against the elevator door by her throat and tell her what I thought of her. But I really wanted producers to go for my rehab project idea, not to have to smooth over an assault charge. Beth already had her way with my past, she wasn’t getting my future. “Sorry, didn’t hear you.”
“I didn’t think you were coming.” Her smile mirrored mine, nothing happy about it. Instead she looked like a hunter staring down its prey. “You’re famous now. I figured you’d be too busy for us.”
For years I’d begged Beth to help me out. She worked as a set designer on the movies that filmed in the Boston area. I would’ve done anything to get out of retail purgatory, even suck up to Beth, but she refused to give me any contact information. She’d also been an instrumental player in helping Shelley fuck around with my husband. When they started their arrangement, they’d meet in the vacant in-law apartment above her garage. Until that became too inconvenient and they started screwing in my bed.
“I’m here to support Kari.” I dug my heels in while I waited for the elevator to come back down to the lobby. The hotel only had three floors, but this was going to take an eternity. “I’m never too busy for a friend.”
“Yeah, I guess she’d have to come since she was class president. No one ran for that because they knew they’d have to put this together.” Beth chuckled. Right. Like any of these people ever had looked twenty years in the future in terms of anything but their mortgage.
“Have you seen her?” I’d been so wrapped in my own head about Jagger I’d totally forgotten about Kari until I saw Beth. This wasn’t going to be any easy weekend for her, either.
“Can’t say I’ve been looking for her.” Beth and her friends had decided that Kari was a slut sometime in the summer between eighth and ninth grade. It would’ve been funny if they hadn’t tortured her over it. She didn’t actually date until college, but thanks to Beth, she’d had plenty of chances to offer her services in the boys’ locker room. Beth looked to either side of me as I rolled my suitcase toward the open elevator door. “Did you come alone?”
“My date is meeting me later.” I turned to see her mouth open as the door closed.
At least that was the plan.
**
The light on the phone was blinking when I entered the hotel room. I dropped everything on the bed and let the butterflies in my stomach lead me to the phone.
“Hey, it’s Jagger. I’m in room 312. Give me a call when you get in. Can’t wait to see you.”
I listened to it three times because I was so relieved he was actually here.
“Hey,” I tried to keep my giddiness at bay when he picked up. “You came.”
“Of course I did.” His voice sounded deeper on the phone. “Did you just get in?”
“Yeah. And I saw my phone was blinking. Very old fashioned.”
“I was going to leave you a note at the desk, but I knew they’d lose it. And if you didn’t notice you had a message, I would’ve come looking for you.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “I might have liked that.”
“We just got here. There’s no telling what can happen.” Jagger chuckled. “How about we head down to the bar in about a half an hour?”
“There’s a thing happening tonight in the bar with the reunion people.” I did my best to make it sound more like a ritual sacrifice than a party. Just in case he thought I actually wanted to go. “I don’t need to see any of those people until tomorrow night.”
“Yeah, three people made sure to tell me about it when I was downstairs.” He stopped, giving me a chance to groan. “Why don’t we check it out? If it sucks, we’ll make our own fun.”
**
It was going to suck.
There weren’t many things that were guaranteed in life. Death, taxes, and the class of ’95 getting on my very last nerve. Since I’d dragged Jagger fifteen hundred miles away from sunny, warm Miami to deal with these people, I probably owed him a
“I didn’t think you were coming.” Her smile mirrored mine, nothing happy about it. Instead she looked like a hunter staring down its prey. “You’re famous now. I figured you’d be too busy for us.”
For years I’d begged Beth to help me out. She worked as a set designer on the movies that filmed in the Boston area. I would’ve done anything to get out of retail purgatory, even suck up to Beth, but she refused to give me any contact information. She’d also been an instrumental player in helping Shelley fuck around with my husband. When they started their arrangement, they’d meet in the vacant in-law apartment above her garage. Until that became too inconvenient and they started screwing in my bed.
“I’m here to support Kari.” I dug my heels in while I waited for the elevator to come back down to the lobby. The hotel only had three floors, but this was going to take an eternity. “I’m never too busy for a friend.”
“Yeah, I guess she’d have to come since she was class president. No one ran for that because they knew they’d have to put this together.” Beth chuckled. Right. Like any of these people ever had looked twenty years in the future in terms of anything but their mortgage.
“Have you seen her?” I’d been so wrapped in my own head about Jagger I’d totally forgotten about Kari until I saw Beth. This wasn’t going to be any easy weekend for her, either.
“Can’t say I’ve been looking for her.” Beth and her friends had decided that Kari was a slut sometime in the summer between eighth and ninth grade. It would’ve been funny if they hadn’t tortured her over it. She didn’t actually date until college, but thanks to Beth, she’d had plenty of chances to offer her services in the boys’ locker room. Beth looked to either side of me as I rolled my suitcase toward the open elevator door. “Did you come alone?”
“My date is meeting me later.” I turned to see her mouth open as the door closed.
At least that was the plan.
**
The light on the phone was blinking when I entered the hotel room. I dropped everything on the bed and let the butterflies in my stomach lead me to the phone.
“Hey, it’s Jagger. I’m in room 312. Give me a call when you get in. Can’t wait to see you.”
I listened to it three times because I was so relieved he was actually here.
“Hey,” I tried to keep my giddiness at bay when he picked up. “You came.”
“Of course I did.” His voice sounded deeper on the phone. “Did you just get in?”
“Yeah. And I saw my phone was blinking. Very old fashioned.”
“I was going to leave you a note at the desk, but I knew they’d lose it. And if you didn’t notice you had a message, I would’ve come looking for you.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “I might have liked that.”
“We just got here. There’s no telling what can happen.” Jagger chuckled. “How about we head down to the bar in about a half an hour?”
“There’s a thing happening tonight in the bar with the reunion people.” I did my best to make it sound more like a ritual sacrifice than a party. Just in case he thought I actually wanted to go. “I don’t need to see any of those people until tomorrow night.”
“Yeah, three people made sure to tell me about it when I was downstairs.” He stopped, giving me a chance to groan. “Why don’t we check it out? If it sucks, we’ll make our own fun.”
**
It was going to suck.
There weren’t many things that were guaranteed in life. Death, taxes, and the class of ’95 getting on my very last nerve. Since I’d dragged Jagger fifteen hundred miles away from sunny, warm Miami to deal with these people, I probably owed him a
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