Page 17 of Love Rescheduled

“Who says I haven’t kept my promise?” I gasped and covered my mouth.

His face fell slack.

Oh, how I wish I hadn’t said that. He had no business knowing I was still in love with him. I jumped up and lunged for the door. I needed to talk to Alec ASAP.

“Nat, stop. Please,” he pleaded.

I paused, almost as if in midair.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told that joke. If it makes you feel better, it was always the best hour of my day. Of my life,” he added quietly.

Oh, mine too. “Goodbye, Josh,” my voice cracked. I hoped it was the last time I had to say those words. I wasn’t sure I could ever utter them again.

“HOW ARE YOU?” JOLENE AND Tara asked in unison over the phone. Their voices echoed on speaker in the one and only bathroom in my small cottage. It was early Monday morning, and I was doing my getting-ready routine. I was running a flat iron through a few pieces of my pixie cut to give direction and a bit of volume to it before I went in with the styling wax. Jolene and Tara had convinced me to go with the bold cut right after we’d graduated from college. They said it went perfectly with my heart-shaped face and to-die-for cheekbones. Their bias was obvious, but I appreciated it all the same. More than that, I was thankful they made me go outside my comfort zone every once in a while, the past few days not included. No surprise, I used to hide my face behind my long hair. With this cut, there was no hiding at all. It kind of felt like my life right now: exposed.

We had made a fairy tale promise over the weekend not to discuss my fiasco with Josh, even though my best friends were dying to do so. But I had sworn to make the weekend about Jolene, and unlike Josh, I’d kept my word. That meant I went to the after-parties both nights, even though people were obviously whispering to their friends about what had happened at the club. Jolene and Tara did their best to shield me, but it was hard to miss all the pointing and gawking. Thank goodness for corners and books.

I was still processing all the events. Especially the moment when Josh told me I had stolen everything from him. How could that be true? He’d gotten engaged to Camila. And believe me, they looked mighty happy about it on social media. At that point, I was still crying every day, mourning our relationship.

So, let’s see, how was I? Well, I was still breathing, which was a miracle, seeing as a video of me looking like a deer in the headlights at Laugh on Tap was circulating around social media. If that wasn’t enough humiliation, Josh posted about it. I should have unfollowed him sooner. His post was apologetic. Something to the tune of, I need to apologize for my behavior Friday night. It was unprofessional, and I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Blah, blah, blah. He didn’t use my name, but everyone who had seen the video knew it was me. Which meant they were connecting the dots that I was a liar, or the woman who scheduled intimacy. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation. I was thinking about the witness protection program.

Alec promised me two hours today. I happily rearranged my schedule. That’s how desperate I was for his help. It was also why I was talking to my best friends earlier than normal. I needed all the reinforcements I could get.

I looked into the small circular mirror above the pink sink Nana loved, which was why I hadn’t replaced it, and stared into my pale-green eyes, which were shining brighter thanks to all the red lines brought on by a lack of sleep. “I’m going to go with not well.”

“It will die down soon,” Jolene tried to console me. “There’s always a new story.”

“I’ll go all Taylor Swift and drop hints about who I’m actually trashing in my books,” Tara offered. “That could take off some heat.” She had a huge following online. Her fans were dying to know the real men behind her antagonists, and the protagonists, too.

I set my straightener down and smiled. “I love you, ladies. Thank you, but you’ll sell more books if you keep up the mystery.”

They both laughed.

“So, uh, what did you and Josh talk about?” Jolene could hold out no longer.

I gripped the counter. “Not much, other than he said I stole everything from him.”

Their gasps filled the bathroom.

“Yeah,” I breathed out.

“How does that make you feel?” Tara asked, like she was Dr. Phil.

“Awful, but also confused. He obviously moved on. Besides, he embarrassed me. I’m doing my best to abhor him.” I’m not going to lie: our little conversation had added some difficulty to that plan, but at the same time, the video circulating around social media was fueling the hate fire.

“Total douche move,” Jolene added.

“I’m writing him into my next book.” Tara evilly laughed.

“I can’t wait to edit it. I may add some of my own embellishments.” That could be therapeutic.

“But you’re still going on your date with the proctologist,” Tara snorted, “right?”

After letting out a deep breath, I reached for my lip gloss. “I don’t know. I’m thinking about going into hiding. Can you contact the US Marshals yourself?”

“You really want to give control of your life over to a government entity? And cut off all contact with us?” Jolene sounded put out.

“Of course not. Fine, witness protection is out. What about moving to a foreign country? I’ve been using Duolingo to learn French. You could come with me.”

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