Chasing Happiness by Raine English Page A

“Well, then, come on. Out with it. Can’t you see I want to live vicariously through you?”
    Maggie’s skin turned chalky. “Ariana, I…I need to use your bathroom.” She shot out of the chair and hurried down the hall.
    Wow! She must really like this mystery guy to be so nervous. While Ariana waited for her to return, she made them each a cup of tea, then settled into a chair at the kitchen table and wondered if there might be more to her friend’s odd behavior than just nerves.
    However, when Maggie returned a few minutes later, her emotions were now under control, leaving Ariana unable to read her. “Here’s your tea.”
    “Thanks.” Maggie sat down across from her. She poured some milk into her cup and stirred her tea while keeping her eyes lowered.
    Maybe she’d pushed too hard. If Maggie didn’t want to talk about her new man, that was her choice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I was just hoping you’d want to share your good news with me.”
    Maggie stopped stirring and looked up at her. “Don’t be sorry. Normally, I would’ve been banging on your door just bursting to tell you all about him.”
    “So why haven’t you?”
    Her baby-blue eyes darkened to indigo, and her voice broke slightly. “I don’t know what to say… I don’t know where to begin.”
    Oh no! Had Maggie gotten into a toxic relationship and didn’t want to tell her because of what Ariana had gone through with Phil? “Where’d you meet him?”
    Maggie took a sip of tea before answering. “Here.”
    Ariana’s brows drew together into a frown. “I don’t understand. You mean here at my house?”
    “At your housewarming,” Maggie muttered.
    Her fingers tensed in her lap. The only other people she’d had over that day were Katie and Jake, and Zoe and Dan. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the torrid picture that was forming in her mind of Maggie making love to either Jake or Dan.
    It couldn’t be Jake. He was engaged, and besides, even if he wasn’t, there was no way he’d ever cheat…so it had to be Dan. Katie had been right about him all along.
    When Ariana opened her eyes, she glared at Maggie, and her mounting anger was hard to control. “How could you do that to Zoe? What kind of a person are you?”
    She looked away hastily, then began twisting her napkin. “It wasn’t intentional. I…didn’t mean for it to happen.”
    “But it did, and you let it, knowing full well that Dan was involved with my best friend. I’m not surprised that he would stoop that low, but you… I never thought you were that kind of person.” Ariana spat out the words.
    Maggie swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone.”
    “What did you think was going to happen?” she replied sharply. “Did you think you could keep it a secret forever?” Something flickered far back in Maggie’s eyes. Could it be guilt?
    “Of course not. I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know what to say.”
    Ariana’s mind was awhirl. “I have to tell Zoe,” she said, thinking aloud. “But how am I going to do that knowing it’ll break her heart?”
    “She knows.” Maggie’s voice was a hushed whisper.
    “What did you say?” Even though Ariana had heard her, she couldn’t quite wrap her head around Maggie’s words.
    “She found out earlier this evening.”
    Ariana narrowed her eyes to slits as she stared at the woman she thought she knew so well. “How? How did she find out?”
    Stains of scarlet appeared on her cheeks. “I was at Dan’s, and she um…well, she, um, she walked in on us.”
    Ariana covered her ears with her hands. “That’s enough. I don’t want to hear anymore.”
    Maggie’s eyes filled with tears. “I never wanted to hurt anyone, most of all you.”
    Ariana took her hands off her ears. “You need to leave. Now.” A sudden thin chill hung in the air.
    Maggie got up and walked with shoulders hunched toward the door, and then a moment later, without another word, she