Forty-Two #2
Olivia sticks her quivering lip out but nods, her stark onyx hair falling into her face.
I mouth a quick “thank you” over at Gemma who winks at me before turning the the fridge to get Olivia a bottle of water.
Olivia pushes herself off the couch with the help of Mae and me, teetering over to the kitchen while Mae and I exchange relieved glances.
At least this night can only go up from here.
“Makeup time?” Mae asks as Gemma tends to a drunken, heartbroken Olivia.
I nod fervently, desperate to escape the living room before Olivia can start sobbing again .
“Yay!” Mae claps, inching towards the kitchen. “I’ll pour us some wine. Would you grab my eye shadow palette from Tashia’s bathroom? I let her borrow it last night.”
I give her a thumbs up as she disappears to get us some merlot, heading down the hall to the bedroom that Tashia and Evan have been sharing.
My heart feels lighter than ever, a feeling that’s been hanging on since Christmas at the cabin, and I can’t seem to wipe the goofy smile off my face as I round the corner into the bedroom.
The attached bathroom door is closed, Tashia and Lily’s voices filtering through, and I’m about to knock when the sound of Reece’s name stops me.
I hesitate, my stomach churning as I move a little closer to the door and press my ear to the wood.
“You have to tell her,” I hear Lily say, muffled by the door and the whirring of a hair tool. “I don’t necessarily love Stacy but what Reece did was really shitty. She doesn’t deserve that.”
I hear a very drunk Tashia hiccup before responding. “I’ll tell her after the trip,” she slurs. “Don’t wanna ruin the night.”
“Why’d you agree to go to lunch with Reece anyway?”
My churning stomach finds the soft carpet, my whole body going still as my pulse starts to jackhammer.
Reece said earlier that he was going to grab lunch, invited me even, but I wanted to shower and take a quick nap before the spa so I told him I was going to hang back.
He hadn’t seemed secretive or jumpy at all and, even though I’m a little bit taken aback, sharing a meal with somebody isn’t cheating. It’s certainly not a crime.
But whatever shitty thing he allegedly did is putting a pit in my gut.
The whirring of the hair tool stops on the other side of the door. “I dunno, maybe I needed a little closure. How was I supposed to know he was going to ask to get back together?” Tashia mumbles, another hiccup trailing her sentence.
Lily’s response is garbled in my ears as bile rises in my throat. My hands start shaking as I push open the bathroom door, inhibition abandoned as I force my wobbly legs to work.
Tashia and Lily whip around, eyes wide as they stand in front of the double vanity. Tashia’s dressed in a white, pearl cocktail dress, hair half-curled as she noticeably swallows. Lily’s just as shocked at her side, lip gloss in hand as she glances back and forth between her best friend and me.
“Stace, what are you doing in here?” Tashia asks, stumbling forward slightly and catching herself on Lily.
I clench my hands into fists, my vision blurring as tears encroach. “Um,” I go to speak, my voice shaking uncontrollably, “what the hell did I just hear you say about Reece?”
She gapes at me, glancing at Lily before giving me a commiserating look. “Stacy… I was going to tell you after the trip.”
“Tell me what?” I snap.
She hesitates, Lily still frozen at her side.
“Tell me what , Tashia?” I demand again.
The silence hangs in the air, my pulse as loud as a gunshot in my ears before Tashia says, “Reece asked me to go to lunch today. I figured he wanted to air out some dirty laundry before the wedding, get some closure. That’s what I was expecting but he…
wanted to know if there would ever be a chance again.
For… us. He asked me to call off the wedding. ”
I blanch and stare at her, my heart thunderous in my chest as nausea swirls in my stomach .
Tashia has to be lying. Right? She’s had a vendetta against me from day one.
“I don’t believe you,” I choke out, blinking back the sting behind my eyelids.
Tashia thins her lips. “Stace, I love Evan. I’m marrying Evan. I don’t want Reece back. What would I gain from lying to you about this?”
I don’t know. I don’t know , that’s the problem. Tashia already had Reece. She threw him out like garbage, she chose Evan, she had ample time to change her mind. So, why now? Why would she wait until now when her wedding’s a mere four months away? It doesn’t make any sense.
Unless, of course, she’s not lying. Because it doesn’t make any sense.
None of this makes any fucking sense.
None of it makes sense besides the cold, hard facts.
Fact number one: Reece came to me and asked me to be his fake girlfriend. Not the other way around. I thought from day one that the arrangement was more about Tashia than his family but he always detested this.
Fact number two: Reece has had to spend more time around Tashia and Evan because of the wedding. Maybe that time spent has made him realize his feelings are a bit more confusing than he previously led on.
Fact number three: I’ve let Reece in entirely. I’ve fallen completely in love with him. Of course I’ve believed him every time he’s told me that he’s over Tashia. I’ve believed him because the contrary would hurt too much.
Fact number four: A part of Reece’s heart will always belong to Tashia.
She was his first love. I’m an interloper in their story, a story full of invisible strings tying them together while I sit in the dark like a foolish, silly girl.
While I wait patiently for my turn to be the sole holder of Reece Taylor’s heart.
Fact number five: I will always be second best to my sister and to Tashia Jenkins.
I shake my head, tears falling as I regard the girl in front of me who just wrecked my entire life.
There’s nothing else for me to say as I scamper backwards, out of her bathroom, out of her room as desperate sobs break out of my chest. Mae catches me in the hallway before I can make it to my room, alarm written all over her face as I fall into my best friend’s arms and think about the last three minutes of my life.
One hundred and eighty seconds. That’s how long it took for me to go from cloud nine to the depths of hell. From the happiest I’ve ever been to the most heartbroken I could ever have imagined.
Three short minutes. I fell out of love in three minutes.