34. A Twenty-Year Mistake
34
A Twenty-Year Mistake
CARLY
To-do list—February 9
Email Geraldine about the vintage Halston
?? Ask Linh to email Geraldine
Ask Linh to update the website with recent work
Try to enjoy myself at the party
“ I t’s all done,” my new assistant said confidently. “Also, two new inquiries came in today. I filled out the intake form on both and sent them to your email.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Linh.” I pulled into the parking space at the yacht club but kept the motor running to continue the call over the car’s speakers.
“Just doing my job,” she chirped. “I told them you’d get back to them Monday. Take today off, okay?”
“Oh, no!” Rustling my jacket next to the microphone in the ceiling, I joked, “I think you’re breaking up.”
“I’m serious. Tessa said twenty-five percent of my job is to get you to relax.”
“Schedule me a chat with Tessa. She may have found me the world’s best assistant, but that doesn’t give her the right to assign you tasks.”
“Will do! Anything else, Carly?”
“No. Thank you, Linh.” I disconnected the call and slipped on my jacket.
I strode through the drizzle under my umbrella, avoiding the puddles in my ankle-strap heeled sandals.
I hadn’t been to the yacht club since the last time Brad and I had been out on our boat. The place hadn’t changed much. It was still a beautiful building, and beyond it, boats bobbed next to the dock.
I didn’t look for the Pearl, my ex-boat. I had a brief vision of buying my own yacht, bigger and flashier than Brad’s, and sailing it past him one weekend, looking fabulous while pretending not to notice him. It made me chuckle, and I walked into the room smiling.
After I’d dropped my jacket at the coat check, Bianca Waddingworth, the hostess, greeted me with kisses to both cheeks. “Carly! I’m so glad you could make it.”
Okay, then. We were going to pretend she hadn’t frozen me out for the last year since my divorce, that she’d never canceled her appointment with me, and we were friends again. I could play that game too. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss Bob’s birthday party. Remember that time he insisted on celebrating his birthday at sunrise at Mt. Davidson? I thought Brad was going to have a heart attack climbing up there.”
“He’s always been one of those irritating morning people.”
“I half expected this to be a daybreaker.”
“A what?” Her eyebrows lowered a fraction.
“It’s a rave, but in the morning with no booze. All the cool kids go,” I joked.
“Carl would know.” A heavy arm landed on my shoulders. “She’s dating one of the cool kids now.”
Not wanting to make a scene, I didn’t shrug off Brad’s arm, but I stepped away so his arm stretched awkwardly between us.
“More than that,” Bianca said, nodding. “She’s got her finger on the pulse of young Hollywood. She styled Helen Choi for the Golden Globes and that gorgeous R&B artist at the Grammys. Who are you styling for the Oscars?”
When I named the two actresses and the actor, her eyes went round. “I have to get on your schedule. You can overlook that little mishap last fall, right?” Her eyes flicked to Brad, then back to me. “I’m terrible at managing my calendar.”
“Call my assistant. We’ll see what we can do.” I wasn’t sure I was ready to forgive her or Brad yet, but I’d let Linh string her along until I needed to plug a hole in my schedule.
“Thank you, Carly. I can’t wait. I love that dress, by the way. Maybe you could find something like it for me?”
I glanced down at the red botanical Oscar de la Renta. The sleeveless boatneck would show off Bianca’s toned arms. “We’ll see,” I repeated.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.” She air-kissed me again. “Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot to Bob and me.” She flitted off.
Taking another step away, I shrugged off Brad’s arm. “Where’s Hayley?”
“Mornings aren’t great for her.” He shrugged.
I inhaled a sharp breath. “You left your wife at home with morning sickness?”
“Eh. She’ll be fine.”
I rolled my eyes, grateful we’d never had kids together.
“Where’s Andy?” he asked.
Andrew would never leave someone who was sick. My heart twinged when I remembered walking out on him at the hospital while he worried about his mother. She was back home and feeling better, I knew from Charles’s text, but I regretted abandoning Andrew.
“We aren’t together anymore.” Straightening my shoulders, I shook out my hair.
He snorted. “I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Men like younger women.” He shrugged. “It’s biology.”
The pain from my heart sliced into my stomach. Brad was right. Andrew had deluded himself—and me—to think that he was any different.
“I have to say, though, Hayley isn’t nearly as good as you were at taking care of me. When I was at work on Friday, my shirt ripped right at the elbow.”
“You had a spare, right?” As soon as I blurted it out, I winced. Old habits. Brad wasn’t my responsibility anymore.
“Nah, I wore it when I spilled coffee a few weeks ago. Forgot to replace it.”
I arched my brow. “Maybe you should try taking care of yourself.”
“But she’s supposed to take care of me. Like you did. Anyway, I realized I need some new shirts, another suit, and a couple of ties. You can tell me what’s fashionable this year.”
“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Are you asking me to style you?”
“No. I’m asking you to do what you used to do.”
“You mean, when we were married?”
“Yeah. We’re still friends, right?” He shot me the dazzling smile that used to make me go weak in the knees.
It left me cold.
Another man’s smile, one with dimples, was the one I wanted to savor. Andrew would never dream of asking me to style him for free. In fact, he’d paid me to style him. He hadn’t taken me for granted. When we were together, he’d told me every day how beautiful I was and showed me he cared.
I’d been furious when I’d thought he tried to minimize me and make my work secondary to his needs, but he’d been scared and alone. If I’d thought rationally about it, I’d have realized that and given him a little grace. But I hadn’t thought rationally. I’d been afraid. Afraid that I’d let Andrew do what Brad had done to me.
I was still letting Brad define me. But Andrew was no Brad.
“No, Brad.” I put my hands on my hips. “We’re not friends. You cheated on me. And when I divorced you, you ensured I got the worst possible settlement, then you tried to sabotage my business.” My voice rose, and I didn’t care. “We are not friends. I will not style you. Certainly not for free. Not even if you paid me three times my normal rate.”
“You styled Hayley for free.”
“Hayley is my friend. You are nothing to me but a twenty-year mistake.”
Someone gasped, and I realized we had an audience. People near us weren’t even pretending to have their own conversations. They stared at us, mouths gaping.
I didn’t care. My chest felt light. I’d freed myself from Brad’s influence.
I’d made another mistake in walking out on Andrew. But it was a mistake I could correct.
If he’d let me.