21. Kate
KATE
The next day, I waited for The Moment.
For the heavens to part and the angels to sing.
I waited for the complete and utter bliss of being debt-free.
I was no longer paying for my ex. I was no longer responsible for my romantic mistakes.
Surely a mariachi band would serenade me at lunch.
A singing telegram would arrive and tap-dance through the afternoon lull.
None of that happened.
Work was work.
I had a satisfying job I enjoyed doing from nine to five, and I was glad to be free and clear.
But as I finished a call with Daisy about the next steps in the marketing plan for Sin City Escorts, I felt oddly empty.
Because I missed Jake.
When I said goodbye to Daisy, I glanced at the calendar and spotted a sticky note that said Book Club .
Tonight.
That would fulfill me, surely.
But wait . . .
Ivy had confessed she’d switched to reading a hot romance novel. Truth was, we never stuck to the books we chose, and our meetings ran off on tangents about the sexy books we’d devoured. I couldn’t handle that tonight. Not when the missing was so fresh.
Grabbing my phone, I found the group chat with the book club gals and fired off a quick note.
Something came up, and I can’t make it tonight. Keep the pages turning for me.
Then I breathed a sigh of relief.
Relief from the dread of talking about hot novels, but not from the spot inside that satisfaction and gladness and success couldn’t fill.
I had to fill this emptiness somehow and soon.
Maybe I’d go for a walk and do some window-shopping, or maybe I’d work out.
I gathered my bag and got ready to take off.
Then Trish knocked on my door.