“All I’m saying is that you didn’t plan it. It’s not like when we hopped on the plane to Vegas you said, ‘I’m getting me some strange this weekend.’ Shelly will come around.”
“I hope you’re right, because as it stands now, she won’t take any of my calls or answer any of my texts.”
I heard the clicking of heels before the yelling began.
“You mother-fucking son-of-a-bitch!”
Great, just what I needed.
I turned and said, “Hey, Sasha,” just as she rounded the corner.
Sasha was impressive even when she wasn’t seething in anger. At about five foot nine with waves of red hair and legs that were a mile long, Sasha made an impression wherever she went.
“Don’t you ‘Hey’ me, you low life. I just heard what you did to Shelly and I came straight here to kick your ass!”
“Did you talk to her?” I asked, brushing my hands on a rag as I walked toward her. I couldn’t keep the worry out of my voice. “How’s she doing?”
Sasha stopped a few feet away and tilted her head, her look puzzled.
“No, I didn’t talk to her, but Gaby has. What’s going on? Did you really cheat on her?” Some of the fight had gone out of her face, and she looked almost as sad as I felt.
I had to get away before I did something embarrassing, like break down.
“Not now, Sasha,” I said with my hands up, before I turned and walked to the back of the shop.
The door didn’t close all the way, so I could hear TJ say to her, “He’s having a hard time too, Sash, and he doesn’t need you coming in here and bustin’ his balls.”
I could just imagine Sasha’s face going from concerned right back to riled up. She and TJ had never been able to get along, but they both loved Shelly and me, so they usually made an attempt to.
“I didn’t ask you, of course you’re going to stick up for him, no matter what he’s done.”
“It’s not like that. You know Cal would never do anything to hurt Shelly. The two of them are like a fifty-year-old married couple. He made a mistake. She’s pissed. They’ll work it out … And they don’t need you making it harder by getting all ‘Amazon Woman’ on Cal.”
“Suck it, TJ,” Sasha said, but her voice sounded less angry.
“What’d you do, hear about it at the coffee house or something and come storming over without getting the facts? You know Cal better than that. Why don’t you cut him some slack and give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s broken up about what happened. Give him a chance to make it right.”
By Sasha’s silence, I knew he was probably pretty accurate. Sasha was well known for her temper, especially when it came to her girls.
“Shit … You’re right. You know you’d react the same way if the shoe was on the other foot. Tell Cal I’m sorry … For now. But if I go and hear the same shit from Shelly that I heard at breakfast I’ll be back.”
“We wouldn’t expect any less,” TJ said, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.
I gave it a few minutes, until I was sure that I’d
be able to hold my shit, then I walked outside.
“Is it safe?” I tried to lighten the mood a bit, although I felt anything but light.
“Yeah,” TJ said with a grin. “She sure is hot when she’s pissed though, huh?”
I chuckled at him. As much as they always got under each other’s skin, I was surprised they’d never hooked up. It was a long-running joke in our group.
The thought of our group being fractured now was another stab to my heart. I’d fucked up more than I thought in one night. And I couldn’t even remember why.
“I’m gonna go see Shelly,” I said suddenly. “Can you cover for me here?”
TJ opened his arms and gestured around the empty bays.