Eighty one

Chapter fifty

It felt like it’d been a little while since the last time I saw Clara, so I texted her and asked if she wanted to meet up for a drink.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” she said. “Even though I know it hasn’t been that long. How are you? How’s everything?”

“Things are good,” I said. “Really good, actually.”

She grinned. “I figured.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, well, I saw Billy here the other night. I’m so happy for you! He seems like such a great guy.”

I stared at her. “Huh? Billy? What are you talking about?”

She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Shit. Was I not supposed to say anything? He said that you guys had hung out the other night and that . . . well, obviously he hasn’t told you yet, so I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Let’s just say I’m really happy that you’re hanging out with him and not Ian!”“What surprise?”

“I’m not going to tell you! He’ll be mad at me. He really is a riot.”

“No, Clara, you don’t understand—there’s nothing going on between me and Billy. What surprise are you talking about? What did he say he was going to do?”

“Is this just your sneaky way of getting me to tell you what it is? By playing dumb?”

“No—I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You haven’t been hanging out with Billy? I figured that’s why I haven’t seen you around as much.”

“Um . . . There was this one time we hung out because Luke was late meeting me. The time he told me about theother secretaries and stuff. That was it. And the time before with you.” I paused. “Oh wait. And another time, right after Luke told me about his previous secretary. I was a little upset.”

“Upset about what?”

I paused. Had I not told Clara about that? “Did I not tell you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Tell me what?”

“Uh . . .” Well, this certainly wouldn’t win him any points in her book. “He might have gotten his previous secretary pregnant.”

“Are you fucking kidding me.”

“No.”

“And you’re fine with this?”

“I’m not psyched about it, it’s not my first choice, but there’s nothing that I can do about it.”

Clara shook her head. “Damn, girl, this is the sort of shit you’re supposed to run away from. Not run into the arms of. Billy is looking better and better by the second.”

“But I really don’t know why he’d be thinking there was something going on between us. I really don’t.” 

I wracked my brain, trying to remember the particular details of that night. I hadn’t been in the best mood. I’d had a little too much to drink. Had I said something? Had I done something with him? No. I knew I hadn’t done anything—we hadn’t kissed or anything like that—but maybe he’d taken things the wrong way. I did accept that piggyback ride . . . 

“Oh.” Clara sat back in her chair, looking perplexed. “Maybe I misunderstood . . . I was a little buzzed when we started talking, to be honest, but he was definitely going on and on about you. He said that he was going to surprise you by flying you into Hyannis and then going to the beach house his family has in Wellfleet.”

“Ian and I are actually together,” I said. “I know you’re not going to be thrilled to hear that.”

“Wait—you’re seeing him again?” Clara asked. “He’s not coming here now, is he?”

“No, he’s not, I thought we could use a little girl time, but I would really appreciate it if you would try to give him another chance.”

She gave me a skeptical look and didn’t say anything.

“Come on, Clara!” I said, laughing. “I’m just asking you to give him another chance, not peel your own fingernails off.”

“That might be more appealing, actually.”

“I would do it for you,” I said. “If I knew that you felt about some guy the way I feel about Ian, then I would certainly at least give him another chance for your sake.”

She threw up her hands. “Now you’re going to guilt trip me! Fine—I’ll give him another chance, but I really do think this is the worst idea in the world. Well, maybe second to worst. Probably the worst would be going out with Adam.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of Adam—he was there waiting for me when Luke and I were getting home and there ended up being this confrontation. Ian said he’s going to have a couple guys keep an eye out for me, just to make sure that Noah stays away.”

“Like, there’s going to be security guys following you around?”

“Sort of . . . It’s not going to be like I suddenly have this entourage or anything. They’ll be way more discreet. But that makes me feel a little better about it.”

“I can’t believe it’s gotten to the point that you need security guards. This whole thing is messed up. Don’t even get me started on the fact thatyou’re willingly choosing to get back with a guy who’s having a baby with someone else. I think that’s really the story here. There are sooooo many other guys out there, Eva! You don’t have to do this.”

I knew that I didn’t have to do it—what Clara didn’t realize was that I wanted to.