Page 15 of Crow
CHAPTER3
Angie sat backin her desk chair and watched as her friend dabbed the corners of her eyes with a tissue. “It sounds funny now, but at the time, all I wanted to do is run the hell out of there.”
A peal of laughter burst from Silvia’s lips, and her hand quickly flew to her mouth, covering it. “Sorry.” Her voice was muffled.
Angie shook her head. “No worries.” She glanced around the room at the other employees, then lowered her voice. “I’d be laughing my ass off, too, if it wasn’t so damn pathetic.” For the past twenty minutes, she’d been recounting the horrors of her date with Eddie a few nights before.
Silvia leaned in closer. “Where did your aunt findthisone?”
“He’s the son of a friend of a friend—or something like that. Anyway, the guy was a total mismatch—like polar opposite from anyone I’d remotely want. It was too crazy.”
“And hereallywanted you to smell his armpits?”
Angie quirked her lips and nodded.
“I still can’t believe it. What a creep.” Silvia picked up her coffee cup and took a sip, then wrapped her fingers around it. “I thought I had bad luck dating, but you’ve got me beat by a long shot.”
“I’ve decided to tell my aunt that I’m done with blind dates forever. Actually, I’m done with dating, relationships … all of it.”
“Don’t say that. Believe me—I know it’s discouraging to the find ‘the one,’ but he’s out there for you and for me. I justknowMr. Right is just around the corner—I can feel it.” Her friend took another sip of coffee.
Angie smiled. “I’m sure you’ll find a great guy, and you’ll both click. You just have to let it happen and stop thinking about it so much. You’ll find your ‘Mr. Right’ when you least expect it.”
“That’s what my sister says. She met her husband when they crashed into each other coming out of a store.” Silvia laughed. “They’ve been married three years now. And I know you’ll find someone special too.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t want anyone special or not. My aunt and my two brothers don’t seem to understand that I’m simply not interested in meeting anyone. They think I’m still depressed about what happened with Devon.”
“I admire you for not cutting off his”—Silvia scanned the room as if to make sure no one was listening—“balls and scratching the bitch’s eyes out. If one of my best friends had betrayed me like that, I’d be in prison right now doing time for murder.”
“Orange isn’t my color,” she said with a laugh.
Silvia lightly smacked Angie’s arm. “No, really, you should’ve beaten the shit outta the slut.”
“Honestly, I was so shocked that the reality of what was going on didn’t fully process until later. Anyway, the point is that I dealt with it, and it’s over.” Sadness tinged her voice.
“Are you sure about that?”
Shaking her head to dislodge the memories of that awful day, Angie said, “You’re sounding like my brothers Nick and Dominic. I’m not going to lie and say I never think of what’d happened. When I’m feeling vulnerable or had one too many vodka martinis, I may lapse into apoor memode, but that doesn’t happen too often anymore. I’m mostly glad that I found out what a cheating douchebag Devon was before we got married and had a couple of kids. Nowthatwould’ve been way worse.”
“I guess you’re right, but my temper wouldn’t let me forget it.”
“Oh, I haven’t forgotten it.” A slow grin spread across her lips. “That’s why I’m not interested in having a relationship ever again.”
“I’ll bet you change your mind when you meet someone wonderful.”
Angie shrugged and looked past her friend’s shoulder. “Oh crap,” she muttered when she saw her boss waddling toward her.
“What?” Silvia asked.
Before she could answer, Peter Mobley stopped in front of her desk, a frown pinching the space between his dark brows.
“Aren’t you supposed to go to Madera Crossing to investigate that complaint we received a few days ago?” he said, his tone dry.
Silvia’s eyes widened, and her fingers turned white as she clutched her coffee mug. “I’ll talk to you later,” she mouthed before jumping up from her chair and scurrying away.
Peter watched as she rushed by; then, he turned back to Angie. “And where’s the report on the Staub case?”
“I put it on your desk, Peter,” Angie said.
