Best Laid Plans

Conference

Perrie

It's the first day of my conference. Jade dropped me off at the convention center on her way to the office, but I only have about ten minutes of feeling like I'm on my own because when I register I'm handed a tote bag with a giant Amayzin emblem on the side and when I look up I see an oversized banner identifying them as a sponsor of this event.

Family. Value. Convenience. Expect nothing less.

Staring at this banner I wonder if it's hard, living up to this kind of expectation. Jade is still insistent that getting married is the right thing to do. I asked her yesterday if she was going to expect me to hide the baby until we'd been married for nine months and then pretend I had a fifteen-pound, three-month-old newborn. She told me to stop being ridiculous.

Anyway. I haven't exactly said yes, but I think I'm going to. I know it's nearly the definition of insane, but I'd be lying if I said Jade's desire to lock this down wasn't a turn-on. She's so fucking confident that this is the best course of action. It might be a disaster, but the confidence is hot nonetheless. She said I'm overthinking it and to just think of it like an exclusive relationship.

Exclusivity with legal ties and contracts.

The conference is great. I attend a panel on Instagram filters and fine, I know it sounds silly, but I enjoyed it. The panel I'm presenting on is tomorrow afternoon and it's about website engagement. I'm not nervous, my years spent working for Sunshine Travels leading tours have long rid me of any fear of public speaking. I'm on my way to meet my co-panelists when I bump into my arch nemesis.

Yeah, I didn't realize I had one before now either.

She bumps into me. Literally.

"Excuse me." I step out of the way, an apology on my lips even though it's not my fault. Her head is down, buried in her phone, and she's the one not watching where she's going. Then I see who it is. Margo. The list troll who wouldn't let me into the retirement gala shindig.

She looks up, eyes narrowing in open contempt when she realizes that she's bumped into me. "Oh, look, it's Jade's fiancée no one's ever heard of."

I spy with my little eye a giant bitch.

"Good to see you again, Margo." I smile politely because I'm a girl and that's what we do. I fiddle with the lanyard I'm wearing, the one that identifies me as a social media influencer and event speaker. I use my left hand and hope that I'll somehow blind her with the reflection of the engagement ring on my finger. Because I'm a girl and we do that, too. "I'll tell Jade you said hello." Margo's lanyard identifies her as a corporate sponsor, representing Amayzin. Of course.

She doesn't miss the ring. I catch the brief flash of shock on her face before she schools her features and does her best to annihilate me with her words. "Oh, good. I'm glad she was able to recycle the ring."

Excuse me?! When I said that I liked recycling, this was definitely not what I meant.

At least a dozen thoughts race through my mind all at the same time.

They were engaged?

She's lying.

Jade slept with her?

I knew that.

I knew that.

I knew that!

There's no way this was her ring. The mathematical chances of me describing the exact ring that Jade had previously purchased for another woman have to be very, very small. Yay for math!

I don't like her.

I really don't like her.

I wonder what Jade saw in her?

I wonder if Margo is some kind of sex genie with mad skills in bed? Actually, no, strike that. I've got mad skills in bed. I don't care about her skills in bed.

I bet she doesn't swallow.

Oh my god, stop thinking about this troll having sex with your girlfriend! No, not your girlfriend. Your fiancée, and possible future wife.

I wonder if my unplanned pregnancy has interrupted something between them? If Jade still wants her?

Well. Honestly, I'm doing her a favor because Margo is horrible. I know I've spent all of a combined ten minutes with her, but sometimes that's all it takes for someone to show you what a bitch they are.

I must not school my features as quickly as she did because she snorts and smirks, clearly gleeful at having the perceived upper hand. My stupid expressive face has always gotten me in trouble.

"Did she not tell you that?"

"No." I shake my head, as if confused. "I mean..." I purposely trail off for a moment. "It's just that she never talks about you at all."

Margo's smirk falters. Luckily my bitchy mouth always has my back.

"Listen, sweetie, you may have her for now, but she always comes back to me," she hisses with narrowing eyes, resembling a some of sort snake. 

"It's Perrie. My name is Perrie. Soon to be Perrie Thirlwall, so you might want to shelve any fantasy you have of getting back together with Jade, because she's with me now."

Margo snorts. "It won't last. We have a history together you'll never be able to compete with. And she always comes back to me."

"I don't need to compete, Margo. I've already won. Now kindly fuck off so I can get to my meeting."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." God, she looks confident. Liar, liar, liar, I remind myself. Why are lies so effective in being hurtful even when you're certain they're untrue? That the person telling them cannot be trusted? Why does simply hearing them feel so awful? And I know she's lying because if she lied about the ring, she could be lying about everything.

"Thank you for the warning, albeit unnecessary. I'll pass along your regards to Jade. Oh, and a word of advice, Margo. You should have held on a bit tighter when you had her, if she meant so much to you."

I brush past her, hoping I'm projecting a cool indifference but knowing on the inside I'm anything but. But why? Why do I care if Jade was engaged to someone else once? Would I prefer if that someone was nice? Would I prefer if that someone didn't so obviously want her back?

She's a liar, I remind myself.

I hope.