11. Chapter 11
W e were face to face.
Viviana stood in the doorway, clutching the edge of the smooth wooden door tightly.
I stood next to Jack, who was smiling brightly, probably trying to ease the tension he no doubt anticipated.
We were about to enter Jenn’s townhouse for Sunday game night.
From his other side, a slim arm stretched across Jack’s shoulders, and his sister smiled.
I’d honestly never seen two siblings get along as well as he and Belinda did.
Sure, they teased each other a bit, but I’d never seen them arguing or angry with each other.
Not for the first time, I wondered what it was like to have a loving, caring family.
I used to like to believe my father was a wonderful, loving parent, but long after he was gone, I finally admitted to myself: Nope, he wasn’t a great dad either.
He didn’t even love me enough to stay. And I didn’t care if my thought was unfair.
Focus .
Say something!
Don’t make it weirder.
Jack spoke first. “Jenn said to invite Annie, so—”
Before I could overthink it further, I stepped forward and smiled. “So here I am!”
Viviana looked uneasy and merely motioned toward the coat rack, avoiding eye contact.
I tried but failed to keep the smile on my face.
She’s not going to make this easy, is she? But why should she? I was a real jerk to her.
“Uh—” I stopped to clear my throat. “I hope it’s OK that I’m here.”
Viviana stilled and turned toward me. “Sure, I mean …” As she spoke, I attempted to communicate an apology with my eyes, but she lowered hers too quickly. “I didn’t think board games were really your style.”
I winced and glanced at Jack, wondering if this was a mistake. Was he thinking the same thing?
“This is our chance to show Annie what she’s been missing all this time,” Jack said in his light, soothing tone.
Viviana choked out a laugh and abruptly turned to Belinda and then to her husband. “Great to have you join us, Choua! I call dibs on your team.”
Choua chuckled and rubbed his chin. “You and everyone else. I think it’s time I picked my own team.” He was ridiculously good at board games, especially strategy games. He smirked, and Belinda elbowed him with a fake scowl.
Belinda Vue was not only Jack’s sister but Viviana’s oldest friend along with Jenn.
I liked Belinda and Jenn well enough and had spent time with them on many occasions, yet I’d never really felt like one of the girls.
They were fun and friendly to me, but I wasn’t close with them.
It felt more … surface level. The first time I’d noticed that, I’d let out a self-deprecating laugh as I reminded myself that the surface level was the only one that worked for me anyway.
I wondered if they were serving alcohol tonight—that tended to blunt the feeling of being an outsider in my friend group or others. Though I knew I should probably cut back on drinking .
As we proceeded to the living room, the tension between Viviana and me felt thick, but everyone else seemed unaware at first, laughing and joking with each other.
“Jenn, so sorry to hear about your leg,” I said, sitting near her on the couch, where her leg was propped up near her crutches. “Jack filled me in. And Kieran’s layoff. How’s he doing?”
Crap. Is it rude to refer to someone’s layoff in such explicit terms?
Jenn smiled at me. “Thanks, Annie. You know me, ugh, I hate being immobile. And stuck at home.”
“As a fellow extrovert, I have the utmost sympathy,” I said, my hand on my heart.
“I knew you would. The only people I see are Kieran and the kids, who have been so whiny. But they’re probably just always whiny because they’re little. As for Kieran, you can ask him yourself.”
As soon as Kieran walked into the room, everyone peppered him with questions and unsolicited advice about the job market.
From the start, though, I could see in his eyes that he wanted to forget about it for the night.
I could relate, obviously. How often lately had my friends forced me to talk about the very last thing I wanted to talk about?
Fortunately, Jenn knew her husband well and steered the group conversation away from Kieran and toward the first game we’d be playing. I felt some of the tension melt away until realization struck: This meant an actual board game. That I had to play. It had been years.
Four years, to be exact.
Please, please let it be nothing like D&D …
Lucky for me, the first game involved drawing and guessing.
I liked to draw and was decent at it. I could do this.
It was a pretty funny game too, and that, along with some beer, helped loosen the tension aching from a dozen places in my body.
Occasionally I eyed Viviana, who seemed a bit more relaxed too, though only slightly.
Granted, she wasn’t the most relaxed person in general.
