15. The Purple Circle
Kinsey Ballantyne was turning into a major thorn in my side.
After our run in the night before, I wasn’t expecting to see her at Nellie’s again any time soon. Any normal person would have been embarrassed by her failed attempt at getting me fired. But Kinsey wasn’t normal. She was resourceful. Rather than staying away, she brought reinforcements.
As usual, I relied on Bente for the lowdown. They were her pets, after all.
“Well, you know Whitney and Kinsey,” she said, pointing at them with a limp wrist.
“Who’s the other girl?”
The willowy brunette would probably have been quite attractive if she smiled. In the ten minutes since they’d been seated, I hadn’t seen her sullen expression change.
“Seraphina Sawyer,” she announced poshly. “They call her Sera. She’s seriously rich.”
“Aren’t they all?”
“Yes, I suppose that is a prerequisite. But Sera’s harmless. She’s very quiet.” We busied ourselves folding napkins, giving us an excuse to linger at the information station. “The guy next to her is Jeremy, her boyfriend – again, quiet and non-venomous.”
“And the other guy is Kinsey’s boyfriend,” I guessed.
“Parker. He’s a mixed bag – super polite, huge tipper.” She winked at me. “But he’s Kinsey’s boyfriend. That makes him a tool.”
I had to agree with her. He had to be somehow lacking. No one in his right mind would voluntarily pair up with Kinsey.
Bente told me his full name was Harvey Parker. Dropping his given name in favour of a one-word-rock-star title made sense. If anyone knew the frustration of having an antiquated, ill-fitting name, it was me. And Harvey was a million times worse than Charlotte.
I studied Parker a little more closely. Bente was putting faces to names for me: Adam had very vaguely broken down his group of friends while we were discussing my run-in with Kinsey.
Like Adam, Parker was a disgustingly wealthy second-year law student at Columbia. The similarities ended there. He was fairly average looking – neither attractive nor ugly. His dark brown hair was short and neat. His khaki chinos were pressed and neat. His navy blue V-necked pullover was preppy and neat.
Parker was neat. That was the only conclusion I could draw by looking at him. Finding out whether he was as void as his girlfriend would involve talking to him.
“I’ve got Kinsey’s table,” I told Bente.
Instantly, she giggled. “So you’re up for round two already?”
“It keeps things interesting.”
“Well, things are about to get a whole lot more interesting, Charli.” My eyes followed as she pointed toward the door. “Your frog just walked in.”
I wasn’t expecting Adam at the restaurant that night. Apparently his friends weren’t either. Kinsey spotted him first. She stood and called out his name, waving him over. He motioned to her with one hand, telling her to wait a minute.
Adam hadn’t spent enough time at Nellie’s to become acquainted with the information station. It seemed a long moment before he finally spotted me.
“Charli,” he said smoothly as he approached.
“Adam,” I replied, muting my smile to avoid prying eyes. “I’m working. I get off at eleven.”
He leaned forward, whispering his words. “Bail. Come home with me.”
“I get off at eleven,” I repeated, looking past him as I spoke.
“Fine, I’ll wait.”
I gave him a half smile that I knew would’ve looked odd. It was the best I could do considering five pairs of eyes were boring into me and Bente was hanging on every word.
Adam walked over to his friends and sat down at the only spare place at the table – next to Whitney.
“Yup, very interesting,” Bente whispered before dissolving into a fit of maniacal giggles.
The purple circle welcomed Adam back to the fold as if he were some long-lost friend they hadn’t seen in years. Maybe a week felt like a year in New York time. Kinsey demanded to know where he’d been and what he’d been up to. Adam ignored her.
“Nice of you to show up,” said Parker.
He probably had good reason to sound miffed. I can remember Nicole adopting the same standoffish demeanour when I deserted her for Adam. Of course, she got her own back when she deserted me permanently a few months later.
Adam smiled. “It hasn’t been that long.”
“You don’t have to avoid me, Adam,” griped Whitney. “We’re grown-ups.”
Bente giggled and I purposely stepped on her toe. She swiped at me and knocked the stack of napkins we’d folded on to the floor.
“Great,” I whispered. “Now we’re going to have to fold them again.”
She scooped them into a messy heap and dumped them on the buffet. “Exactly. It gives us an excuse to stand here. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Bente was right –the conversation at table four was going to make a great show. It was the first time Adam and dim Whit had been in the same room since he’d dumped her.
“I’m not avoiding you, Whit,” insisted Adam, barely casting a glance in her direction.
“Of course he’s not,” soothed Kinsey, reaching across to pat Whitney’s hand. “He probably just needed time to think.”
Adam cut her down instantly. “There’s nothing wrong with my thought processes. I’ve just been busy.”
Whitney’s head dropped and I prayed she wasn’t about to cry. That would have been tragic. Perhaps Jeremy sensed an impending meltdown too, because he jumped in. “Well, wherever you’ve been, it’s good to have you back, man.”
“Yes,” added Sera charging her glass. “We’ve missed you.”
“Not as much as dim Whit has,” mumbled Bente, quickly stepping to the side to avoid another toe stomping.
