Chapter 33
thirty-three
GREER
“Thanks for meeting with me,” Greer said as she slid into the chair next to Abagail’s at the small table Abagail had chosen at her bar.
“Sure.” Abagail sipped the whiskey on rocks she had in front of her. “I figured I did put you in this situation.”
“Are you saying that you feel some responsibility for me?” Greer asked, her eyes lighting up and her lips curling into a smile.
“No.” Abagail pursed her lips and then shrugged. “Well, a little. Elia will kill me because Kam will yell at her, and it’s just easier to take care of it now instead of later.”
“Understandable.” Greer flagged down the waitress and ordered herself a drink. “How is it going between you and Elia, by the way? Kam said something about you two being distant lately? She didn’t give details, so don’t go thinking she spoiled something massive.”
“We’re working on it.” Abagail frowned into her drink. “Stupid decisions.”
“I hear that, and times it by three.”
Abagail’s eyes lit up, and she locked her gaze onto Greer. “You didn’t.”
How had Abagail managed to figure it out from that one simple statement? Was her mind in the same place that Greer’s had been lately? Stupid decisions when it came to lust?
“Tell me you didn’t,” Abagail repeated.
“I can’t if it’s what I think you’re thinking.” Greer ran her hand along the back of her neck as nerves sprang forth. She’d really rather be talking to Kam about this, but it had been impossible to find a time to get together recently. She hated living halfway across the state from her best friend.
“Greer.” Abagail rubbed circles into her temples. “I know what drama Ivy is facing, and this isn’t good for that.”
“I know. That’s why I needed to talk to someone, because it’s only getting worse, not better, and I can’t see my way out. I don’t know what to do, and it’s not getting any easier to put some distance between us.”
“No because you fucked it up already—literally.” Abagail frowned and tossed back the rest of her drink, ordering another one when the waitress brought over Greer’s. “So, what do you do now?”
“That’s what I need to figure out.” Greer rubbed her lips together and spun the glass between her fingers. “Because I know what you’re going to tell me, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to do.”
Abagail sighed heavily. “And what am I going to tell you?”
“The same thing you told Elia.” Greer stared directly at her. “Don’t think that I don’t talk to Kam and that Kam and Elia don’t talk.”
“I know everything I tell Elia will be shared with Kam. I just didn’t realize it was going to be shared with you.” Abagail rolled her eyes. “You should break up with them, end it right now, and you should forget that they even exist. It’s an HR nightmare. The only reason you get out of that is because you don’t have HR.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Greer winked at her. “Because I can’t really tell based on your reaction right now.”
Abagail laughed harshly. “Look, I love working in human resources, finding out the nitty gritty dirt in people’s lives and making quick and decisive decisions about what to do about it.” Abagail circled her finger around the edge of the glass in front of her and eyed Greer over. “But HR isn’t the be-all and end-all of the world, as I’ve learned lately. And there’s more to life—at least that’s what I’ve been told.”
“You don’t believe it?” Greer asked, genuinely curious now. She’d gotten to know Abagail better over the last few months. When friends dated each other, it was an unintended consequence, but that didn’t mean they were friends or that Greer knew who Abagail was firsthand. And she kind of wanted to get to know her more.
“I’m not sure I do in that context.” Abagail frowned. “But you could ignore me, like Kam and Elia did. It seems to have worked out for them in the long run.”
“It does.” Greer was very curious where all of this was coming from, but Abagail didn’t elaborate on it. “So do you think I should end it with them?”
“Do you care what I think?” Abagail looked at her directly.
“Yeah, I do.” Greer might not take the advice, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t interested in hearing what Abagail had to say.
“End it. Be done with it. I’d tell you to find a new job, but that’s going to make my life a living hell again. You’re the only consistency that they’ve had.”
“Are you saying I did something good?” Greer asked, raising her tone up to make it sound like she was excited. “Is that a compliment I detect, Ms. Icy?”
“Icy?” Abagail shot her a dirty look. “I think you have me confused with Elia.”
“Perhaps.” Greer grinned at her. “But that was a compliment, whether you meant it to be or not. I make your life easier.” Giggling, Greer sipped her drink and shook her head. “I’m not sure if Kam meant for us to be friends, but I do like you.”
