“Hi Lils,” Danny calls through the glass, although of course she can’t hear us. “Love you!” he sings a little louder, drawing the attention of the diners near us.
“Holy shit,” I mutter.
Meanwhile, Danny turns to me apologetically.
“Sorry to run, but I really need to go. Lily only has a short break between classes, and we want to make the most of our time together. But think over what I said, okay Rach? Your ovaries are drying up and you should really find someone nice to settle down with. I want the best for you. Take care, okay?”
With that, Danny dashes out of the restaurant, sweeps the young girl into his arms, and then plants his face onto her own. If anything, their noses are bumping and saliva is getting all over his chin, but then again, my ex has never been a man of grace. He’s just someone who wants to put his pecker in a teenager, and who am I to judge? People want what they want.
Plus, there’s some truth to his words. I’m twenty-seven now, and the days are beginning to pass at light speed. I need to find someone, but it’s going to be heartbreaking to start once more at square one.
I let myself into Laurelin’s Manhattan townhouse, sobbing and hiccuping through my tears.
“OMG Rach, is that you?” my friend calls out from upstairs. “Come up, but please be quiet because the baby’s sleeping.” Slowly, I trudge up the ornate staircase, watching as my tears plop on the marble steps. It’s so pathetic but the big fat droplets keep coming, and I can’t stop them.
When I get upstairs, Laurelin’s peeking out of the nursery. When she sees me, her eyes go round and then she holds one finger up in a shh! signal before disappearing. Quickly, my buddy steps out of the nursery with the baby monitor in hand and gives me a big hug.
“Come on, sweetie. Let’s go to my room. I just got Jamie down for a nap, so we should be fine.”
I nod, still hiccuping, and follow her with shuffling feet.
She flings open the door to show off an ornate master suite complete with a four poster king-size and a huge bathroom just beyond the sleeping area. My friend plops down on the couch in front of the bed and gazes at me.
“What happened, Rach?” she asks.
I stare at the ground.
“Danny dumped me.”
“What?” she shoots back, shocked.
I nod miserably.
“He dumped me, Laure. For a damn undergrad. An 18-year-old Instagram influencer!”
“Oh my God,” she says with disbelief. “And how old is he again?”
“Thirty,” I say in a morose tone.
“Do they even have anything in common?” she asks, truly perplexed.
I sigh. “Probably not. I mean, she’s pretty, I’ll give her that.”
Laurelin jolts forward.
“You met her?”
I nod. “Well not really. But Danny basically dumped me, and then his new girlfriend was outside the restaurant waiting. So I saw her through the window.”
Laurelin shakes her blonde head.
“I’ll kill him,” she says in a violent tone.
I manage a short, humorless laugh. “No you won’t. And don’t you dare tell your husband because he’d probably die laughing, and then feel sorry for me.”
Laurelin nods and mimes zipping up her lips.
“Tate won’t hear a peep from me. But goodness, Rachel. What the hell? You guys have been together years, and then this happens?”
I nod sorrowfully.
“Yeah, Danny said he went to her dorm,” I spit the word with derision, “to help her set up a computer, and they just ‘clicked’. He actually said that he clicked with her like he’d never clicked with anyone else. What bullshit!” I fling myself down on her mattress and sob into the stupidly expensive sheets while Laurelin clucks and rubs my back.
“Just cry it out, babe. Let the tears do their thing.”
I sob for what feels like forever, and then finally raise my eyes and shoot my buddy a bleary smile.
“Well, at least there are no babies that need to be born in the next forty-eight hours because there’s no way I could be a midwife at this moment.”
Laurelin nods thoughtfully.
“That’s good then. Stay. Cry. Sleep. We’ll order take-out and watch horrible movies and forget about Douchebag Danny. Tate won’t be home until late tonight, so it’ll just be you, me, and the baby. We can even make a voodoo doll of Danny and stick pins in him if you want.”
I try to smile, but it turns out rather watery and wobbly. “Okay, but do you know how to sew?”
Lauren shakes her head, but then gets up, flings open her top drawer, and comes out with a sock ball.
“No, but we can use this if need be. We’ll just treat these socks like a pin cushion and Danny will be writhing with agony, trust me.”
I giggle despite myself. I’m feeling a tiny bit better, even if the ache in my heart hasn’t subsided much. “Thanks. You’re the best friend ever.”