“I’ll see you in the morning.”
He climbs into the car and drives off, leaving me alone on the sidewalk.
“You all right?”
I turn around and find Ursula on the doorstep. “Yeah,” I say. “I’m all right.”
“We going back inside?”
My heart sinks when we go back in. Buffy and Melanie walk out of the bathroom together. They both look at me, and it’s like a Western standoff. Me and Ursula. Buffy and Melanie. The only thing missing is a clock about to strike noon.
Melanie’s drunk. I’ve never seen her drunk before. She storms up to me, swaying from side to side. “Come to gloat?” she asks, wafts of alcohol coming from her mouth, the smell nearly knocking me backward. “Wasn’t it enough that you got me fired? Had to come here and spoil my night out.”
“I had no idea you were here.”
“Yeah, right. Are you fucking him? I bet you are. That’s why you said you’d be late back from Rome. Hooked up with Hunter Lombardi, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Convenient that he fired Catherine and me, but you get to keep your job on the day I was going to let you go. What a coincidence, am I right?”
Buffy appears beside her. “What is she supposed to do for money now?” she asks, glaring at me like she’s about to spit in my face.
I turn to face Ursula. “I think we should go.”
Melanie grabs my shoulder. “You’re going nowhere. You’re going to tell your fuck buddy to reinstate us.”
“I don’t know why you think I have any influence over Hunter.”
“First name terms? I might have guessed.” She pokes me in the chest, almost losing her balance. She staggers back, grabbing hold of Buffy to stay upright. “He’ll never make you editor, no matter how much pussy you give him.”
“I don’t want to be the editor.”
“Yeah, right. Sucking up to me all these months. Doing everything I say, telling me you’ve got all these great ideas for the firm. You wanted my job, and you forced me out. I got to say, I never saw it coming. You’ve got an evil streak in you, Bex.”
She prods me again. Ursula gets between us. “Go home, Melanie. You’re drunk.”
“And you’re fat, and I know you all call me Melanie behind my back, but I don’t care. I’d be proud to be Meryl Streep. Who’d play you? A big tub of lard?.”
“I’m a size eight, you mad bitch.”
“Eighteen more like. The two of you are a pair of hogs. Ugly hogs. You belong in the mud, not on your feet.” She shoves Ursula, slipping off her shoulder and crashing to the ground, shrieking. “Did you see that?” she yells. “She pushed me. She’s beating me just like Hunter Lombardi did to me. Call the cops.”
I turn to face Ursula. “I’m going home. Are you coming?”
“Don’t let these two spoil your night. Stay.”
“I’ll see you at home.”
“You sure? We’ve only just got here.”
“I’m sure.”
“Yeah,” Melanie yells after me. “Walk away, bitch. Next time I see you, you’re dead.”
I head outside, hailing the first cab I see.
“Where to?” the cabbie says as I climb in. He glances back at me from behind a thick pair of glasses. He’s got a Cubs baseball cap on. In fact, the whole cab is filled with Cubs stuff. Ticket stubs, signed photos, even a baseball glued to the dash.