Chapter One
“That movie sucked.”
Mia Skinner smiled at her friends as they exited the theater. “It wasn’t so bad.”
Morgan actually snorted. “It was totally unbelievable.”
“What? You don’t believe in fate?” Jenna smiled, her expression dreamy and her eyes went hazy. “Brett and I always joke about how we were meant to be.”
“Because you two met in the rain and shared an umbrella? Then went back to your place and had crazy monkey sex? Give me a break. I think that was more about being hot for each other than fate.” Morgan pointed this out, ever the skeptic.
Jenna shot her an irritated glance. “Fate put him in front of me that afternoon. Something possessed Brett to start talking to me.”
“Yeah, it was your umbrella. He was tired of getting drenched.”
“Stop fighting, you two,” Mia admonished as they entered the noisy restaurant a few yards away from the theater. She glanced about the crowded place. “Think we’ll be able to get a table?”
“We can always sit at the bar,” Jenna said as they approached the hostess.
“I should check my voicemail and make sure Larry didn’t call,” Mia said, referring to her boss. As his assistant, he kept her on the go twenty-four/seven. Unfortunately, everyone thought he took total advantage of her.
But it was her job, right? She needed to be available to him at all times. He was a busy man with a busy life. So she made a few sacrifices, so what? She didn’t have time for a relationship but she was still young. Heck, she barely had time for friends. Thank goodness she saw Morgan and Jenna every day at work or else she’d be a total recluse on the weekends. They forced her to go out with them, telling her she needed a break and secretly she knew they were right.
“Whatever you do, don’t check your voicemail,” Morgan warned, pointing a finger at her. “Larry can cool his jets on a Friday night. He’s probably taking his wife out to some swanky place anyway. Showing off her latest boob job or whatever he bought her.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “I heard they’re not doing well. Might even be on the brink of divorce.”
Mia kept her lip buttoned. It wasn’t her place to talk about the private life of her boss. Besides, she knew what was going on and didn’t plan on spreading the gossip because he would realize she was the source. “He doesn’t tell me anything.”
“Liar,” Morgan drawled, her lips curling into a little smirk.
Mia ignored her comment and searched her purse. Her fingers slipped over her keys, her iPod, her wallet. The notepad she always kept handy, a couple of pens, her sunglasses, a lip gloss she constantly forgot to wear even though she loved the color.
No phone.
Panic welled and she held the purse open in front of her, scanning its contents. Jenna grabbed her by the arm and tugged her to the side so they stood out of the way of the hostesses’ podium.
“What’s wrong?” Jenna asked, her voice low, as if she sensed Mia’s growing panic, which, knowing Jenna, she probably could.
“I can’t find my phone.” Mia’s breath came short as her fingers scrambled past every scrap of paper and neglected receipt, yet another pen, a wad of gum wrappers. God, her purse was a mess. She should buy a smaller one. One that wouldn’t allow her prized BlackBerry to hide from her like it was prone to do.
“It’s in there somewhere,” Jenna said, her voice kind. Oh yeah, she knew Mia was freaking.
“Wouldn’t it be great if you lost it?” Morgan’s tone held a particular high note of glee. “Larry wouldn’t be able to get a hold of you for the entire weekend. You’d be free.”
“That’s not funny,” Mia muttered. If she weren’t in the middle of a packed restaurant she’d turn her purse upside down and dump its entire contents out. “I don’t think it’s in here.”
“Well, where did it go?” Jenna peered over Mia’s shoulder, staring into the gaping black hole of Mia’s purse. “That thing is huge.”
“I know. I have to get a smaller one.” She’d go to the mall first thing tomorrow and buy one. She couldn’t live like this. It wasn’t the first time she thought she’d lost her phone. But usually, it turned up.
This time, it wasn’t turning up.
“It’s gone.” Mia looked from Jenna’s face to Morgan’s. “I lost it.” Despair filled her, thickening in her throat, nearly choking her. She swallowed hard. Told herself not to panic.
Too late.
Morgan frowned. “But how? And where?”
“Probably the movie theater.” Mia rifled through her purse one last time, her hand stirring the contents. She didn’t want to admit she’d snuck a look while they were in the middle of the movie, checking her text messages. Of course, there had been three waiting from Larry, one with the original question and two more asking her for the answer. She’d texted hurriedly, not wanting to get caught, and she’d dumped the phone back into her purse.
Or so she thought. Maybe it hadn’t gone into her purse at all. For all she knew it was lying on the sticky, nasty floor of the movie theater, still under her seat.
“I need to go back to the theater,” she declared, heading toward the double doors of the restaurant.
“Oh, no, you
don’t.” Morgan grabbed her arm to keep her from walking straight out. “Let’s call the phone first. Maybe someone found it and they’ll answer.”