As the night progressed, I noticed that Viviana was acting a bit stiff around Jack too.
Of course, I was careful to observe them covertly .
Or so I thought until Jenn whispered in my ear, “So you’re noticing it too? Something’s up with Viv and Jack.”
“Things do seem a little off.” I placed my finger on my lips thoughtfully.
Before we could say more though, Kieran announced a switch to a roleplaying game, and my heart rate quickened.
I can do this.
I can do this .
It’s not D&D, it’s not Kylan, and who cares anyway? That was forever ago.
Jenn must have noticed my grimace. “Are you all right, Annie?”
“Oh, I’m—I’m fine,” I stammered before gulping down the rest of my beer.
“I’m so thirsty though, anyone else?” I forced a smile, the party-girl smile I’d mastered and used hundreds if not thousands of times before to show the world that I didn’t care about anything serious, that I was all about fun and good times.
But my cool-girl facade couldn’t withstand the tension soon to come as Kieran and Choua set up the next game, which required partners.
With the two married couples pairing up, that left Jack, Viviana, and me.
“Oh, I didn’t even think about the uneven numbers until now,” Jenn said, biting her lip.
“Ugh, I’m usually so good at planning to avoid that. ”
“No problem. I can sit this one out,” Jack said, leaning back as if to suggest he welcomed a chance to rest.
“No! I’ll sit out,” Viviana said almost forcefully. “I, uh, I was the last-minute addition to this party anyway, I think.”
Wow, she won’t even pretend she doesn’t want to avoid partnering with me.
As Viviana avoided eye contact and I tried to figure out how to respond, Kieran cut in. “Don’t be silly. We’ll just play something else. If you haven’t noticed, we have a number of other games to choose from. A ridiculous number, actually.”
I leaned back in partial relief and started to put my practiced smile back on until I glanced at both Jenn and Belinda giving Viviana meaningful looks.
Surprisingly, a stab of envy lodged itself somewhere in my chest. What must it be like to have such close female friends—and for most of their lives?
The one female friend I’d managed to hang onto for any length of time now seemed to hate me and was no longer speaking to me.
Well, you need to actually talk to her. Apologize, make things right.
Not just awkwardly show up to game night.
But I couldn’t face the voice of reason in my head right now. I just needed to survive this evening. I nodded pleasantly to everyone and pretended to be engaged in whatever they were talking about.
I glanced down in my lap, running slightly sweaty palms over my tweed skirt.
Since when do I wear tweed?
I sighed, remembering I was far behind on laundry. Then again, I could always go shopping … retail therapy was my favorite kind.
The only kind, as far as I was concerned.
“Wow, you look … fancy for a Monday morning,” Jack said, a polite questioning look on his face.
I sighed, setting my purse down as I sat down at the table at the Krumkake Cafe.
Its sweet and savory fare was top-notch, especially the scones.
But I was too tired to appreciate it. “Sorry I’m so late.
So, it turns out combining two of my favorite bad habits in one night isn’t the best idea, especially if I’m going to agree to a super early breakfast with a friend.
” I winced while finger-combing my hair.
“I may have just woken up 10 minutes ago. I barely even glanced in the mirror, so I’m hoping my face isn’t a disaster.
” I hadn’t worn eye makeup yesterday, so I had no black streaks running down my face. Probably.
Jack smiled, amused. “No worries, Annie.”
“So I don’t lose my reputation as having amazing fashion sense, I went shopping last night at Karla’s, you know that trendy new clothing store with the bar and crazy hours—well, maybe you don’t.
Anyway, I tried on some dresses, and I …
might have had a few more drinks, so I ended up passing out wearing one of them.
I didn’t bother to change since I was running so late.
” I gestured to the very short (but somehow still classy) red dress I was still wearing, rather overdressed for a cafe breakfast meeting with a friend.
“That’s probably more than you cared to know.
It’s gorgeous though, isn’t it?” I asked with a grin.
“It looks very nice, Annie. I’d expect no less from you.” Jack nodded.
“But so much for penny pinching,” I said, frowning. “I should probably just order a water. That’s still free, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so,” Jack said, laughing. “Don’t worry about it. Breakfast is on me.”