Abagail grunted, but she didn’t respond beyond that. Greer would take that as acceptance and perhaps even a friendly gesture in her direction. There was no way that Abagail would go off spouting out what she really felt toward Greer and definitely not in a bar filled with people.
“Oh hell,” Abagail mumbled, sitting straight up. Her head was turned toward the door of the bar, her eyes locked on something.
“What?” Greer spun around to face the direction that Abagail was facing. A beautiful young woman stood in the doorway, purse on her shoulder, blonde hair in waves down her back. She was looking around for someone, that was clear. “Who’s the hottie?”
“She’s not a hottie,” Abagail muttered under her breath, but she didn’t move to do anything. She just lay in wait.
Greer frowned, glancing from Abagail to the woman and back again. “Are you hiding from her?”
“Nope.” Abagail wasn’t giving her any information, which just made Greer all the more curious.
“Are you wanting her to find you?” Greer asked, trying to figure out exactly where to go next because she knew Abagail was going to give her another short-ass answer.
“No.”
Greer locked her gaze on the woman, who looked at her curiously, then shifted her glance and must have caught sight of Abagail. Turning back toward Abagail, Greer smiled. “Well, time’s up. If you want my help to get rid of her, you’re going to have to give me more.”
Abagail groaned. “She’s my soon-to-be niece-in-law.”
“Aunt Abagail?” The woman’s voice was higher-pitched than Greer would have thought.
“Nicola.” Abagail sighed her name in frustration. Greer heard it, but she wasn’t entirely sure that Nicola did.
“I uh… I was told to return this to you.” Nicola stood in between them, not even looking at Greer as she slid a small box onto the table in front of Abagail. It was a deep red velvet box, with one hinge on the back. Greer would know that was a ring box any day of the damn week.
“To me?” Abagail raised an eyebrow in curiosity. She flipped open the box and stared at it before flipping it around so Greer could see. “Your engagement ring.”
“Warren said that it was a family ring…so I had to give it back.”
Nicola looked so nervous. And Abagail wasn’t budging or giving her any room to sit or explain herself or even be there. She was practically pretending like Nicola didn’t even exist. She flipped closed the lid of the ringbox with a loud snap and looked Nicola directly in the eye.
“Greer and I are having a private conversation.”
“Jesus, Abagail, the woman clearly just broke up with her fiancé. There’s no reason to be a jerk about it.” Greer hopped out of her seat and offered it to Nicola. She waved over the waitress and then sat down in the third chair at the small table.
“She’s not my niece.” Abagail pointed at Nicola, but she was looking at Greer. “I don’t have to be nice to her.”
“What if the breakup wasn’t her fault?”
The waitress showed up, and Greer looked expectantly at Nicola, who said nothing.
“Um… tequila shots, please. And some water,” Greer said. She really wanted Abagail to take over this conversation, to push her to do something other than glare in Nicola’s direction. “Right, so um… did you get dumped?”
Nicola pursed her lips hard, staring at the tabletop and that damn ring that she’d put in front of them. Abagail didn’t move to put it in a pocket or somewhere hidden—and that had been a huge diamond. Greer could only dream of having something like that.
“Okay, so since both of you are chatty.” Greer rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat. The waitress couldn’t get here fast enough. “I’m Greer.”
“Nicola,” she said, nodding in Greer’s direction. “How do you know Aunt Abagail?”
“Uh… we’re friends?” Greer answered it like a question, because she wasn’t really sure what to call Abagail. They hadn’t quite reached the friend stage fully yet. “It’s a long story.” It really wasn’t, but Greer didn’t want to explain, and she wasn’t sure that Abagail wanted her to tell either.
“Ah.” Nicola nodded, her eyes lighting on Greer. “Are you her new…fling?”
“Watch it, Nicola,” Abagail ground out.
“I don’t mean anything by that, Aunt Abagail?—”
“I’m not your aunt, so you can cut that. And since you’re clearly not marrying my nephew anymore, you can really cut it. Makes me feel old.” The last bit Abagail mumbled under her breath.
Greer laughed at that. Abagail wasn’t old at all, but she could definitely see why Nicola would make her feel that way. Abagail shot Greer a sharp look.
