Chapter 25
Sadie
I pick up the intercom. “Hello?”
“Sadie. Darius here. There’s a friend of James’s in reception.” The handset goes muffled for a second. “She says her name is Jane.”
“James isn’t here … He …” I trail off, and there’s a long pause. God, I can’t leave her standing in the lobby. “Okay, Darius.”
“I’m sending ’er up!” he says, and the handset goes dead.
Oh, Christ.
I stand in the entryway looking down at my huge cardigan and fluffy slippers.
Shit, I’m not dressed for an encounter with James’s ex-girlfriend.
James kissed you. It almost stopped my heart.
I have no idea what it meant—a rebound kiss?
He said he wanted to treat me well. No one has ever said that. Oh my God!
I race into my bedroom, throw my cardigan on the bed, and scuff out of my slippers. I drag on a fitted sweater, then dash to the bathroom and run a brush through my hair. I stare at my face in the mirror. Makeup? Do I have time? The door buzzer echoes through the apartment. Crap.
When I reach the entrance area, Mr. Karen is sitting on the mat, little kitty eyes fixed on the door, and I pick him up. I’m starting to think he’s sharper than he lets on—he’s figured out what that sound means. Escape! Freedom!
When I open the door, a woman is standing there, hair in a high ponytail, full makeup enhancing her pretty face. She’s wearing some kind of sleek sports gear. I’ll bet that’s another $300 cycling jacket, right there.
Her eyes narrow. “You must be Sadie,” she says, holding out a hand, and I stretch out mine as her gaze roves over Mr. Karen. “James mentioned he’d got a cat.”
I stroke Mr. K’s head, and he starts purring. “He’s on loan from the shelter.”
“Ah, yes. James also told me that.”
Her eyes track all over me, taking everything in, and my face heats. Goddamn my blushing, I can never appear cool. “He’s always been one for rescuing strays and misfits,” she says. “Is he in?”
“He went out on his bike. He said he might be gone for a while.”
She frowns. “I messaged him last night after our dinner about going on a ride together today, but he didn’t respond, so I thought I’d just drop by.”
Isn’t Kevin here for the weekend? God, did James go out to avoid her? Uh-oh.
She peers over my shoulder. I can’t leave her standing in the hallway, can I? “Would you like to come in?”
I shuffle back as she walks over the threshold, and her eyes widen. “My goodness! This is a very nice place. So close to downtown and James’s work. No wonder he didn’t want to come back to Brooklyn,” she says.
This apartment was not the reason, I want to say, but, of course, I can’t say that.
I lean forward and shut the door, putting Mr. Karen on the floor, who stalks off, flicking his tail at me. Yeah, buddy, stay in your lane. Honestly, this cat’s attitude is a mile wide.
“Would you like a coffee?” I say.
“That would be great.” She turns and her eyes narrow. “James said you’re living here?” She tips her head to one side.
“That’s right.”
“How did that come about?”
Oh fuck. How about: I was forced to leave home because my stepdad is a slimy asshole? I shrug as I head over to the coffee machine. “I was looking for a place just as Des was leaving.”
“Lucky you.”
There’s an edge in her voice as she glances around again. She runs a hand over her ponytail, sighing. “I do wish James would answer my messages. He’s so erratic with messaging …”
Is he? He seems incredibly on the ball to me.
“… He often doesn’t respond at all. It’s a long trip for me to get here.” Her mouth turns down. “If you don’t message people back, you end up wasting their time.”
“You’re very welcome to wait if you like.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes come back to me and scan down my sweater and jeans. “Are James’s parents here?”
“They went to the 9/11 Memorial.”
“Ah.” She runs a hand over her ponytail. “I think they were a little surprised when Kevin turned up last night.”
No kidding. Say nothing, Sadie. I nod as I take a couple of mugs out of the cupboard and press the button on Des’s fancy coffeemaker.
It goes through beans like it’s its life’s mission—which I suppose it is—but I love the coffee that comes out of this thing.
I’m guilty of letting James purchase the beans.
He was insistent, actually. He said he wanted to buy something decent.
“And what do you do at Williams Security?”
“Oh, I’m a software programmer.”
“Like James,” she says as she wanders around picking up ornaments from Des’s side tables and examining the photographs on the wall.
Well, not like James, because he’s an electronics engineer, which is hardware. This whole conversation is like walking through a minefield.
“These are gorgeous.” She waves a hand at the pictures.
“Oh, yes! Des’s boyfriend, Alex, did them.”
Her eyes narrow again. “Do you know Des well?”
She’s fishing, and I’m not quite sure why. “I think you only need to be in Des’s company for about five minutes to know him pretty well.”
She sniffs. “I wouldn’t say I know him particularly well.”
She must have met him loads of times, though. Shit. “I mean, he was my boss, so we spent a lot of time going through code and work issues. I’ve probably got a warped opinion of how much he talks to people.”
She comes to stand on the other side of the kitchen island, and I pick up her coffee from the machine. “Milk?” I say.
“Yes, please. And now James is your boss?”
“Kind of,” I say, busying myself by getting milk out of the fridge and adding it to her cup and then sliding it over the countertop toward her. “He’s been running the tech team since Des went to Korea.”
She turns and glances around again. “I’ve often wondered why Des asked James to move in here.”
Is this her real agenda? “If I know Des, it was probably something that occurred to him about five minutes before he left.”
