I laughed into my sizzle. “You could say that.”

“What happened?”

“Well, Sophia and Neil finally got together and—”

“Wait a minute, Sophia and Neil? I thought Sophia was with Ryan?”

“She was, she was, but truthfully she was always meant to be with Neil, so it all worked out in the end.”

“Poor Mimi and Ryan. That must’ve been weird for them.”

“Ha! Oh yes, poor Mimi and Ryan. They got it on in the pool house, for God’s sake.” I snorted.

Jillian’s eyes grew wide. “In the pool house…wow,” she breathed, and I nodded.

We sizzled.

“So, Simon went to Tahoe, right?” she asked a few minutes later, looking everywhere but at me. I cracked a small smile at her imagined stealth. Jillian was many, many things, but subtle was not one.

“Yep, Simon was there.”

“And how was that?”

“It was great, and then it wasn’t, and now it’s weird,” I admitted, setting aside my soup to drink my tea. It was soothing and non-caffeinated, which Jillian had insisted on.

“So, no pool house for you two?” she asked, still glancing around the restaurant as though she weren’t asking me anything of importance.

“No, Jillian, no pool house. We hot tubbed, but we did not pool house,” I said emphatically, and then I spilled my guts and told her the entire ridiculous story.

She listened, she hmm’d and groaned in the right places, and she got indignant in the right places too. By the time I was finished, I was in tears again, which was really pissing me off.

“And the stink of it all, I shouldn’t have been doing it, but he is the one who stopped it, and I don’t really think he wanted to!” I huffed, angrily wiping tears away with my napkin.

“So why do you think he did?”

“He’s g*y?” I offered, and she smiled. I took a deep breath and got control.

Jillian looked at me thoughtfully and then finally leaned in. “You realize we are two smart women who are not acting very smart right now,” she said.

“Huh?”

“We know better than to try to figure out what a man is up to. This’ll get worked out when it’s supposed to. And your tears? These are tension tears, frustration tears—nothing more. I’ll tell you one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“As long as I’ve known Simon, I’ve never heard of him inviting someone on a shoot with him, ever. I mean, inviting you to Spain? That’s very unlike Simon.”

“Well, who knows if I’m even invited anymore.” I sighed dramatically.

“You’re still friends, right?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “Why don’t you just ask him?” When I didn’t respond she added, “Stick that in your pipe and suck it.”

“I think it’s smoke it, Jillian. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.”

“Ah, smoke it, suck it, whatever. Eat your fortune cookie, sweetie.” She smiled, nudging the cookie across the table. I cracked it open and removed the fortune.

“What does yours say?” I asked.

“Fire all employees who have more than one pencil in their hair,” she stated seriously. We laughed together, and I could feel some of the tension finally leaving my body.

“What does yours say?” she asked.

I opened it up, read the words, and rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “Stupid fortune cookie,” I sighed, and handed it to her.

She read it and her eyes went wide again. “Oh, man, are you in for it! Come in, let’s go back to work.”

She laughed, tugging my hand and leading me from the restaurant. She gave the fortune back to me, and I started to throw it away, but then slipped it into my purse:

Be aware of the walls you build

and what could be on the other side

Confucius, you kill me.

Text from James to Caroline:

Hey there.

Hey to you.

We still on for Friday night?

Yep, I’m in. Where are we going for dinner?

There’s a great new Vietnamese restaurant I

’ve been wanting to try.

Have you forgotten I’m not really big on Vietnamese food?

Come on, you know it’s my favorite. You can get soup!

Fine, Vietnamese it is. I’ll find something.

BTW, the last of your furniture should be delivered Monday. I’ll be there to receive and place.

How much longer until the project is finished?

Except for a few pieces in the bedroom,

should be all done by next weekend.

Ahead of deadline I might add…

Very good. Will you also be there

to finish things in the bedroom?

Stop it, Jamie.

I hate when you call me Jamie.

I know, Jamie. See you Friday night

The day had exhausted me. I literally had nothing left. I had plans to go to yoga, really I did, but as the evening approached all I wanted to do was go home. I wanted Clive, and I could no longer pretend that I didn’t also want Simon. Maybe he would be home? As I walked up the stairs I could hear Simon’s TV through the door. I was already turning my key in my lock when I thought about my fortune cookie. I could knock on the door, right? I could just say hi, right? As I debated, I heard his phone ring, followed by his voice through the door.

“Nadia? Hey, how are you?” he said, and that made up my mind for me. He had his harem, and I couldn’t possibly enter in to something like that. If I wanted Simon, I wanted all of Simon. I’d promised myself no more messing around. As I felt tears prick at my eyes for the thousandth time that day, I walked in to find Clive waiting for me, and I smiled through my tears. I picked him up, cuddling him to me as he told me all about his day in cat speak. I interpreted for him, and it would seem that Clive’s day consisted of a light snack, a nap, about thirty minutes of grooming, another snack, another nap, and then he watched the neighborhood for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Leftover takeout with Ina and Jeffrey on the couch, a quick shower, and I packed it in early. I simply could not allow this day to go on any longer.

With Clive curled between my legs, I went to sleep, again with no music from the other side of the wall.

The following night I stood in front of my mirror, trying on different shoes for my date/not a date/of course it’s a date with James. I’d almost called him twice today to back out, but in the end, I pushed through it and got dressed. Sometimes a girl just needs to get dressed up, and tonight I was dressed to kill: thin, fitted black blouse, tight red pencil skirt, teetery tall heels.