by Claire Adams
“Cecil! Hey, it’s Levi Bassett. I’m good, thanks. Oh, thank you. I know, it was a really big surprise. No one was expecting it. Thanks Cecil. Yeah, so, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m actually in town tonight and I was hoping to be able to get a table there tonight. Just a two top, nothing big. Yeah? Okay, great. Sure, seven-thirty’s perfect. Thanks again, Cecil. Talk to you later. Bye.” He handed the phone back to me. “All set,” he said.
I stared at him. “How did you do that?”
“I’m lucky enough to know the guy. Besides, places like that always have a few tables available, even when they’re saying they don’t. You just have to not be afraid to ask.”
“I see,” I said, though it was starting to seem more and more that being wealthy was like a foreign language I didn’t know how to speak.
I wasn’t sure what to wear to a fancy place, though I knew better than to call Sophie up and ask her. I stood in front of my closet for a while. I had a few dresses, a few skirts, but nothing seemed quite right. Really, what seemed like the best choice was the black dress I had worn that night I’d gone over to Brian’s, but I wasn’t going to wear that on a date with Levi. And I didn’t even have the magenta pumps to go with it.
I finally decided on a simple, ballet-pink dress. It was sleeveless, with a scoop neck, and it stopped a few inches above my knees. I had a white silk shawl that I wrapped around my shoulders. I had a pair of strappy silver sandals that would go with the dress, and my hair looked pretty good, just how it was, flowing down over my shoulders.
Levi had less options when it came to an outfit. The closest thing he had brought with him for dressy clothes was a short-sleeved black polo shirt and a pair of light blue shorts.
“You’re really wearing that?” I asked. “Are they even going to let you in?”
“Sure they will. And I’ve got my Mephistos.”
“Your what?”
“Mephistos. Those boat shoes. Don’t worry; I won’t wear flip flops. If you want to let me borrow one of your sweaters, I can tie it around my shoulders. That will definitely complete the look. And besides—you look so great there’s no way they’d turn us away.”
“What color sweater do you want? I’ve got a pale pink one that will match my dress.”
He grinned. “Perfect.”
I let Levi drive over to the restaurant. The whole way over, I couldn’t help but feel like I was going somewhere that I didn’t belong, though I knew that was just my own insecurity. Levi seemed totally at ease, and he held the door open for me and then strolled in, told the maître d’ who we were, and were immediately escorted to a table.
The chandelier and wall sconces cast everything in a warm, golden glow. The tables were draped in white linen, and then chairs were deep mahogany, with leather padding on the seats and the backs. Toward the back of the room, a man in a tuxedo was seated at a grand piano, playing a classical song that sounded familiar, though I couldn’t think of the name of the song, or the composer.
“What song is he playing?” I asked Levi as we sat down, though I didn’t expect him to know the answer.
“Mozart,” he replied, picking up the wine menu. “Piano Concerto No. 21.” He said it so casually that I was certain he was bullshitting me.
“Is it really?”
“Yeah.” He kept his head tilted down but shifted his gaze to me. “My musical interests include more than just the electronic type.”
“It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember who it was.”
Our waitress came over, and she was petite and beautiful and she put her hand on Levi’s shoulder when she answered one of his questions about the wine. While he talked with her, I took a moment to look around the dining room, and everyone there was either very beautiful, clearly very well off, or both.
And then I saw her.
She had just walked in, on the arm of some tan guy in a tuxedo.
Shannon.
We were far enough away from the entrance that there was a good chance she wouldn’t see me, but then the maître d’ led them right toward us, to an empty table just a few feet away.
“Isla?” she exclaimed as they got closer. “Oh my god, is that really you?”
Shannon, of course, looked gorgeous, in some tight, slinky dress that I wondered if she’d be able to even sit down in. Her cleavage spilled out over the top, barely contained. The last time I’d seen Shannon had been when she’d been standing naked in Brian’s bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” Shannon squealed, coming over to me and giving me a hug like we were best friends. It was Levi she couldn’t keep her eyes off of though, and she didn’t seem to care that her date was just standing there, looking uncomfortable.
“Oh, you know, we’re just here to get some food. Like everyone else,” I said, returning her hug the best I could from my seated position. She let go of me and turned to face Levi.
“And who is this? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.” She gave me a grin. “Certainly an improvement over Brian!”
I felt my face flush. Levi just sat there, looking amused.
“I’m Levi,” he said, holding his hand out. Shannon shook it enthusiastically. He looked past her, at Shannon’s date, and nodded. “What’s up, man,” he said.
“Oh, right. This is . . . um, this is Dave. Dave, this is my friend Isla, and Levi.”
Dave gave us a wan smile. “Want to go sit down?” he asked.
“Sure. Or you can sit and I’ll be over there in a second. Whatever you want.” Shannon turned back to Levi. “So where are you from?”
“New York.”
She grinned. “I just love New York!”
“I bet you do.”
“And what do you do there?”
