If he can’t win the election on his own merits, he probably shouldn’t run. But if I say that, I’m an unsupportive, insensitive, uncaring daughter. If I continue on that path, what man is going to be willing to marry me and take care of me when I’m older and start spending more and more time in bed, neglecting myself and everyone else around me? Or what if I’m shopping for cereal…and then burst into tears and become inconsolable for no apparent reason, while everyone stares and whispers?
Mom did all those things and more.
She’s a burden, but what can I do, except to put up with her? She’s still my wife, a cross I have to bear. People care about things like that. I overheard Dad say that once when I went over to his office to… I don’t even remember why I was there. I was too shocked and horrified when I heard it—and the following female giggles and uneven breathing. Back then I was too young to understand, but later I realized he was having an affair. With his secretary.
My stomach turns. I put a hand on my belly, hoping it’ll calm down soon. Must stop thinking about things like that. I got out of Saintsville to leave those ugly memories behind. It’s Warren’s reappearance that’s making me relive them.
I hear the door open, and somebody enters. I don’t move, since the bathroom is big enough to host a party.
“So this is where you’re hiding.”
My eyes fly open at the hostile voice. Shelly is standing in front of me, her hands on her hips. Her lips are set in a flat, tight line. She’d look prettier if she weren’t sneering. “Are you too ashamed to show your face after that spectacular scene with your ex and David?”
“What scene?” I didn’t even raise my voice. Neither did Warren. It was all very awkwardly civilized.
“Do you think you can make David forget?” she demands shrilly.
This woman is entirely too confusing. I need an interpreter. “Forget what? You?”
She jabs a finger in my dire
ction. “Look, you need to stay away because David was my first. First come, first served. You’ve heard of that, right?”
I just stare, wondering what that has to do with David. He’s a person, not some TV on a door-buster sale on Black Friday.
On the other hand, I shouldn’t bother. Trying to understand her logic is only making my head hurt more. “It’s not first come, first served. It’s really FIFO,” I say, throwing out an accounting term I learned during my first month as David’s assistant. He attends a lot of interdepartmental meetings, and I had to master all the basic business terms fast.
She looks at me blankly. “Fie-what?”
“FIFO—first in, first out. You were with David first, so now you’re gone.”
Her eyebrows slant upward until they form a tight V on her face. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes at least as much sense as ‘first come, first served.’” It’s clear I’m not going to have any more peace and quiet, so I get up. Plus, I’ve been away long enough. David’s going to wonder if I’ve abandoned him. “I need to get back. If you want to stay here, the whole bathroom’s yours. Just leave me alone.”
For some reason, her attitude reminds me of my former best friend Katrina Benet. She didn’t want to be friends after my mom killed herself. Katrina said mental illness might be contagious, and she didn’t want to be around unhinged people. She even began to bully me with other girls, and that made my life hell. And I was sad and furious that someone I was so close to could turn on me so easily, so cruelly.
Then, when she thought I might marry Warren, she suddenly became nice again. She wanted to use his father’s influence to get government funding for her family business, and thought I’d be dumb enough to not see what she was up to.
David deserves better than someone like Shelly, just like I deserve better than someone like Warren. The difference is that David can easily have that…and I don’t think I can.
Chapter Eight
Erin
When I come out of the bathroom, neither David nor Warren are where I left them. The crowd has thinned out quite a bit, too. Crap. I have no clue where I’m supposed to go now. I pull out my phone to text him.
–Me: Did the auction start?
–David: It’s about to, and I’m looking for you. Where are you?
–Me: Where we were talking with Warren and Shelly.
–David: Be there in a sec.
I put the phone away and look up to see David coming around the corner. He searches my face.
“Are you feeling okay?”