Page 6 of Until Now

“Married. Baby on the way.”

“Come on, you’re Davina Villa! I’m sure you know someone.”

I roll my eyes. Yes, I’m Davina Villa, but that has nothing to do with this. “Thanks, but I’ll figure this one out on my own.” As much as I appreciate her help, this is not Michaela’s area of expertise. “Can you call Claire and let her know the samples are ready?”

Chapter Four

Elizabeth rubs thescars on her arms, her mind somewhere far beyond the conversation happening around her. I meet her and Michaela for drinks at Fitz’s Bar — my favorite local spot, even before it should have been. “You okay?” I ask, but Elizabeth doesn't hear me. “Elizabeth?”

“Huh?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?”

Elizabeth Cain — best friend, and practically my sister. We were born exactly two years and two days apart; our fathers were best friends which led us down the same path. She has always been optimistic, innocent, and somewhat naive, always wanting to see the good in everyone. Her brother, Nate, not so much. Nate was ungrateful, irrational, and conceited. He refused to learn the value of hard work and their father, tired of Nate’s reluctance to grow up, decided to cut Nate off seven years ago.

In the fall of her sophomore year, Elizabeth came home from a football game to find her parents laying in pools of blood before her brother turned the knife on her. After a fight with my mother, I drove to the Cain home and found the home consumed by flames. I hardly registered the lifeless body on the front steps. Miraculously, she hadn’t suffered any major burns, but she was bruised and bloody from the attack. It didn’t take the police long to figure out who had attacked them and where he went. After she was released from the hospital, my family took Elizabeth in.

“I don’t know why you went to see him,” Michaela says. And if looks could kill… “What? You don’t think it was a good idea, either.”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. If she wants to see Nate, she can.”

“Well, it doesn't matter, he still refuses to see me,” Elizabeth interrupts us. She has been trying for years to see her brother, to talk to him about what happened. She hoped giving Nate some time would make him want to see her, Elizabeth wants to tell him she forgives him. Something I can’t understand. Elizabeth waves her hands, “Enough! Tell me more about this conversation with Brina.”

“You told her?” I smack Michaela’s arm.

“I was just informing her that you may or may not have a boyfriend,” Michaela casually shrugs behind her wine glass.

“Michaela!”

“Come on, spill. Who is it? Who are you taking?” Elizabeth pushes.

I groan, “I’m not taking anyone.”

“You’re just gonna tell your mom you lied about having a boyfriend to keep your room? That’ll go over well,” Michaela says and I want nothing more than to smack the smirk from her face. “I just can’t believe she invited Lee to begin with.”

“I can,” Elizabeth disagrees. “Brina has always had a soft spot for him. Did Lee go last year?”

“Karol and Jack did, but he skipped, too,” I say.

“I told her to hire someone,” Michaela interjects.

“I can’t hire someone. They’re not stupid, Michaela.”

“Well then, I’m all out of ideas.”

“Hiring an escort is the only idea you’ve had!”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Elizabeth says behind her martini. “I mean, it could be fun in a no strings attached kind of way.”

Hiring someone wasn’t exactly how I imagined starting my next relationship post-Lee.

“What if we found you someone?” Michaela’s eyes light up at the idea.

Oh, no.

“Yes!” Elizabeth practically shouts, earning a few glares from other patrons. “Let us pick someone for you.”

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