“And you can cut it out, too.”
Greer put her hands up in the air, but she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. Something about the way Nicola grated on Abagail’s nerves was exactly what Greer had wanted to see and more. Greer’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she snapped it up. It was a text from Ivy about a change in the schedule for the boys.
She squinted at it, trying to remember what the original schedule had been, but she couldn’t figure it out. She wrote back a quick note that she’d figure it out and make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be for proper pick-ups before shoving her phone back into her pocket.
“What do you do for work?” Greer asked Nicola, needing to know more.
Nicola frowned. “I uh… don’t work right now.”
“She quit her job when Warren told her that he wouldn’t marry a woman with a job.” Abagail tossed back her third drink of the night. “And the idiot agreed with him and did it.”
“Again Abagail, don’t be a jerk,” Greer said, pointedly.
“Would you do that? If Ivy, Lachlan, and Nathalie told you today that you could live with them, but they wouldn’t pay you anymore, would you do it?” Abagail looked at her directly. “Think about it. Because if you end up in a relationship with them, why would they pay you? A woman’s labor is often considered free labor. Don’t be stupid enough to fall into the trap that the patriarchy has set for you.”
Greer’s heart skipped a beat. “You don’t think they’ll do that, do you?”
“I don’t know.” Abagail squared her shoulders. “I don’t know them well enough, and neither do you. You’ve worked for them for how long? Four months? That doesn’t mean you know them at all. And it’s not like you know how they’re going to react if you ask them for more than just a roll in the hay.”
“Abagail!” Greer squeaked.
“She doesn’t know you.” Abagail waved Nicola off. “Forget she’s here.”
“Why are you being such an asshole?” Greer frowned at her. “This isn’t like you.”
“You know me through Elia. This is different.” Abagail pressed her hand down on the table and leaned in toward Greer.
“She’s family.”
Abagail barked out a laugh. “Fuck family.”
“Well, I agree with the sentiment, but that doesn’t mean you need to be a bitch about it.” Greer was ready to jump in and defend Nicola, even though she didn’t know her at all. For all she knew, Nicola had been the cause of the breakup with Abagail’s nephew and Abagail knew something more than Greer did.
“Fine.” Abagail pointedly looked at Nicola. “You’re broke, you need a job, and you’re out a rich sugar daddy to support you. So you’re here for…what exactly? Because I doubt that Warren told you to bring this to me. You could have very easily given it back to him.”
Nicola turned her chin up, sending Abagail a thousand-watt smile. “I could have. But I needed to talk to you.”
“Talk to me? Oh, this better be good.” Abagail sat back in her chair and crossed her arms with an expectant look on her face.
“I just need some cash to make it through a few weeks until I can get a job.”
“And here it begins.” Abagail rolled her eyes.
Greer was taken aback by this obnoxious side of Abagail. She honestly hated her.
“How much?”
“Two thousand, that’s it.” Nicola sent Abagail another smile. Was she toying with Abagail? She wasn’t even bothered by Abagail’s flippant and dismissive tone.
“ Only two thousand. And you can’t ask Warren for it because he’ll tell you no.”
“Of course he will.” Nicola leaned forward, her low-cut shirt showing off her cleavage.
Was this a seduction? Greer wasn’t sure she wanted to stay if it was. She shifted her feet under the table and canted her head to the side and looked over the two of them. Was this some weird kind of foreplay that Greer wasn’t privy to?
“I’ll give you the two grand, but for a price,” Abagail lowered her voice.
“And I think I’m out of here.” Greer stood up from the table. “And Abagail, if you can afford to give her two grand, you can afford to pay for my drink tonight because I don’t really want to be present for this any longer. Thanks for the advice.”
Abagail looked at her curiously. “What advice?”
“To break up with them.”
“Will you?”
“Don’t think so, no.” Greer smiled at her. “Catch you later. I’ll text you about … going out again.” Greer finished slowly. “Next time I’ll pick the place so we don’t run into anyone you know. All right?”
“Sure.” Abagail winked at her. “See you around, Greer.”
“Yeah. Uh… see you.” Greer made a quick exit, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as she got to the street. That was just weird as hell.