I sat at the table with Connie, waiting for Dominique to show up for our group lunch, silently hoping she wouldn't make it. Jared had voiced his opinion on this last night as well as this morning, asking me to please cancel, telling me that I was in over my head here. He insisted that Dominique would chew me up and spit me out without batting an eye. All that did was make me even more determined to face her, and quite honestly, Jared could have talked until he was blue in the face, my mind was already made up.
Shannon and I were bound to run into each other again, only next time we may not be surrounded by a crowd of people and a huge room to provide me a safe distance. Besides, I'd have to deal with seeing Dominique regularly anyway. He wanted her and she wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.
Regrettably, just as I started to relax, she suddenly appeared, sauntering toward our table in slow motion like in one of those cheesy eighties movies. I wish I could say that she looked awful, but it would be a lie. Her makeup was flawless and her daring mini dress looked more like one of Shannon's shirts. The thigh high boots showed off her long, tanned legs and I looked down at my rather plain jeans and mars tee, frowning. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Shannon needed some help with packing this morning and I had to stop getting ready to help him a few times." She huffed and then grinned big. "You ladies look amazing." Connie got up, greeting her with a hug and kiss on the cheek, just as she had with me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at Dominique's lame excuse. I'll just bet Shannon needed help packing....
"Don't you worry about that sweetie, we haven't been here long." Connie assured her.
Dominique then moved closer to me, leaning down to wrap her arm around me. My entire body went rigid and I fought the frown that was threatening to take over my expression. "Carrie you look so pretty and oh, wow, you smell delicious!" She moved to her spot across from us, her lips seemingly stuck in a smiling position. "What is that scent?" I took in her delicious comment and narrowed my eyes at her. What an odd thing to say. I glanced over at Connie, but she wasn't even fazed. "Babe, you have to give me the name of that fragrance, it smells so good!" Dominique added, putting on a great show for Connie. Anyone who didn't know the ugly truth would think we were the best of friends.
"I'm so thrilled both of you girls could make it today. They say this spot has some of the most delicious Mexican cuisine and I don't know about you two, but I'm starving."
"Aww, I love spending time with you too, we really have to plan another shopping trip soon." I knew that comment was meant for my benefit, to show me that she already had a bond with Connie. "I've been up since five with Shannon and my breakfast is long gone, so yeah, I'm pretty hungry."
I held my breath behind my pursed lips to shield myself from what she was implying. Was she actually living with him now? Jesus, that was fast. It was never an easy thing to find out just how little you really meant to someone and no matter how I struggled to shut off my feelings, my heart was breaking all over again. "How was your morning Carrie?"
Bitch! She caught me off guard and I glanced from her perfect features to Jared's mother, who must have noticed the uneasiness in my face. "You feeling okay, hon?" Connie asked, moving her hand along my back, soothing me. I immediately felt a small bit of comfort, she was a nurturer I could just tell.
"I'm fine, it's just been a hectic morning, scheduling clients and preparing to leave for a job in just over a week." I lied.
Dominique leaned her arms on the table and tilted her head. "Ah, that's right, interior design, that's a very interesting job. Gosh, I wish I had some kind of flare for design, I'm just not coordinated enough. Now, you did some work at Shan's place, right?" She pointed her finger at me. "I absolutely love it!"
