She felt happiness knowing Gerri was there but also rage because she'd set them up. She'd pushed her toward Jake, knowing full well he was a dick.
Casey pulled herself up and turned to her. Gerri's eyes widened, and she almost looked shocked. Casey looked her up and down, not moving a muscle.
Had Jake not told her about what happened? What he did? Had he just forgotten to mention it?
“Well.” Gerri frowned. “You look a little less than wonderful but still good.”
Casey scowled, crossing her arms. “I don't know whether I want to cry or hit you, Gerri.”
Gerri took a step back. “It's not nice to hit your elder.”
Casey would have snorted at that if she wasn't on the verge of tears. She turned, going back to the dryer. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to check in on you, see how things were with you and Jake.”
“Fabulous,” she growled, pulling the lint out. “Fucking wonderful.”
Gerri was quiet for a solid minute before she sighed. “What happened?”
Casey could hear the shift in her voice, someone that wanted to understand where everything had gone wrong.
She wanted to tell Gerri, but could she? Wasn't she friends with Jake? Would Jake somehow tell her what she was feeling wasn't valid?
Casey pulled herself up and looked at Gerri, seeing she was being sincere in her question. She honestly wanted to know.
“I invited him to meet my friends. We had a fight about it, and so I invited him to come. He didn't. He never showed. We waited for two hours, and he never came.”
She watched Gerri take her words in, nodding slightly.
“I don't know what even went wrong. He texted me he was leaving for business for a couple weeks, possibly more, and that was it. He's not called me. He hasn't texted. Nothing. He just ... ghosted me.”
Casey swallowed, feeling tears build up once more. “I just…I don't understand what happened. Everything was fine. Well, I thought it was. I guess I thought he was planning on leaving me because I'm so average.”
“Darling.” Gerri took a step toward her, patting her hand. “You're anything but average. Men do stupid things for the dumbest reasons.”
“Well, what was the reason this time? God!” Casey frowned. “I got my hopes up, and I opened myself up, and this happened.”
Gerri stood silent as she rubbed her eyes, trying to stop the tears.
“Well, that's terrible about Jake. I expected better.” She shook her head. “But if it's not too much to ask, I'll offer you something. Well, it's more of a favor, really.”
Casey took a deep breath in, trying to pull herself together.
“I am hosting a charity event tonight, and my date decided that he had better things to do than take my fabulous self to the event. So, would you mind coming? I'd hate to have an empty chair and get questions because of it. I have a reputation to uphold and all.”
She couldn't help but chuckle at Gerri's personality. It sounded just like something she could do. “Of course.” What could she lose? Maybe it would help her get over Jake. Maybe it would be good for her.
Gerri gave her a quick hug, then left.
Work seemed to drag, but she had something to look forward to. Something to get her mind off Jake. She left when her shift ended at five with plenty of time to get home and get ready.
She arrived home to the apartment empty. She liked it that way. She'd rather not explain where she was headed that night. Her friends had wanted to take her out, and she kept telling them no. She knew they would be hurt to hear she agreed to an event with someone she didn't even know that well.
She showered, scrubbing at every inch of her body. She lotioned herself after and applied several swipes of deodorant before she walked into her closet.
Her normal style was not going to work for this charity event. She needed to look modest, like someone that belonged. She would rather wear her normal clothes, but she knew she needed to up her style.
So, she eyed up one of the dresses from Gerri that would work for the occasion. It was a plum-colored long dress with a plunging neckline. A slit went up the side, and she could wear it with black high heels that had a little bling on the side.