Tattered Beauty (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

After that night with Daniel, I swear to God, I learned things I never knew about myself on the news. Like how I used to dance at a strip club and had a serious addiction to cocaine. You know me—the crazy coke addict slash stripper! People approached me on the streets and I mostly ignored them. Overall, I endured the entire process with a smile and a witty comment to change the subject. This grin-and-bear-it attitude was adopted after I discussed the problem with the instigator.

            Janice, the woman who sold my private information to the highest bidder, was quick to defend herself. Her tactics hadn’t changed since we were younger. First, she started off with tears to try to put a tinge of guilt into her accuser. Then she babbled off an excuse for why she did it. It went a little something like this, “I’m sorry, Hailey! I really am. It’s just that—” Sob. “My record totally tanked. My company tore up my contract! Now I’m broke and don’t have any skills at all. I didn’t go to college!” Sniffle. “Just like you. But, you’re doing so well right now. I thought I could make enough money off it just to pay rent for another month. I’m sorry!” Blubber.

            Tactic number two: blaming the other person. “I can’t believe you would call me out of the blue like this just to yell at me. It’s your fault, after all! I mean, you are the one who gave away all that information. I just used it in a way that any person could. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else in the restaurant overheard you as well. You were babbling away! You’ve always been so self-centered. And do you really think you were going to be able to maintain a private relationship with Daniel King? Are you crazy?”

            Tactic number three: act all innocent and try to move on. “Come on Hailey. Let’s not fight like this. What are we, sixteen again? I think we have grown up a substantial amount. Let us pretend that this whole little issue never happened. Mmmkay? Be my best friend again? Forgive me?” I could hear the sickening sweetness in her voice.

My reply, I thought, was pure genius. “Quite frankly, Janice, I don’t give a damn if you have to live on the bloody streets of New York City. You sold out your so-called ‘best friend’ for a few hundred bucks! And, just for the record (ha!), of course your record tanked. Your voice sounds like a dying cat. Not just a dying cat—a cat dying slowly from a flesh eating disease, slowly shutting down its organs and dissolving its brains. You’re a bitch! Always have been and you always will be. I have no interest in being acquainted with you any longer. And you are batshit crazy if you think I am going to forgive you.” Then I hung up. (Pretty great, right? I was proud of myself for coming up with such a hate-filled rant on the spot.)

            Lily was supportive, as always. She let me rant on and on about my woeful life while she sewed clothes for her upcoming spring collection. I spent way too much time in her office badgering her. Poor woman probably wanted some peace and quiet.

            One evening, while hand sewing a gorgeous black blazer, she asked me, “So, when do I get to meet Daniel?”

            I was caught a little off guard. “Oh, I, um…” I really did not want to make up an excuse about why I was still living at “home”—it was my home, more or less—to my boyfriend. Then again, Daniel lived at home, too, sometimes. He also had a very nice penthouse apartment elsewhere in the city. I had never seen it. “Soon?”

            “It’s just that you met his parents. I feel so left out! You aren’t embarrassed by me, right?” I shook my head. Embarrassment wasn’t the real issue here, was it? “Maybe he can come over  before Christmas sometime. I’m sure he’ll want to spend Christmas with his own family, but how about a few days prior? I’d love to meet the little nugget who has my niece going crazy.”