“Right after James had that little accident,” she says, crossing her arms on her chest. “It’s odd that Des felt he needed someone to take care of his apartment so suddenly when he hadn’t offered it to James and me before.”
Offered it to James and her?
The girl’s code is red and flashing.
They’d split up! Say nothing, Sadie. I smile back at her, and she tilts her head at me. Just keep smiling.
“Do you like writing software?” And there’s that edge in her voice again.
“Well, I wasn’t very good at anything else,” I stammer out.
She frowns. “Oh, really? But good enough to get into college, I’m guessing. Where did you go?” she asks.
Whaatttt? Where did that come from? A hot sweat breaks across my body. On that dreaded application form for Williams Security, I put City University on my resume because it’s in the city and a public university.
“CUNY,” I say.
She beams. “One of my best friends went there! James and I used to come up from Philly to visit her. That’s how James and I got to know New York and decided we wanted to move here.”
A horrible, weighted heartbeat starts in my chest. What are the chances? Well, probably pretty high. Philadelphia is only an hour and a half away from here, after all. Fuck.
She laughs. “We slept on the floor in her dorm! God, the dorms were terrible.”
Oh, crap!
“I lived at home.” Get her off this subject, Sadie! “What did you study?” I choke out.
“Finance. I work a few blocks away from here. James and I chose the apartment in Brooklyn because it was super cheap. We’ve been putting money aside for years so we can buy a place of our own.”
This conversation is like being stabbed with tiny knives. Why is she talking about their finances as if nothing’s changed? “But you broke up,” I blurt out stupidly before I can stop myself.
A frown mars her perfect features, and she gives me a tight smile. “Yes, but we’re best friends, and our savings are still together. This break we’re on doesn’t change that.”
This break we’re on … What is she talking about?
She split up with James and now she says it’s a break?
James told me she was planning to move back to Philadelphia and live with Kevin.
What is her game? Or is she just one of those people who tells everyone a slightly different story and then pretends that they’re the one who misunderstood?
She taps a pearly nail on the countertop, and I stare at it in fascination.
“That’s why I don’t understand why he’s living here.
He wants to save money, and this has to be far more expensive than our place in Brooklyn.
” She glances around again. “I should have moved with him. The trip into the city from our apartment is awful.”
I stare at her, dumbfounded. I’m starting to see why James comes away from his meetings with her with whiplash. Talk about something neutral that she can’t twist, Sadie.
“I used to travel in from Queens when I started at Williams Security.”
“That’s a long commute. Where did you commute to before that?” she says.
“Before that?”
She frowns at me. “For classes?”
I gape at her as my face goes red. I know nothing about where computing science classes are based at CUNY. Stupid, Sadie. For about the hundredth time, I curse myself for putting that damn degree on my application. Next time I have a wild idea, it’s not going to involve lying to my employer.
An owl swoops down and lands on the girl’s shoulder, whispering all the things in her ear that she wishes she knew.
“Oh, I was all over,” I stutter out, not meeting her eyes.
I’m sure my face is flaming now, and she’s tilting her head at me with an odd expression on her face.
The key rattles in the door, and it swings open. I turn toward it, relief pouring through me. James appears with his cycling helmet in one hand, hair plastered to his head.
“Well,” he says, “that was certainly the most …” He trails off when he sees Jane standing on the other side of the kitchen island. “Jane! What are you doing here?”
She walks over to him and pulls him into a hug, and watching the way she presses into him is like nails scraping down a blackboard.
“Why wouldn’t I come and see my best buddy, hmm?” she says, leaning back to gaze up at him, eyes soft. “I wanted to talk to you about last night. Kevin had me on location and wanted to surprise me. I was trying to make the best of it, but I think you were all a bit taken aback and …”
“It’s fine. Really.” He steps away from her and puts a hand on her shoulder like he’s holding her at bay.
“I’ll just go and …” I start, waving vaguely toward my room, but James’s eyes go wide at me over her shoulder.
Goddammit, I promised to be his ride or die where Jane was concerned that night he was drunk. Why did I promise that?
The girl turns the wicked witch into a mouse, and the cat chases it under the floorboards.
“Why didn’t you wait for me to go cycling?” Jane says.
He moves away and puts his helmet on the table by the door. “I’m sorry, Jane. I’ve got a call with Des in about fifteen minutes. I had to go out pretty early this morning.”
She pouts, then looks outside the windows at the sunshine. “You’ve got a work call? At 9 a.m. on a Sunday? I thought we could go and ride and have lunch today.”
He frowns. “Where’s Kevin?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Oh, he’s playing in some soccer game. He came up this weekend for a match.”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. Things are manic. I’m working every weekend at the moment. It’s 10 p.m. in Korea right now. We’ve got other people on the team on this call.”
She huffs and blinks away, eyes glassy. I’m impressed with how much he’s shutting her down.
She’s clearly someone who doesn’t like to be thwarted.
I don’t think she’s used to hearing no from James.
I’m half expecting her to turn on the waterworks.
I stare at James’s face over her shoulder.
How far does her manipulation of him go?
How long has he been trapped by her? I’ve heard so much about Jane, but meeting her today has been a real eye-opener.
I’m beginning to question whether being childhood sweethearts is even a good thing.
I can’t see how she would ever have been right for him.
Their relationship was clearly all about her, and James is such a nice guy, he let her have that.