It looks like Erica wasn’t lying. But as Bella said, mixing truth with lies is the best way to tell a story. She was meeting him, but not for the reasons stated, surely. But Wren doesn’t look pissed right now. His body is relaxed as though he’s enjoying the conversation.
She looks contrite, not at all threatening or menacing the way I’ve pictured her. She demonized me, and he’s having a civil lunch with her.
“Allie, just call him. Ask him what he’s doing.”
“Then I’ll look like the stalker the paper said I was,” I grumble.
“No you won’t. Call him.”
I make no move to do so, and I watch as Wren leans in again, saying something to Erica that has her full attention. She’s not acting like a crazy person. She looks a little lost, and Wren seems to be gently conversing with her.
I knew he’d talk to her eventually, but I had pictured things being thrown, voices being raised, both of them on their feet and red-faced with fury. Not this. This looks… like they’re talking about the weather.
I want to run in and stab her in the heart with a fork. Now I sound like the crazy one.
Tria grabs my phone before I can stop her, and she punches in Wren’s number from my contacts. I don’t fight her. I just let her.
I watch, feeling as though I’m on a rollercoaster that is slowly climbing to the top, the anticipation building up to the climatic moment. Then… I drop, and I drop hard.
Wren glances down, sees the name, and swipes a button. Tria immediately lowers the phone with her lips parted in disbelief. Erica smiles up at Wren, no doubt having seen what he just did.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” Tria says, glaring at the back of Wren’s head.
“Then how about that drive?” I ask mildly, even though I’m on the verge of tears.
She backs out and we drive away. She rolls both windows down, and we let the cool air drift through the car with the briny scent of the ocean. No words have to be spoken.
Tria’s phone starts ringing, interrupting our peaceful moment. “Kode,” she says softly, sounding as crestfallen as I feel. “No, I’m with Allie. We’re taking a drive. I’ll be home later… I don’t know what time… I’ll explain when I get home… Love you, too.”
She hangs up, and her phone goes off again. She clicks the power button, shutting it off.
“Kode knows I’ll be home later. Work calls can go to my assistant. No more phone calls from my end.”
I nod while sending a quick text to Bella, letting her know Tria and I will be out for a while. Hopefully a long while. I could drive three states away right now. And if Angel was in here with me, we’d already be gone.
Then, just because I need my best friend to know, I send her a text telling her everything that I just saw. And I ask her to go pick up Angel sometime this afternoon, because I want to see her when I get back to Tria’s house.
But I get worried that she’ll call once she reads it, and I just can’t talk about it right now. Whatever was going on, it hurt to see him ignore my call and focus on her, even if I wasn’t technically the one calling.
I power my phone down, adding to the tranquility, and Tria just drives.
“How far do you want to go?” she asks softly.
“You can take me to get my car if you want, because I want to ride until I stop crying,” I say as the first tear descends. “And that could be a while.”
She sighs, looking so sympathetic, or possibly empathetic—as though she feels my pain.
“I’m up for a road trip,” she tells me, and I lean back, happy that I don’t have to drive when the tears start pouring harder.
Chapter 35
WREN
“She said five,” I tell Mom, pacing back and forth through her house while glancing at the clock. It’s after six. Something is wrong. Has to be.
“Calm down, Wren. I’m sure she’s coming. She’d have called if something was wrong,” Mom says, glancing around the corner to see Angel sitting at the bar, eating her pizza like all is fine in the world.
I almost hugged her too hard when I got here over two hours ago. After that, I filled Mom in on everything. Everyone is watching that video, and they have been all day. Erica is contesting it with her lawyer, but if she manages to get it taken down, it’ll be too late. It’s already too late.
I want to show Allie the new viral show going on, and this one is digital. Erica will hate me for the rest of her life, and I can make peace with that after what she did to Allie and Angel. When she called to berate me, I told her I loved Allie, and I told her to never call me again.