Page 7 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

Annie’s mouth formed a perfect O. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, but I’m almost certain he drugged me, and I feel really, really sick.”

“You do look kind of green, and your hair… Never mind.” She plastered on a perky smile. “I can fix it up for you before we leave. You don’t have to stay here, right? I brought you yoga pants and a comfy sweater, and Kayla’s going to meet with Marnie Blake and her husband-to-be so I can take you home.”

Kayla was the third member of our small team, twenty years old and a little too enthusiastic at times.

“Kayla knows we can’t do the live swans, right? I checked, and it’s just not possible to train them to carry baskets in their beaks.”

“Absolutely, it’s a no on the swans. Kayla promised to look into alternatives. Maybe dogs.”

Marnie Blake had originally planned on having flower girls, but a falling out with her future sister-in-law meant Daisy and Petunia’s services had been withdrawn. Marnie desperately wanted to give the woman the finger as she walked down the aisle, hence her outlandish ideas for the girls’ replacements. We’d already vetoed monkeys and micro pigs, and I dreaded to think what she’d come up with next.

“Dogs? I guess, but what if—”

Annie held up a hand. “Stop! You shouldn’t even be thinking about work today. Everything’s under control. You seriously think a guy drugged you? Did you speak to the cops?”

“As soon as I woke up.”

“Maybe they’ll catch him.” She gave her head a little shake because she didn’t really believe that. Not after her experiences with her ex. “In the meantime, forget all about what happened, and let’s get you home. Dwelling on the bad things never helps. How does sushi and a movie sound?”

Awful. I wasn’t hungry, and I’d never be able to concentrate on a movie.

“Perfect.”

“Then I’ll drop you at home so you can take a shower while I pick up dinner from Sushito. Maki rolls, kaiso nigiri, and mango ice cream mochi?”

“Don’t forget the edamame beans.”

Annie gave a mock salute, and the peridot ring I gifted her for her birthday flashed under the strip lights. Her birthstone. Born on August thirteenth, and when that date fell on a Friday, she took the day off and stayed in bed.

“I never do, boss.”

***

“Maria? It’s Kimberly.”

With Annie on her way to pick up our food, I had fifteen minutes to speak to Maria and find out what the hell happened last night before my assistant came back and chastised me for living in the past. Her attitude was my own fault. I’d said exactly the same thing to her so many times after she escaped from her ex, and now she’d adopted it as her own personal mantra.

“Kimmy!” Maria sounded larger than life, as usual. In reality, she was five feet one and a size two. At six inches taller, I felt like a giant beside her, although I was slumped into an armchair in my living room right now. “How did it go last night? With that guy?”

“You saw me with a guy?”

Maria roared with laughter, and my head throbbed harder. Painkillers hadn’t made much of a dent in the ache.

“You ask that after you ditched me for him? Can’t say I blamed you though, hun. A hot invalid? I’d have wanted to take care of him too.”

“An invalid?”

“The bandage on his arm? Hell, Kimmy, how much did you have to drink after I left?”

“I don’t know. Uh, this is a bit embarrassing…”

“We’ve all been there. Remember right before my last wedding when I drank too many cosmos and fell off Marco’s yacht?”

“I think he drugged me.”

“What, the British guy? Like, you took coke?”

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