Page 84 of I’d Be Honored

THE NEXT MORNING, HAYLEY WOKE WITH a splitting headache. She had polished off the bottle of scotch the night before, too numb to even enjoy the taste. But it was time to get back to work. Some water and a couple of Advil would be the first step. She shot a text to Sarah, asking her assistant to meet her at the office with a triple-shot oat milk latte and something greasy to eat.

Hayley focused on pulling herself together just enough to get lost in what she did best—selling real estate.

——

Over the next week, she closed on the second-to-last apartment in her dad’s Brooklyn building, leaving only the penthouse left on the market. Then she sold two condos in SoHo and another in Gramercy Park. Hayley was performing at the top of her game, her monthly sales breaking into a new personal record, but all she felt was hollowness.

This was the life she’d always wanted, built with her own two hands. She had collected enough wealth by that point to retire any time she pleased, yet she felt lower than she ever had before.

Hayley felt herself fading with each passing day. No amount of money—or scotch—was able to dull the ache in her chest. She had fully redonned her iron-clad emotional armor, but it no longer felt like a shield. It was a coffin, sealing her inside a prison of her own making. She lived in her own private circle of hell, haunted by thoughts of Maddie from the moment she opened her eyes.

She would have given anything to stop the loop, yet her yearning for Maddie refused to fade, no matter how much time or distance stretched between them. She knew she couldn’t go on like this much longer.

After working herself to the bone around the clock, Hayley had lost track of what day it was. She still hadn’t spoken to Gemma since she’d barged into Hayley’s apartment the day after the wedding. In fourteen years, they had never gone more than a single day without talking. Hayley needed to fix it.

Swallowing her pride, she shot Gemma a text, asking her to meet for coffee that afternoon.

——

“Hi.” Hayley offered a tentative smile as Gemma reached their usual table. She had shown up to the café early, making sure Gemma’s drink was hot and waiting.

“Hi.” Gemma sat down, avoiding their usual greeting.

“Gemma, I am so sorry.” Hayley slid the vanilla latte toward her as an olive branch. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away or taken things out on you. That wasn’t fair. You’re my best friend, and I know you were just trying to help.”

Gemma took a sip of her coffee, her shoulders easing as she finally looked at Hayley. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions without talking to you. I just worry about you, Hayley.”

“I know you do. That’s why you’re my person. But I promise, I’ll be fine.” Hayley paused, hesitating. “Have either of you heard from Maddie? I think she might have blocked me.”

Gemma frowned as she sat back in her chair. “Caitlin’s talked to her. She’s really upset, but that’s all I know. You’re going to have to find a way to talk to her yourself.”

Hayley had tried. She’d even sent Maddie a message on Instagram, only to be blocked there as well.

“You’re right.” She reached across the table to place her hand on top of Gemma’s. “How are you? How’s married life?”

Hayley let herself relax as Gemma gushed about Caitlin and what they had been up to since the wedding, using the easy chatter to distract her from the turmoil inside.

At the end of their coffee date, Hayley pecked her best friend’s cheek goodbye and forced her feet to take her back to the office. Real estate was the only thing keeping her upright, the only thing that stood a chance at distracting her mind from Maddie. Sometimes it actually worked. Most of the time, she found herself going through the motions while still imagining bright blue eyes staring back at her.

Hayley remembered that Gemma had air-dropped the professional wedding photos to her at the coffee shop earlier. As she settled at her desk, she pulled out her phone, suddenly needing to look through them. She swiped past the typical bridal party posed pictures until she landed on the snapshots from the reception. There were stills of Caitlin and Gemma clinking glasses at the bar, and of Gemma and Hayley laughing on the dance floor.

Then an image filled the screen, and Hayley’s heart stumbled. It was her and Maddie, smiling as they clung to each other after the ceremony. Maddie’s blonde waves lifted around her face in a wild halo of light, reflecting the sun’s last rays as it sank behind them. The photo radiated pure love and a kind of fragile vulnerability that felt almost sacred. The happiness immortalized across their faces was so raw and unguarded that Hayley almost didn’t recognize herself.

Her cell phone pinged in her hand, and Hayley gasped, her fingers tightening around it. Her hope of a message from Maddie evaporated when she saw her father’s name. He was asking her to come over after work for dinner.

It wasn’t entirely unusual, but lately their relationship had settled into a pattern of phone calls, business dinners with clients, and trips to potential new buildings. A quiet meal at their family dinner table, just the two of them, had become rare in the past few years.

Worry surged through Hayley as she typed back a reply, letting him know that she would be there.

——

After Hayley had flicked off the office lights and locked the doors that evening, she headed straight to the Upper West Side.

“Hello, my beautiful girl.” Her dad hugged her tightly as she entered the condo. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“What’s going on, Dad?” Hayley asked, nerves pushing her words out too quickly as she tried to guess the reason behind the unexpected invitation.

“Right to the point, that’s my Hayley.” Her dad gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen.