Taken By The Beast (The Forbidden Fun)

My friend shakes her head while biting into her muffin once more.

“Man oh man, this is worse than I thought. I had no idea the Cold War was still going on.”

“This isn’t the Cold War, and if I’m being realistic, Todd’s probably already moved on to the next girl,” I say even as sadness washes over me. But my friend shakes her head.

“No, I doubt that. A guy doesn’t name a bunch of nail polishes after you just to move on when things go a tiny bit south.”

I shoot her a look.

“I want to believe that but this isn’t a tiny bit south. This was a hard u-turn with a nosedive off a cliff afterwards.”

Jemima laughs then.

“Take it from me, girl: it’s not that bad. Todd’s not some green twenty-year old boy. He has perspective, and he’s been through the wringer himself a few times.”

I merely sigh.

“Yeah, maybe,” is my despondent reply. To be honest, the rest of our conversation is pretty blah. She chats a bit more about Oliver and Zane while I merely nod with my one word uh-huhs. I’m not surprised when Jem cuts our coffee date short because I’m hardly inspiring company right now. Finally, we exit Sunshine Café and walk down the street when I spot a drugstore.

“Hey, do you mind if we go in there? I just need to grab some Abreva for my cold sore.”

My friend winces.

“Ugh, sure. I mean, I don’t even see one on you, but sure, no problem.”

With that, we stroll inside and that’s my mistake. Sugar Glaze’s product display is right there on the left side when I enter, and before I know it, I’m standing in front of the nail polishes.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Jem murmurs in a puzzled tone. “Isn’t this the company that belongs to your ex?”

I nod, my eyes already roving over the display. But I’m in for a surprise because although there’s certainly a new line of polish out, they aren’t what I expected to see.

“Pearl Pink. Crimson Sunrise. Mocha Coffee,” I murmur in a stunned voice. “Oh wow, he changed the names.”

Jem looks lost.

“What?”

I hand her three polishes and gesture to the rest of the shelf. “None of them have the names they did at the Sanctum spa. Todd must have been telling the truth. Those were the prototypes, and then after I expressed my dissatisfaction, he didn’t go through with them. Those nail polishes were just test products, and now, the final product is here, and they’re different.”

Jemima nods.

“Makes sense. He did say Sanctum was a testing ground, right? So yes, it seems totally reasonable. See Bridge? He did this for you, honey. He did it out of respect for you.”

I stare at the shades, regret welling up in my stomach. OMG, I’ve completely misjudged my man, and then made the problem even worse by ignoring him for an additional two weeks out of insecurity. Jem reads my mind and nods.

“You have no excuse not to talk to Todd now, Bridget. The man is clearly in love with you because he wouldn’t have chosen those names in the first place if he wasn’t, and he definitely wouldn’t have changed the names if he didn’t still.”

I place the polishes back on the shelf and turn to Jemima.

“You’re right,” I say in a low voice. “I have to find him.”

Jemima nods, and says, “I’ll call Melissa. I’ll schedule a date for you with Todd, and then you can explain yourself. Remember to look pretty, keep your wits about you, and more than anything, be honest. He’s not a bad man, sweetie. He loves you, so you’re going to come out of this just fine. I promise.”

I take a deep breath and pray that Jemima’s right because at this point, I need all the help I can get.

“Thanks Jem. You’re the best.”

She smiles and tucks her hand into my elbow.

“You’re going to be fine, sweetie. Breathe. Pray. Apologize with sincerity. You will come out of this in one piece.”

But the problem is that I don’t want to come out of this in one piece. I want Todd and I to be together again, but what if it’s already too late? Oh god. I hope I haven’t ruined the best thing in my life, but my gut tells me that the damage may be too severe to repair and that I’m out of time, out of luck, and most devastatingly of all, out of love.

10

Todd

* * *

When Melissa called me last night to say she had a date for me this evening, I thought she was kidding. When she said it was Bridget, I was even more astonished because I haven’t heard anything from the sweet girl in what feels like forever. After all, she stopped speaking to me and there was nothing I could do about it. I pled my case and begged her to reconsider, but I suppose those nail polish names cut her to the quick, and I was shut out from her life.