“I forgot,” I admitted.
“You forgot?” she asked incredulously.
“I was so caught up in everything else that I completely blocked it out. It wasn’t important. I shoved him off me and told him I loved Jack. End of story. ”
“End of story?” She shook her head, her fingers tapping along the base of her hip. “Shit, Cassie. This is bad. ”
I glanced up at her. “I know. ”
“How pissed is Jack?
“Pretty pissed. But he’s mad about other stuff too. He basically said that we’re supposed to be a team, but I’m not being a team player. ”
“You have to fix this,” Melissa demanded, as if telling me something I didn’t already know.
“I’m aware. Get this. ” I paused to look her straight in the eyes. “He told me to prove it. ”
A sharp laugh ripped out of Melissa’s mouth before she tossed her hand in front of it. “Sorry,” she mumbled from behind her hand. “But that’s some ironic shit, right there. ”
“Tell me about it. ” I rolled my eyes.
Melissa sat down next to me on the floor, our legs pressing together. “First things first, you have to fire Matteo. I mean, you should do it so Jack knows you’re serious. ”
“I’m pretty sure Jack fired him the minute he hung up on me. But if he didn’t, I will. ” I leaned my head against the wall. “Do you think I should call Matteo and make him go over there? He needs to tell Jack that I didn’t do anything. He created this mess!”
Melissa shook her head, “I don’t know. Jack might turn it all around on you and get pissed that you reached out to the guy. Plus, I wouldn’t really send Matteo over to talk to Jack right now. Unless you want to go his funeral later. ”
I sighed, my fingers shaking as I reached for my phone to type out a text message.
You have to tell Jack I didn’t do anything. You have to fix this.
“Who are you texting? Matteo?” She cocked her head to the side, her lips pursed together in a disapproving gesture. “Do you not listen to a word I say?”
I shrugged as my phone beeped.
Already got it covered. I’m so sorry.
“Well,” she tapped her finger against her hand impatiently, “what’d he say?”
I moved the screen of my cell in her direction and waited for her to read his brief response. There was nothing more I wanted to say to Matteo, so I placed my phone on the floor.
“I hope you enjoyed knowing the guy. ”
“This sucks. And all of it could have been avoided if I’d just stayed put and actually talked to Jack instead of running away. ”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Cass. You needed to get out of that scene. It took you all of two seconds of being away from Jack to realize you couldn’t live without him. ”
“Do you think this picture’s in the tabloids already?”
“Absolutely. ”
“Fuck. ”
“So we have Chrystle’s crazy allegations,” she held up one finger, “and a picture of you and Matteo kissing,” a second finger joined the first, “and photos of you leaving the apartment with a suitcase when Jack has games at home. ”
“Looks bad, right?”
She twisted her mouth. “It doesn’t look good. But you need to worry about Jack first and everyone else after. I’ll reach out to your boss and talk to her about my ideas for the human-interest story on you and Jack. I’ll fill her in on all the details she needs to know about Chrystle, and I’ll work Matteo in there too. You said she’s cool, right?”