“All sorts of things.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
I closed my eyes. Was this really happening? Shannon had turned her back to me and was leaning against the edge of the table, talking with Levi as though they were the only two in the place. Would it be wrong to just get up and leave?
“Maybe we should all go out and get drinks after this,” Shannon was saying. I reopened my eyes. Her date had gone to sit down at their table and was looking over the wine list.
“They’ve got plenty of drinks here, Shannon,” he said. “Why don’t you come on over and leave them alone.”
“How do you know Isla?” Levi asked.
“I was a member at her gym.” She flexed her bicep. “See?”
“Whoa, I didn’t realize we were actually coming to the gun show!”
They both started laughing.
I stood up. “Okay,” I said. “You know, I just remembered that I’ve got something else to do, so . . . yeah. I’ll see you guys later; I’m sure Shannon can give you a ride home.”
I strode off.
“Isla—” Levi started to say, but I kept walking. I made it a few steps into the parking lot when I felt his hand on my shoulder.
“Hey,” he said. “Isla—hold up. Where are you running off to?”
“I’m just . . . I’m not that hungry anymore.”
“Wait a second.”
I stopped, and he stepped in front of me so we were facing each other. He had a smile on his face. “You expect me to believe that?”
I looked down at my shoes. “No.”
“So what’s going on then?”
“I really wasn’t expecting to run into Shannon, of all people.”
“She . . . seems like an interesting person.”
“Would you like to know the last time I saw her? The last time I saw her she was in the middle of having sex with Brian, who, at the time, was my boyfriend. In fact, I’d gone over there with the idea to surprise him and then have sex with him. For the first time.”
Levi raised his eyebrows. “Is this a true story?”
“Yes. Every single part of it. And I walked in on them having sex. Oh, this was after I had cleaned up Shannon’s puke off the Lotus Room floor.”
“Lotus
Room? Puke? What?”
“She was doing some cleanse thing, and she hurled all over the floor during a yoga class. I got to clean it up. That was earlier, though.”
Levi was laughing, slapping his thigh, unable to stand up straight.
“Holy shit,” he said. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny. No, it is—it’s fucking hilarious. But don’t let her chase you off like that. We should be glad for her, actually.”
“And why is that?”
He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. “Because if you hadn’t walked in on her sleeping with your man, you would have slept with him, thereby depriving me of the very high honor of being the first person you’ve ever had sex with.” He took my hand. “Come on. Let’s go back into this overpriced place and get something to eat.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m sorry for overreacting like that. Part of me feels like I don’t even belong in a place like this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know; I was just sitting there while you guys were talking, looking at everyone sitting around us, and I don’t feel like I fit in, I guess.”
“You belong here as much as anyone. It’s really just a mindset. And you are by far the most gorgeous woman in the place.”
I smiled as we walked back into the restaurant.
*****
I hoped my dinner date with Sophie would go better than the experience at Duquette. The food had been delicious, but I couldn’t help but be aware of Shannon, sitting just a few tables away.
“Tell Sophie I said hi,” Levi said. He was stretched out on the couch, scrolling through Netflix.
“Thanks,” I said. “You sure you don’t want to come?”
“I’m fine here. You two should go enjoy a night together, without me. I know Sophie would prefer it.”
“She likes you,” I said, though we both knew that wasn’t true.
“Besides, you’ve got Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, so I am all set.”
He really did seem as though he was more than content to just hang out here. I was tempted to join him on the couch, but I knew I’d never hear the end of it from Sophie if I did. Besides, it would be nice if the two of us were able to have a little girl time together.
“Okay,” I said. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be too late. I think we’re going to get sushi. Want me to bring you anything back?”
“Nah, I’m good. Have fun.”
“I will.”
I went over to the couch and he sat up, gave me a kiss. “I’ll wait up for you,” he said.
Sophie was already at the sushi place when I got there, drinking hot tea out of a little cup with no handle.
“I ordered us sake,” she said. She looked over my shoulder. “What—no Levi?”
“No Levi.” I sat down and put my purse in the empty seat next to me. “He thought we should have a girls’ night.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “He thought?”
“Well, I mean, I wasn’t going to tell him that he wasn’t allowed to come out and get dinner with us, if he had wanted to.”
“Sheesh, Isla.”
“What?”
She set her tea cup down and reached for the little ceramic jug of sake. She poured herself some and took a sip, then looked at me. “I can’t even believe he’s here with you,” she said. “It’s so weird.”
“Why?”
“It’s like he’s in the wrong environment or something. He’s totally smitten with you, though.” She gave me a devilish grin. “Your plan is working! Ha! I only wish I could be there to see his face when you tell him to go eat a big bag of shit.”
I shifted uncomfortably and returned her smile. “Yeah. It’s actually been a little easier than I thought it would be . . . getting him interested.”
“Please!” she scoffed. “You’re seriously selling yourself short, Isla. The guy you eventually do end up with is going to be so lucky. You deserve someone so much better than Levi or Brian.”
