“No, Kee. Just . . . just get some more rest. I have to get Ivy back anyway. We have to discuss a few things for the gala next month.”
“The gala? Next month already? Is she going?” Keke asked, her eyes misty now. She could feel the bond severing. Lola was letting go.
Ha.
Lola peered over her shoulder and exhaled. “She works for the charity now, so yes, she’s going.”
“You mean she’s taking my spot?” Keke asked blandly.
Lola paused. “Kee, you were in a coma. Even if you wanted to come, you couldn’t. You’d still be recovering, getting things in order with Bailey. Right?”
Keke folded her arms over her chest. “Wow.” She was looking out the window now. “Replaced. Just like that. You know what, Lola, just take your new best friend and get the fuck out. Don’t even bother visiting me tomorrow. We’re done.”
Lola was stuck for a moment, taken completely off guard. She looked between Keke and me, then she shook her head disappointedly and walked in my direction.
“Let’s go, Ivy.” Lola’s heels clicked as she left the room and carried herself down the hallway. I gripped the door handle and looked back at Keke, but she was already glowering at me.
“I know it was you,” she said, dropping her arms. “I know you pushed me, you dumb bitch.”
I stood there a moment, staring right back at her.
My heart was beating a mile a minute, my mouth dry, tacky.
Then I said something I probably shouldn’t have said. Something I knew would bite me right back in the ass one day: “Prove it, bitch.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I am so sorry about Keke’s behavior back there, Ivy.”
Watching Lola drive away from the hospital in a mood the complete opposite of the way she’d arrived was somewhat comical. It was the end of a friendship . . . at least for now. She’d chosen me over Keke, and perhaps I should have been thankful for that, but I knew it wasn’t about one person over the other for Lola. It was about who was more emotionally available for her, and Keke wasn’t that person anymore. Not only that, but she needed me to make sure the boat sailed smoothly for the gala as I worked with Olivia and Noah.
“It’s okay, Lola. Don’t apologize for someone else’s behavior.” I sipped my semicold coffee. “But I told you she hated me.”
“Keke still needs to grow. She thinks everyone is after her because of the situation with Bailey’s father. She hates feeling replaced.”
“What situation?”
“Bailey’s father left Keke for another woman. Got married to her six months later.”
“Really?” I gasped. This I did not know. I just assumed the father was a deadbeat, the way Keke talked about how independent she was.
“Yes, but he’s good with Bailey, and so is his wife, and Keke can’t stand it. They share custody, so he gets Bailey every other week. Sometimes Bailey calls his wife Mom. Keke doesn’t appreciate it and teaches Bailey these awful habits. I can’t sit here and judge her for it. I know it must be hard raising a child alone, but the problem with Keke is she makes everything about her. If she’s not first, no one else can be happy. Her behavior today proved that. She should have appreciated that we came out of our way to see her at all, but instead she tried to berate you. I won’t stand for it.”
Aww, how nice of Lola. Not.
“Listen, I feel awful. I shouldn’t have made you go if you really weren’t comfortable about it. Let me set up dinner tonight. We’ll eat, have some wine, go over the itinerary, and hang out a while. Maybe take a swim today. It’s a nice day, right?”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Sure. I’ll need to stop by my place for a bathing suit.”
“Okay. I’ll take you back to the coffee shop, let you grab your car. Maybe I should follow you to your place and you can ride back with me. I’d love to check it out.”
“Oh—no, you really don’t want to come out there. There is nothing spectacular about it.”
“What? Do you think I’m going to judge you?” she asked, side-eyeing me with a smirk as she turned into the parking lot of the coffee shop.
“Not at all, I just don’t think you should be driving a Tesla through Liberty City is all. You can’t tell me you’ve never heard of Grand Theft Auto?”
“Grand Theft Auto?” She frowned, confused.
“It’s a video game where the characters steal random cars or, most times, rich people’s cars. One of the locations for the game was Liberty City.”
Lola chuckled. “Ah, I see.” She parked the car. “Fair point. Well, meet me tonight around five thirty. I’ll have the wine and food ready.”
Whew. That was a little too close. She could never come to my apartment. It was the only place I felt safe, the only place that didn’t have a touch of Lola. I always thought of it as my secret lair. The place where Ivy Elliot unmasked herself so Ivy Hill could come out and play.