I nodded. “And I know how he is. I know when things are too much for him he shuts down, but he’s been better. Since we got together he’s been nothing but open and upfront. And… if he wasn’t bothered by her reappearance, why did he turn into such an asshole when she first arrived? I get that he was worried about telling me but he was outright nasty some days. The thing I keep coming back to is… if he truly didn’t feel anything for her, would he have reacted so strongly?”
“I wish I could answer that for you, babe. But he’s going to have to figure it out fast. With the wedding coming up…”
I let out a small groan before placing my head in my hands again. “I know. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. It’s too soon to worry about whether or not we need to cancel or postpone anything, because maybe I’ll be lucky and this will all settle down quickly. But I can’t stop thinking about what will happen if we get to that point. If he chooses her.”
Freya shook her head. “Not gonna happen. At worst, maybe you’ll have to postpone the wedding a little, but it will go ahead, Leah.” She sighed. “Of all people, I know how much it sucks when life screws with the plans you made, but you and Radleigh… you’re going to make it. He is not stupid enough to throw everything away for her.”
Before I could answer, I heard my phone beep in my bag. I reached down for it and let out another groan. I’d set up alerts for any time Radleigh’s or my name popped up in the news. It had proved to be pretty useful in telling us stuff about us we never even knew, but the main reason for having it was so we could keep track of what was being said, and whether we needed to get our PR people to clear up any rumours. With everything that had been happening recently, this particular alert made goosebumps pop up on my skin, and I clicked to investigate.
The link led me to a gossip website showing a photo of Jen, Jayden and Harley on Rodeo Drive, along with a story speculating about why she was in L.A, and then a photo of Radleigh going into his parents’ house, with further speculation that maybe there was something wrong between us, and it had to do with Jen. It was a non-story – there was nothing abnormal about Radleigh going to his parents’ house. This was clutching at straws at its best. Well, it would have been if Jen hadn’t just turned our world upside down.
I handed the phone to Freya. “And so it begins.”
Freya’s eyes widened as she read the trashy article, and when she was done, she slid my phone back across the table to me. “These journalists don’t mess around, do they? One sniff of gossip and they’re all over it.”
“Yup. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to suck.”
Freya stared at me for a moment, lost in thought. Then, out of nowhere, she said, “Go home.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
She laughed. “Go home, shower, put on your finest clothes. We’re going out.”
“We are?”
“Yes. I am calling everyone and we are going out for some drinks. You need to take your mind off everything, and since you don’t have Jessica tonight, this is the perfect chance for you to blow off some steam. What do you say?”
Nights out with friends had been rare since Jessica came along. Not completely non-existent, but certainly substantially less than the days before we had responsibilities. And bonus – nobody had work the next day so we could actually stay out late without anyone having to worry about a hangover.
Ooh, hangovers. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had one of those.
“I’m in.”
Chapter Ten – Faking Happiness Is Hard Work
Four hours later, I was in one of our favourite clubs with Freya, Miguel, Jesse, Bryce, Bree and Jude. I had to admit, it was a little odd not to have Radleigh by my side, but, in the interests of keeping the lines of communication open, I had called him to let him know I was going out. When I told him who I’d be with, he was fine with it, which pretty much meant that Bryce would be my chaperone for the evening. This wasn’t a trust thing, it was a safety thing. Radleigh much preferred me going out if there was someone around to make sure nothing bad happened to me. His over-protectiveness stemmed partially from the fact that I had the potential to become a target for any of his crazy stalkers. Not that he had millions of them, but since Taylor, he’d always been extra careful. Most of the time, I’d tell him to stop being silly. I never went anywhere alone, and if I wasn’t driving myself, I got cabs everywhere rather than walking alone at night. Still, he was happier knowing Bryce was around.
Being out of the house on a day when real life had threatened to suffocate me was a relief, and I took a sip of the mystery cocktail Freya had handed me. It was red, fruity, and as the liquid trickled down my throat, I felt myself relaxing immediately.
The club we’d chosen was a retro club dedicated to eighties music, something some of us were more familiar with than others. Even Jesse at his young age got a kick out of the place, though. It was vibrant and flamboyant. Cheesy. And the best thing about it was that, while it was usually busy, it wasn’t the
kind of club that was renowned for trouble, which made it the ideal club to take Bree without having to worry about her getting bashed around or squashed by strangers. She was only twelve weeks pregnant and barely showing, and already Jude was super paranoid. Thankfully, Bree took his concern a lot better than I had taken Radleigh’s when I was pregnant.
After only a short time, Bree, Freya, Bryce and I hit the dancefloor to bust some moves while the others manned our drinks.
“Feeling better?” Bryce asked me, voice raised so I could hear her over the music as we bopped to Duran Duran.
I nodded. “Much! This was a brilliant idea! Beats sitting at home!”
“Sure does! Sarah’s taken the girls away for the weekend so my only plans were a takeout and a movie.”
Smiling, I said, “Yeah, that was pretty much all I had on the cards too. Well, that and stressing about what will happen tomorrow.”
Bryce shook his head, taking my hand and twirling me around under his arm. “We’re not talking about that tonight. You can worry about tomorrow tomorrow.”
I laughed. “You make it sound so easy.”
His face grew serious for a second, his brown eyes glimmering with understanding before he smiled again. “It’s not easy, but it’s possible. You just have to try.”