Unlike Adam, Ryan was acquainted with the information station. He sidled up behind us. “Don’t you get tired of all the cloak and dagger, Charlotte?” he whispered from behind. “Why don’t you just go over there and introduce yourself to your predecessor?”
I spun around. “How would finding out about me do anything other than make things worse?”
“Why are you worried about her feelings? He got tired of her long before you arrived. He has a right to move on.”
“And Ryan should know,” teased Bente. “He just described his whole relationship philosophy.”
He pulled a face at her and she matched it with one of her own.
“Stop it, children.” I walked away. Offering to wait on Adam’s table was completely self-serving. Not wanting them to know anything about me didn’t stop me being curious about them.
A disgusted groan escaped Kinsey before I’d even made it to their table. “This is the girl I was telling you about,” she huffed to no one in particular. I took it to mean she’d told everyone at the table about our run-in. I stood clutching my notebook against my chest like a shield as her minions studied me.
“How are you this evening?” asked Parker, stealing my best waitress greeting.
“In fine form, thank you for asking,” I replied.
Parker shot a smirk at Jeremy and Adam. Both of them looked to the table, unsuccessfully hiding their amusement.
The only venom seemed to be coming from Kinsey. Sera and Whitney stared blankly at me, but Kinsey looked as if she was about to scratch my eyes out. “I want someone else to serve us,” she demanded.
I turned my head from left to right, pretending to search for someone to accommodate her. “Nope. Not tonight. It’s looks like you’re stuck with me.”
Jeremy laughed out loud and Sera nudged him in the side to shut him up.
“Adam,” Kinsey began. “She’s hopeless. I can’t believe you’re putting up with this.”
Adam shrugged but said nothing.
I tapped my pen on my notebook. “Look, I’m pretty busy, so if you want to order something, now would be the time.”
“See what I mean?” Kinsey spoke as if I was invisible. “She’s rude.”
“And you’re rather mind-numbing, but you don’t see me complaining,” I replied.
If I thought there was a chance of having my eyes scratched out before, it was practically a given now. Kinsey attempted to stand up but Parker pulled her back down.
“Okay, okay,” soothed Adam, playing peacemaker. “Look, perhaps there’s someone else who could serve us?”
I doubt my bad attitude toward Kinsey came as a surprise to Adam. I’d forewarned him that she was fair game.
I heaved out a long sigh as if it was all too hard. Kinsey’s glare remained as she tried to make sense of why he was cutting me so much slack. I didn’t get a chance to say anything. Ryan – privy to the whole conversation from the information station – appeared at my side. “Is there a problem?” he asked, like he didn’t know.
“They don’t like me.” My choice of words made both Décaries chuckle. It was the first time I noticed how similar their laughs were.
“I like her,” volunteered Parker, looking at me like he was stuck in some sort of trance.
“Ugh!” Kinsey groaned, folding her arms tightly and leaning back in her chair.
“Oh, Kinsey,” said Ryan wistfully. “How are you, darling? You’re looking as toxic as ever.”
“Go to hell, Ryan,” she snapped.
“Don’t hate Charlotte because she’s rude,” he taunted, slipping his arm around my waist and pulling me close. “Hate her because Parker thinks she’s beautiful.”
Parker threw both hands in the air defensively, speaking to Kinsey. “I never said that!”
“You didn’t have to,” baited Ryan, lowering his voice and winking at him.
“Okay, enough now,” said Adam, finally drawing the line. “Let’s just order.”
Ignoring Adam, Ryan turned his attention to Whitney. “What about you, dim Whit? What are your thoughts on our new waitress?” Whitney didn’t answer, prompting him to continue torturing her. “I’ll bet Adam thinks she’s pretty, don’t you Adam?”
The whole table was deathly silent and all eyes were on Adam – except mine. My baleful glare was directed squarely at Ryan. I contemplated stabbing him with my pen. It wouldn’t have stopped him talking about me like a piece of meat, but it might have freed me from his clutches.
“I’m sure he finds her attractive,” said Whitney, finally finding her voice. “All of the women you bang when you fall out of the whore tree are beautiful, Ryan. That’s usually all they have going for them. Clearly you didn’t hire her for her good manners.”
“Bravo, Whitney,” praised Sera, grinning at her.
I wanted to pat her on the back and congratulate her too. It didn’t even bother me that she’d mistaken me for one of Ryan’s blondes. It was the first time I’d ever heard anyone put him in his place.
I knew there had to be more to Whitney than the meek shell of a girl I’d seen up to that point. Adam didn’t suffer fools easily. There’s no way he would have invested so much time in her if she were as shallow and empty as Kinsey.
It was a bittersweet moment. Whitney Vaughn wasn’t timid and dull. She was just heartbroken. And little did she know, I was partly to blame.
I knew the second Ryan opened his mouth he would have come out fighting, blowing our charade to pieces whether he meant to or not. It would have been the quickest way to destroy Whitney.
I dragged him away from the table, back to the information station. “Not one more word,” I ordered, wagging my finger at him.
Ryan grinned wickedly. “Oh Charli, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
He wasn’t entirely wrong. My webs were becoming more tangled by the day. And it was entirely my own doing.