“I thought she really liked me.” I wail. “It was just supposed to be for show but—”
“Whoa.” Abbie cuts in. “What the fuck?”
“Ashley.” It comes out as a whisper. I try again but my throat keeps closing on her name. “Ashley…”
“Jess, honey.” Abbie’s voice is soft. “What did she do?”
“No, its what I did. I let the whole secret out.”
“One of these days,” Rachel cuts in, “you’re actually going to give me the details so I can understand what the fuck you’re on about.”
“SSHH!” Abbie retorts. “She’s in pain you great gabbling goose.”
“Do I look like a fucking goose to you?”
“Well...”
“Hello?” I snap into the phone. “Woman in crisis here?”
“Sorry honey.” Abbie apologizes immediately. “What happened?”
“I let the secret out. Then Ashley she… She went nuts. It was awful. After what we shared together, I thought…”
There is a deep silence on the other side of the phone.
“Girls?”
“I’m just processing.” Rachel says quickly. “You’ve dumped a pile of information on me here. I’m trying not to bombard you with questions, because I know you don’t need that right now, but my head is spinning.”
“Yeah, I can relate.” Abbie pipes up. “How exactly did you let out the secret? Who knows?”
“De Haverland.”
Rachel whistles. “Now I get it a bit more. Nasty. What’s he doing about it?”
“Blackmailing us.”
“Well fuck. I can’t say I’m surprised but—”
“We’ll kick their butts for this!” Abbie gets so feisty she’s probably jumping up and down.
“We can bail you out no matter what happens.” Rachel says firmly. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“That’s easy for you to say. I’m the one trapped on the boat. Without a ticket.”
“Yes. This is true. But sooner or later they’ll bring you back here. Then we strike.” She lets out one of those over the top, evil cackles.
“How much trouble are you in, babe?” Abbie asks quietly.
“I’m really not sure yet.” I can feel my voice trembling at the edges. “I got stuck on this fucking ship, then I got thrown into a whirlwind with Ashley… Then it all went to hell. Really fast too. I’m not even sure how things got this bad.”
“Don’t worry.” Rachel says firmly. “We will help you. I’m not going to let that rich bitch hurt you.”
I smile softly. “Thanks Rach.”
“You’ve got us on your team.” Abbie speaks with determination.
I was right about one thing. My girls really know how to make me feel better.