposed favor. She’d assumed Lemon would hire someone. That seemed like the thing they did in the movies when someone needed a date to a wedding. Maybe it was cliché but this whole situation felt like something out of a movie instead of her real life. She’d thought that it would be easy if her date was a hired escort but now she didn’t know what to think.
“Lem?”
“Don’t freak out okay.” Lemon said in answer.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She heard her voice rise and could do nothing to stop it.
“It means, don’t freak out when you go downstairs and see him. Remember why you needed a date and you’ll know why I chose him to be your buffer.”
Millie’s thoughts whirled as she processed Lemon’s words.See him. Lemon made it sound like Millie was going to panic when she saw who was downstairs but that would only be possible if Millie already knew the man waiting for her. Which meant it wasn’t some anonymous personal escort that didn’t know a thing about her or why she needed his presence in the first place.
“Oh God.” She felt herself whine and couldn’t stop it, “Lemon, what did you do?”
“You said you trusted me to help you and I did. Remember that. That’s what I wanted to tell you. You needed a date and I could have gotten anyone to be that for you, Millie. You’re young and beautiful. You could’ve easily gotten your own date if that’s what you really wanted. But I know you, and I know there’s more to all this than you just being nervous about seeing your ex, so I didn’t send you just a date. I sent you someone to watch your back and protect you, someone I trust to take care of you and have your best interest at heart. Trust me and trust him, okay Mills?”
Millie’s heart jumped up into her throat and tears stung at the back of her eyes. Lemon was the closest thing to a sister that she’d ever had in her life. She might be a royal pain in the ass sometimes but Millie had never once doubted that Lemon wanted only the best for her. She did trust Lemon. She’d started out as her boss but she’d quickly become Millie’s friend as well. She had other friends. Friends from childhood and college, friends that she’d known her whole life, but a distance had grown between them when Millie had taken the job as what they deemed a lowly assistant, and breaking things off with Joshua for good had only solidified her black sheep status amongst them. These days, Lemon was the closest friend she had and that meant even if she didn’t like whatever plan Lemon had concocted, that she had to trust she’d done it for the right reasons.
