“Okay,” I say, trying to catch my breath. “How did this happen?”
Max tells me how he ran into Courtney while grabbing lunch. He was dining with the senior product manager for an ear implant device they’d just licensed, who had been lamenting to Max that even after two rounds of interviews, they still hadn’t found any suitable candidates for their opening in the marketing department. Courtney just happened to be sitting at the bar, sipping vodka and soda with a twist of lime—a detail Max gave me, although I wasn’t sure I needed it. Apparently, Max had literally bumped into her as he was being escorted to his table—something about the hostess dropping her menus and Max stumbling, which had sent him flying into Courtney. Seeing how down she looked, he invited her to join him and his colleague, and by the time their crème br?lée was served, she was also being handed a job on a silver platter.
“She starts tomorrow!” Max finished.
Of course she does.
I nod my head and bite my lip as Max talks about how it must have been fate that they ran into each other. That it was meant to be.
That’s what I’m worried about.
“Listen,” I say later after dinner, after we’ve rehashed yet again how lucky Courtney is. How she had charmed the hell out of the product manager. How fortunate they were to have her on the team. “I know this is last minute, but I think we should try to get away one last time before the wedding.”
Max raises his eyebrows. “But isn’t the wedding a getaway?”
“Yes,” I say patiently. “But we’ll be surrounded by other people there. I really just want some time to ourselves.” I reach over and grab his hand and lock my eyes with his. “I’m worried that we’re drifting.”
Max breaks eye contact for a split second before forcing his eyes back to mine. “Okay.”
“Remember I mentioned Big Bear the other day?” I say, watching his face intently.
“Ah.” He smiles and places a soft kiss on my lips. “The place where it all began.”
“Yes,” I say, relieved. “So, can we? Leave Friday afternoon? I’ve already called and booked it, hoping you’d agree.” Because it was the off-season, I had been able to secure the same cabin we’d stayed in early on in our relationship, when Max had told me he loved me as we sipped hot toddies while cuddled up next to the crackling fire. It would mean I’d have to work until midnight every night before we left to get all my work handled, but I’d decided it was worth it.
“Sounds fun,” Max says as his phone buzzes on the table, Courtney’s name flashing across the screen. Max looks guilty before saying quickly, “She’s just checking in about tomorrow.”
“I understand,” I say. I understand that she’ll be using this opportunity to get closer to you. Courtney hadn’t even bothered to text me with her good news. Was it because I’d been shutting her out? Or had she not reached out because now that she worked with Max she didn’t need me?
I make a noise that’s a cross between a snort and a guffaw, picking up the new Us Weekly to distract me from Max’s text banter with Courtney. “She has a lot of questions,” he says as his fingers fly across his phone.
“I’m sure,” I say as I take out my frustration on the magazine, turning the pages aggressively until a picture stops me. It’s Liam and Nikki Day, locked in an embrace in front of BLT Steak in West Hollywood, the caption reading “Nikki Day’s New Hottie!”
I can’t tear my eyes away from the picture, Liam’s arms wrapped tightly around Nikki’s Barbie doll waist, her hands in his hair as they lock lips. Max finally looks up from his phone and grabs the magazine. “Is that Liam? Holy shit!”
“I know, right?” I say, pulling the tabloid back from him and staring at the half-page picture again, scanning the story underneath that spills the details of their courtship. How much of this was true, I wondered, as I read about their instant connection, Nikki supposedly telling friends Liam was so different, in a good way, from anyone she’d dated before.
“He looks pretty cozy. Maybe he’s finally ready to settle down.”
“Maybe,” I echo, feeling exhausted. Why did it seem like everyone around me was moving forward while I stood still? Courtney escaped Magda without a scratch, Liam finally found a girl who made him happy, and Max seemed to be slipping out of my fingers no matter how hard I tried to hold on to him.
“I’m going to head up to bed,” I say, standing up. “Want to come?”
“In a bit, babe,” Max answers, and I involuntarily look at his phone. Did he want to stay up so he could keep texting with Courtney? My feet feel heavy as I march up the stairs, holding back my tears as I make the bed with our new orange duvet before lying down and pulling it tightly around me, still seeing the bright color in my head when I close my eyes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN