“Jilted bride. Cute. Guess I’m a little slow on the sixth-grade gags. I might’ve gotten Ben Dover or Mike Hawk. But what did you make an appointment for?”
“I have some legal trouble I was hoping you could help me with.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear it. What’s going—oh, wait…” He shook his head. “No. Definitely not. If you’re here about what I think you’re here about, I can’t help you.”
“Please, Simon. I know you were mad that I didn’t give you the heads up before my speech at the wedding, but I thought we were past that.”
Simon ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not mad at you for not telling me. It’s just… I’m trying to put what happened behind me.”
“So am I. That’s why I need you to help me with this ridiculous lawsuit.”
“I can refer you to someone.”
“Come on, Simon. Isn’t there a little part of you that wants to stick it to Christian?”
He took a deep breath. “There’s a big part of me that would like to pummel him. But I promised Mia I’d work on letting it go.”
My head reared back. “Mia? Why would you promise her anything?”
Simon looked back and forth between my eyes. “You don’t know we’re back together, do you? Mia and I are trying to work it out.”
My face twisted. “What? Why would you do that?”
He took off his glasses and tossed them on his desk before rubbing his eyes. “It’s complicated, Evie.”
My face grew hot. “No, it’s not. When your girlfriend is caught screwing her best friend’s fiancé, it’s pretty simple. You throw her shit out on the lawn and change the locks. How could you take her back?”
Simon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I love her. She made a mistake.”
“She didn’t make a mistake. She made it dozens of times. It wasn’t like they had too much to drink one night, wound up in bed, and regretted it the next morning. They carried on an affair for months—with her supposed best friend’s fiancé. We went out to dinner as a foursome all the time, Simon! Her hand was probably on his dick under the table while the two of us sat there like fools.”
“I know you’re upset, but… Mia feels terrible about what she did to you.”
“They slept together in the honeymoon suite the night before the wedding. My dress hung five feet away from where he had her bent over. She was staring at her best friend’s wedding dress while Christian stuck it in her ass, Simon! Her ass! She’s told me she didn’t let you do that to her!”
He looked over my shoulder. “Please. Keep your voice down. I work here.”
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have come. I just… I thought we were friends, and I needed legal help, and… I don’t know. I guess I thought we could exact revenge together somehow.”
Simon frowned. “We are friends, Evie.”
“No, we’re not. You can’t be friends with someone who’s on the other side of the enemy line. I have no hard feelings toward you, but let’s be realistic. We’re never going to hang out again. Maybe you’ll write Happy Birthday on my Facebook wall, and I’ll post an LOL on the occasional Instagram picture, but that’s the extent of it.”
Simon’s mouth set to a grim line. There wasn’t anything he could say, because he knew I was right. And really, I felt sorry for him. Mia had screwed over him and her best friend. That wasn’t a mistake; it was a character flaw. And she would do it again to the poor bastard.
I stood and held out my hand. “Goodbye, Simon. Good luck.”
He stood. “Do you want me to at least refer you to someone?”
“No.” I smiled sadly. “That’s okay. Thanks anyway.”
I walked out of Simon’s office feeling like a layer of new flesh had been ripped off a gaping wound. I’d known coming here to talk about what had happened wouldn’t be easy. But I hadn’t been expecting this. Six months had gone by, and it seemed I was the only person left behind. Christian had posted a photo while out on a date the other night, and Mia… She’d gotten her boyfriend and her old life back. Meanwhile, I was unemployed, homeless, a laughingstock to a billion people, and about to be sued for everything I’d earn over the next ten years—if I could actually find a job.
• • •
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” Greer frowned. I’d arrived at her specialty wine shop a little earlier than she’d needed me to so I could fill her in about Simon and Mia. I hadn’t been able to shake the conversation I’d had with him, and I’d wound up going out to Brooklyn to take a long walk on a beach where I often collected sea glass before coming to the shop.
“I expected he might turn me down. Simon was never big on drama—that was Mia’s forte. But I never anticipated he’d turn me down because he and Mia were back together.”