“Brian was an ass,” I said. “So really, I should be thanking Shannon for sleeping with him, because that saved me from doing so. We saw her last night.”
“At Duquette?”
“Yeah. She was completely enamored with Levi. But he made a good point: if she hadn’t slept with Brian, I would have, and then who knows if I would’ve gotten involved with Levi at all, if I was still with Brian.”
Sophie raised her eyebrows. “You have feelings for him, don’t you?” she said accusingly. “Don’t even bother trying to deny it! I can tell.”
I sighed. “Okay, fine,” I said. “I felt weird keeping it from you anyway, so I won’t deny it. Yeah—I do have feelings for him.”
She shook her head. “Project Revenge was not about you falling in love with him. You were supposed to make him feel like shit—not reinforce the idea that he’s this guy that everyone wants. Which is not true actually; I wouldn’t sleep with him.”
“Really,” I said.
“Um, yes! Just because he’s hot doesn’t mean shit. Although based on your actions, you wouldn’t know that.”
“Geez, Soph,” I said. “You’re being a little harsh.”
But she didn’t crack a smile, or offer anything in the way of an apology. In fact, she looked even more pissed. “I’m not being harsh,” she said. “I’m being honest. And I’m a little disgusted with you, Isla, if I can continue to be honest here for a moment. You’re basically doing the exact opposite of what I thought you were doing. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Maybe that whole thing is stupid anyway!” I said. “Project Revenge! I mean, what, are we still in high school?”
Now Sophie did laugh, though it was a short, barking sound that didn’t seem at all happy or amused. “Ha. No. Because if we were still in high school, you’d be overweight and Levi would be making his stupid fat jokes and not giving you a second glance. So no, Isla, we’re definitely not still in high school. But I knew you liked him then, too, even if he was making you feel like shit.”
“He’s different now,” I said softly, though there was no point in trying to convince Sophie otherwise. She’d made up her mind about him, and nothing I said was going to change that.
“It’s just pathetic,” she snapped. “This whole thing is pathetic. It’s like you’ve lost a bunch of weight, and now you’ve inherited this money, and suddenly you’re on the same level that he is, so he can be seen out in public with you. It’s okay now, but it sure as hell wasn’t ten years ago.”
“Stop it!” I shouted. “Seriously! You’re acting like you were the one he said all this stuff to! If I can get over it and move past it and forgive him, then you should be able to, too!”
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “I’m leaving. I’m not going to continue to have this conversation with you. No, he might not have been making fun of me, but I was the one on the phone with you every night hearing about it. I’m the one you called up crying all those times, telling me how fucking miserable you were there and how much you hated it. Oh, but I guess that’s all forgiven now that Levi has decided to grace you with his kindness.”
“Sophie,” I said. “Okay, I can see that you’re pretty pissed about this. I’m not trying to make you mad, I hope you realize this. And you’re right: You are the one I called up all those nights, and you were there for me and I am so incredibly thankful for that. But . . . that was a long time ago. Levi’s different now. If you’d give him a chance, I think that you’d see that, too.”
“I don’t give assholes like that a second chance,” she said. “You might be willing to, but I’m not. And it doesn’t matter that he never said anything specifically about me—he said all that shit to you, and seeing as you’re my best friend, he might as well have said it about me.”
“I don’t want to fight with you,” I said. “Let’s just forget about this whole thing, okay?”
She gave me a look as though I’d just suggested we scrape some dog shit off the sidewalk and make a sandwich with it.
“It’s not up to you, though,” I said. “Who I go out with.”
“You’re right. It’s not. But that doesn’t mean I have to be okay with it. Which I am so totally not. I have to go.” She stood up.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to leave? Are we never going to talk again or something?”
“I have completely lost my appetite, so it seems rather pointless to sit here at a restaurant.”
“You’re being serious?”
“I am.” And then she left.
I watched her go, my throat constricting. I didn’t care that the people sitting closest to us were sneaking looks at me. Sophie and I had never fought before. Sure, we’d have a disagreement every now and then, but nothing that wasn’t resolved in a day, usually less. This felt different, though. This felt like the sort of thing that might never get resolved.
I could understand where she was coming from, sort of. I tried to put myself in her shoes, if the roles had been reversed and she was getting involved with someone who had made her feel like shit the way Levi had used to make me feel. And yes, she was right—she was the person I’d confided in, that I’d called for support; she was the one who had been there for me. So was this wrong? Was I being foolish?
If only she’d let me explain. If she’d just let me explain how it was between Levi and me now, how he’d changed, how I would never allow myself to get involved with someone if he wasn’t going to be respectful . . . but I knew there was no way she’d ever give me the chance to tell her. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was done and over with.
I got my purse and got up, telling the waitress as I left that I wasn’t feeling well and I was sorry for taking up a table. That much was true, anyway; I definitely had a sick feeling in my stomach. I didn’t like fighting with anyone, but especially not Sophie.