Miranda’s eyes were really big.
This was what she always did. An idea would hit and it was warp speed forward.
“Wait a second,” I said.
“What? You can’t take some bad dick for the good of us?”
“Why don’t you… never mind…”
“Hey,” she said. “Between you and me. If I needed to fuck someone to get out of owning this building, I would.”
“Don’t say that,” I said.
“I’m serious. I would rather smooth things over with Liam than keep this building any longer.”
“You don’t mean that,” I said. “You’d never do that to Liam.”
“Try me,” Miranda said.
I wanted to slap her across the face.
But before the urge could overtake me, the door opened.
Liam was home.
“Oh, hey, Emily,” Liam said. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I invited her over,” Miranda said.
“I’m going to go hit the gym then,” he said. “You two keep talking about whatever it was you were talking about.”
Yeah. Sure. Miranda was just talking about cheating on you for her own personal and business gain.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Miranda said.
Liam froze in place. “What?”
“Come over here,” she said. She slid a third wine glass across the counter. “Have a drink. Tell us about your day.”
What the hell is going on here?
“Are you okay?” Liam asked Miranda.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“How are you, Emily?” Liam asked me.
“Great,” I said. “How was your day?”
“Busy. Yours?”
“Busy,” I said.
“So was mine,” Miranda said. “Let’s drink to that and then talk.”
“Talk?” Liam asked.
“Drink up,” Miranda said with a smile.
I knew that smile on her face. I didn’t like it one bit.
It was her planning smile.
Something was going on here…
Miranda put her wine glass down. “I’m leaving for Boston…”
“What?” I asked.
“You didn’t tell her?” Liam asked.
“Boston?” I asked.
“Conference thing,” Miranda said. “I’ll tell you the details later. That’s not important right now. See, Liam said he was going to go with me but then backed out at the last second.”
“I didn’t do that,” Liam said. “Are you serious right now?”
I felt my cheeks get warm.
Please don’t argue in front of me…
“Well, it’s true,” Miranda said. “Which is fine now. Liam is staying here. I’m going to Boston. Blah, blah, blah. But… it’s why we’re sitting here together, drinking wine.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“I needed you two together at the same time,” Miranda said. She lifted her wine glass again. “Cheers…”
“We already did that,” Liam said. “This is getting weird. What’s up?”
Miranda leaned against the counter and bit her bottom lip for a second.
Then she spoke.
“I have an idea for you two…”
Chapter Eleven
Liam
I had no idea where Miranda was going with whatever it was she wanted to talk about.
I had a long day at the office. The kind of day that had me standing at the window, thinking about life. Nothing extreme like jumping out of the window, but just wondering what would have happened in my life if I took a left or a right turn here and there.
Those days came and went, as they did for everyone.
My plan had been to come home, take a hot shower, have a stiff drink, and forget about the day.
I did not expect to see Emily in the kitchen.
Not that it was a bad sight.
The way she looked at me and smiled, there was a sense of comfort there. Almost to the point where I wanted to dump on the counter about my day. And knowing Emily, she’d listen, hear me, say something nice, then say something supporting. Or funny.
As Miranda walked away from the counter, I looked down and pinched the bridge of my nose. I had to chase away the images of Emily and I sitting there, drinking wine, laughing together.
Friends. We’re friends. Emily and I go back one hundred years. Friends as teenagers. Finding each other again in college. Life just being life all around us. Sometimes we wouldn’t talk for months, but when we talk, it’s always fun. A blast. That’s right. A freaking blast.
“Are you okay over there?” Emily asked.
I picked my head up and looked at her. “I’m great. You?”
“Worried.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I have no clue what’s going on here.”
“Rough day at the office?” Emily asked.
“Can you tell?”
“A little,” she said. “Too many legal things at once?”
“Something like that,” I said. “I was standing at the window and thinking about that one night Steve and I set that tent on fire. By accident, of course.”
Emily threw her head back and laughed. “Accident. Yeah right.”
“What?” I asked. “It was.”
“No it wasn’t. You two were talking about setting something on fire all night that night.”
“Not a tent,” I said. “We were supposed to camp out there that night.”
“How did it even start then?”
I turned and leaned against the counter and faced Emily. “You don’t remember? Wow. Okay. Do you remember Meghan?”
“Meghan…?”
I put my hands to my chest and moved them out.
“Meghan,” I said.
“Oh,” Emily said. “Right. The girl that made every girl jealous.”
“Really?”
“She had boobs in third grade,” Emily said.
“See? And I got stuck with Mr. Barabitz for third grade. I missed out on the fun.”
“That’s gross, Liam.”
“How? It’s natural.”
“Natural,” Emily said. “You know she got them reduced. In size.”
“She did?”
“Yeah. They were causing back issues. So… ha…”
“Look at you. Taking pride in another woman’s suffering. I expected more from you, Emily.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said. “Go back to your story.”
“Okay, so that night, Steve said-”
“Sorry about that!” Miranda announced. “Had to get something, send an email, take a call…”
Emily and I were smiling and those smiles faded.
That was a moment I’d never forget.
Seeing my fiancée made me unhappy… shit.
Miranda put her hand on a notebook. “This is everything that needs to get done. It’s a long list, but it’s doable. And truthfully, I won’t beat around the bush. I haven’t been as present as a normal fiancée would. But that’s just who we are, right, Liam?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
She flipped open the notebook. “I know I look like the worst person ever here… but I’m here. For now. I’m going to Boston tomorrow. And
