Page 86 of Fake it For Good
“You sit there so smug and arrogant like you’ve won at life. You think that woman you’re with is into you. She’s not. You called me a social climber. Ha! Look at her. Do you even know who she is? I asked around about her. No one has heard of her before that night. She’s only with you to get in good with your connections. She doesn’t give a shit about you. You are a means to an end. She is so using you. I thought you were smarter than that. I suppose you’re taking her to the party?”
“I am,” I said.
“I bet she’s got her phone ready to fill it with new contacts she met because of you,” she said. “She’s looking to get promoted or maybe she gets a percentage of the money she takes from those suckers. You’re going to get burned. Those people are there to get drunk and find someone to take home. They are there to make more money. They are not going to appreciate being solicited. It makes you look bad. You’re going to lose a lot of ground. I can’t wait to see you crumble. And you’ll have your little girlfriend to thank. Once you’re sunk, do you think you are of any value to her? No. She will drop you faster than you can blink. And guess what? I’m going to be there laughing my ass off. I told you I was going to take your top spot. She’s helping me do that.”
“Go,” I said and pointed to the door. “Just get out.”
She laughed and got to her feet. I watched her walk out, and as usual, she didn’t close the door. I didn’t get up to close it. Her parting words were buzzing through my mind. There was a nugget of truth to what she said. When this was over, was it over with Noelle? She was collecting numbers and getting her name out there because she was with me. I needed to remind myself this was not real.
30
NOELLE
“Let’s go shopping,” I said when Marie answered the phone.
She yawned. “Why are you up already?”
“Aren’t you at work?” I asked.
“There’s some office cleaning or something,” she said. “We’re supposed to work from home. I don’t really have anything to do. Therefore, I’m sleeping in.”
“Perfect! Let’s go shopping. At a real store. I need to get some accessories for my dress. I want to make sure I look the part. This is a big deal for Cane. I don’t want to let him down.”
“Sure,” she answered. “I’ll go, but can we do it in like two hours? I want to sleep just a little more.”
“Lazy bones,” I teased.
“I’ll own that.”
“Goodnight,” I said. “I’ll see you in a bit. Just meet me at the outlet store.”
“I’ll be there.”
After hanging up with her, I sized up the costume I was supposed to wear for the event. It was different than any costume I had seen. It wasn’t the frumpy, old lady look. It wasn’t the sexy bedroom look with a skirt that showed off my ass. Although the sexy one might be fun for a night at his house. If therewasa night at his house. I wasn’t going to get into my head about that right now. I needed to stay focused on the party.
I bought two coffees and waited out front of the store we frequented. It was an outlet store for a bunch of different brands. It was secondhand but yet new. We often got some pretty good deals.
“Thank you.” She took the coffee. “Why in the hell is it so cold?”
“Because it’s winter.”
“It wasn’t this cold yesterday,” she complained.
“Let’s go in.”
“What are we looking for?” she asked. “I thought you ordered that dress from that weird online company.”
“I did. I got the dress, but I need some white gloves,” I said. “I was also thinking of wearing festive earrings. The model on the costume didn’t have any, but I’m thinking some bulbs or ornaments. Something a little cheesy but fun.”
“I can’t wait to see you in the getup.”
“The dress is amazing,” I told her. “And very heavy. I’m probably going to be sweating my ass off.”
“Has Cane seen it?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I told him it would be a surprise. I think he thinks I’m going to show up in a little skirt with thigh-highs.”
“You mean hehopesyou’re going to show up in thigh-highs,” she said, laughing.
