Chapter 180
Serena
+2 Bonus
Jenna called during afternoon rounds.
I let it ring twice before I answered.
“Serena.” Jenna’s voice came through loud. “I miss you. I deeply miss you and I need you to know that.”
“Hello to you too, Jenna.” I said with a smile.
“Don’t hello me. Do you know how long it’s been? Do you
even care? I’ve been sitting here thinking about you and
you’ve not called, you’ve not texted, nothing.”
I pressed my fingers to my mouth. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy,” she repeated. “Busy. Serena, I’ve been busy too. I’m always busy. I still make time.”
“You’re calling me right now.”
“Because I miss you. Are you even listening? Don’t you want to hang out with me anymore? Is this how we’re doing thing§4
now?”
< Chapter 180
“Say you miss me.”
“I’m at work.”
+2 Bonus
“Say it.”
“I miss you,” I said. “There. Are you happy?”
“Moderately,” she said. “Come for lunch. Trevor’s with me. We
haven’t done this in forever.”
I looked at the stack of charts on my desk.
I was months pregnant and tired and stressed, not from any single thing but from everything pressing at once. Jenna required energy. She filled a room and didn’t leave much
room for recovery.
But it had been a while.
“Fine,” I said. “Where?”
They were already at the table when I arrived, Jenna with
her coat still on and Trevor with his sleeves rolled up, both 2/10
11:24
of them loose and easy where I hadn’t been in months. I sat
&
+2 Bonus
< Chapter 180
waiter came and I ordered without looking at the menu.
“You look exhausted,” Jenna said.
“I am exhausted,” I said.
“Eat something,” Trevor said.
“I just ordered,” I said.
Jenna looked at me across the table with her arms folded and her chin propped on one hand.
“It’s been too long,” she said. “Is it because of me? Because of
who I am to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Kieran,” she said. “I’m his sister. Is that why you’ve been keeping your distance?”
I looked at her.
It occurred to me. Jenna was my friend and she had been for
years, but she was Kieran’s sister before she was anything
else. When it came down to it, when the choice arrived and 3/10 there was no way to hold both sides at once, she would go
11:24
+2 Bonus
< Chapter 180
“It crossed my mind,” I said.
Jenna dropped her arm from the table and leaned forward.
“I’ve been with you this whole time,” she said. “When Sophie
showed up, when the summit happened, when Fiona came for you. I’ve been on your side every time. And I made
sure Sophie knew where I stood.” She looked at me. “Stop doubting me.”
I looked back at her.
Trevor cleared his throat. “For what it’s worth,” he said, “we’re
both behind you. Whatever you’re going through, we’re here.”
“Always have been,” Jenna said. She reached across the table and put her hand over mine briefly. “And I mean that, Serena.
Not because of him. Because of you.”
“I know Kieran is my brother,” Trevor said. “And I know that
makes my position complicated. But I’ve known you for
years and what’s been done to you in that marriage is not
something I’m going to sit on my hands about.” He looked at
- “If you need something, you call. Either of us.”
Jenna pointed her fork at him. “What he said.”
4/10
11:25
< Chapter 180
“Thank you,” I said.
The food arrived. Trevor picked up his fork and set it back
down.
+2 Bonus
“What are you getting for your mother’s birthday?” he asked.
I looked at him. “You remember her birthday?”
“We’ve been friends for years, Serena.”
I laughed. “Jewelry,” I said. “I already sorted it. And Kieran is coming to the dinner.”
Jenna’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth.
“So you’ve forgiven him?” she said. “Because lately it seems
like you’ve let the divorce thing go.”
“I haven’t let anything go,” I said. “The summit was two days ago, Jenna. He spent the entire evening with Sophie. He defended Sophie in front of everyone. He took her hand and walked away with her while I stood there. How would I have let it go?”
Jenna put her fork down. 5/10
11:25
+2 Bonus
< Chapter 180
“I have stopped fighting,” I said. “On purpose. Fighting with him doesn’t get me the divorce. Fighting with him makes him dig in. And I’m pregnant. If I keep myself in a constant state of anger it goes somewhere and the baby feels it.” I looked at them both. “So I stopped. I play the good wife. I go to dinners and I say thank you when he cooks and I let him think we’re moving in the right direction. And I wait until he gets tired or until I have enough to work with.”
Trevor listened with his arms on the table.
“Okay,” he said. “That’s a plan.”
“It’s the only plan that hasn’t made things worse,” I said.
Jenna looked at the table for a moment. Then she looked at
“You know what I keep thinking about?” she said. “The
summit. I keep seeing his face when you walked out. He
cared. He cared and he still chose her. That’s what I can’t
forgive him for.” She shook her head. “He had everything right in front of him.”
“Don’t get me started,” I said.
11:25
4’m already started,” she said. “I’m going to be started about
< Chapter 180
+2 Bonus
Trevor picked up his glass. “To Serena,” he said.
Jenna raised hers. “To Serena,” she said. “And to the divorce. May it come soon and cost him everything.”
I raised my water glass and laughed.
Andrew arrived twenty minutes later. Trevor waved at him and Andrew pulled a chair to the end of the table and helped himself to Trevor’s bread without asking.
“When did you invite him?” I said to Trevor.
“Just now,” Trevor said. “He was nearby.”
Andrew looked at me. “You look tired,” he said.
“I’ve been told,” I said.
We were mid-conversation, the four of us, when I heard my
name.
I turned.
Fiona stood three tables away, her bag in her hand and her
jaw set. She wasn’t looking at anyone else in the room.
7/10
11:25
+2 Bonus
< Chapter 180
She walked toward us and I watched her come.
“Disgusting,” Fiona said. The tables nearest to us went
quiet. “You’re sitting here laughing with a table full of men
while your husband is at home. Do you have any shame
at all?” She looked at me with her chin forward. “You won’t
divorce him because you need his money. You’re clinging to everything he provides and then you turn around and run to his family and friends to make yourself look like the victim. I
can’t believe anyone falls for it.”
I opened my mouth.
Jenna’s chair scraped back.
Fiona barely had time to turn before Jenna grabbed her by
the hair.
The table beside us lurched and someone gasped. Trevor leaned back in his chair and watched. Andrew picked up his
bread and took a bite. Neither of them moved.
Jenna pulled Fiona backward. Fiona grabbed for Jenna’s arm and missed. They moved into the aisle with Fiona trying to get purchase and Jenna not letting her find any.
Pwatched.
11:25
<Chapter 180
+2 Bonus
Kieran’s sister, his blood, the woman who should have been loyal to her brother above everything, was in the middle of a restaurant aisle fighting someone on my behalf. Just yesterday, Fiona said worse things to me with Kieran standing two feet away and he didn’t move until she came
for him. Jenna didn’t wait for her own name.
Sophie came through the entrance at speed, pushing between them with both arms out, trying to get Jenna back, saying something I couldn’t hear over the noise of the room.
Jenna’s hand came across Sophie’s face.
Sophie went still. Her hand came up to her cheek. The room
went quiet.
Jenna looked at what she’d done.
I looked at Sophie.
Aina pressed in my chest.
3
9/10
Write your comment
