When Lily meets Max again at his sisters wedding, she still feels the crush she had on him when she was fifteen. However, even when things seem to be looking up for Lily when Max reciprocates his feelings for her, his ex fiance Sarah does not like t...
"You look nice," Suzanne says with a smile as I look into my compact mirror and apply my light pink lipstick.
"Thanks."
"What is this mans name again?"
I dab my lips with a tissue and then throw it in the trashcan. "Simon. He works with Paige's husband."
"Very nice. Where is he taking you to?"
"I don't know. He said he'd pick me up here."
"Well, I hope you have a pleasant time. Two men in one day, it's a record for you."
I chuckle and smooth down my cream dress, which I put on for the occasion. "Only one. Max doesn't count."
"Right. You being newfound 'friends' and all."
"We are," I say defensively.
"Hmm."
"And what does 'hmm' mean?"
She smirks and walks out the office door. "It means friends don't look at each other the way you two do."
I'm left alone in the room with my mouth agape, but not for long as Callie walks in the room looking like a sour grape. "Can I go now?"
I look at my watch and see that she still has fifteen minutes left of her shift, but I've had enough of her moping around here today, so I nod my head and let her leave. Without even a thank you, she's grabs her purse off the hook and walks out. I roll my eyes and go join Suzanne at the front of the shop and tidy up the last bits and pieces. When the shop looks presentable for another working day tomorrow, I thank Suzanne for her help and she wishes me luck before she leaves for the evening. Alone in the shop, I lean against the counter so that Simon can see me through the window when he arrives. I watch as people walk past the shop, my eyes lighting up whenever I see someone new thinking that it could be Simon and with every car that slows down I wonder if it could be him but with each minute that passes without Simon showing my excitement at seeing him eventually turns to disappointment.
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I groan as I roll over in my bed alone and reach for my phone that just pinged. I squint at the light coming from the screen and make out that it's seven in the morning, way too early to be getting messages when I'm in a deflated mood, though when I see that it's from Paige I push past the overwhelming urge to sleep for another hour and open her message to me.
Paige: How did your date go last night?
Me: It was a disaster.
Paige: Oh no. What happened?
I think about typing out a response, but I get stuck on what to even say. Deleting what I've written so far, I think about what to tell Paige when an image of her pops up on my phone. I answer the FaceTime call and see Paige lying on a patio lounger.
"Hi."
"Hey," I say glumly.
"It must have been bad if you sound like this."
"It was. The sad part is I actually started to look forward to going on a date with him."
"That sucks. I'm sorry Lily, I wouldn't have encouraged you to talk to him if I knew it would have ended like this."
"It's okay. Plenty more fish in the sea and all that."
"True. So what did he do wrong?"
"It was just a buildup of things. He showed up almost fifteen minutes late with no explanation why or an apology and then when we got to the restaurant, he spent the entire evening talking about himself and his job at the bank. I don't think he asked me one question about me the entire time."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I swear in the end he was trying to get me to open up a new checking account."
"Men can be such idiots."
"You can say that again. I did let him down gently when he asked if I wanted to go on another date with him which I think was very kind of me when I really wanted to be blunt with him."
"Absolutely. I would have given him the middle finger and told him where to go if he did that to me."
I push the hair out of my face and lean against the headboard. "Anyway, how is your honeymoon going so far? You look like you've caught the sun."
Her face beams, and she lifts a cool drink to her lips that was out of view before. "Heavenly. It's so romantic here. Oliver and I spent the morning walking around the city and tonight we're going to La Pergola for a meal."
"Sounds like you're having fun, then."
"I am, but I miss you though, and my family. I feel bad having such a good time when Max is getting hell from Sarah."
I bite on my nail. I wonder if he's mentioned to her I had lunch with him yesterday and saw Sarah. "Have you spoken to him since you left?"
"Only briefly, by text. I told him before I left he could call me if he needed to talk. I dunno. Maybe he is okay, and she's leaving him alone, but I can't get rid of the weird feeling hanging over me."
"I'm sure he can handle himself," I say to reassure her. It is the truth, after all. Max was more than capable of standing up to Sarah at the country club. "Just focus on having a wonderful honeymoon with Oliver. You guys deserve it."
"I guess." She turns her head to the side and says something off camera. "Sorry, Oliver is asking me to join him in the pool."
"It's fine. Go have fun."
"Talk soon?"
"Yeah, talk soon."
I end the call and rest my head back down on my pillow. I'm happy that Paige is having a good time, but I am looking forward to the day when she gets back. Until then, I guess I'll just have to keep myself busy with work to pass the time.
