Heat Wave

And I wish I lived in some other timeline, some other life, where that wasn’t a possibility, but it is. I can’t underestimate her. I can’t ever do that.

The only solution is to live a lie once more. It’s a small price to pay to keep what’s ours.

I take my phone out from under my pillow, about to plug it into the wall since the battery is low, and move on, forget about it. Talk to Logan, see what we should do, if I should say anything at all.

It rings in my hand.

I gasp, staring at it blankly.

It’s my mother. On my new phone I haven’t had time to program in her number, but it’s her all the same.

Holy fuck.

I hesitate before answering it. Thank god my battery is dying and I can use that as an excuse. She’s probably just calling to wish me a happy new year, anyway. This should be a short call.

I answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello Veronica.” Her voice is like ice. “Happy new year.”

“Thanks,” I say as cheerfully and casually as possible. “Did you guys have a good night?”

“We did,” she says. “You know, had the usual party down at the Palmer House.”

An eerie silence fills the line. I’m about to say something benign when she sighs. But it’s not drawn-out or overdramatic. It’s sharp. It’s a warning. “I heard you had a great time,” she says. Her words are a loaded gun, hinting at damage.

“Last night?” I ask cautiously.

“Yes. There was a party at Moonwater, wasn’t there? For you, the staff, the guests…”

My breath freezes in the top of my lungs, refusing to move onward. “How did you know that?”

“Veronica, Moonwater is more our hotel than it is Logan’s. Not by a lot, but it’s enough. Do you seriously think I wouldn’t know what’s going on in our own hotel?”

Oh no. Oh no. This can’t be going where I think it’s going.

The doom settling over me is insurmountable.

I can’t even speak.

“I know what happened last night,” she adds and now her voice is cracking, brittle with anger, acidic to the core. “I know what people saw.”

“What happened?” I whisper. I can’t hide the fear in my voice.

There’s a sharp intake of breath, like I’ve struck her.

“What happened?” she repeats. “I know what’s going on with you two. What you’ve done. Tell me right now that you and Logan are not…together. Tell me right now that you aren’t and I’ll believe you.”

Oh my god. I nearly drop the phone. I can’t even stand up, I stumble to the couch, sitting down. My heart is shrinking.

This can’t be happening.

How could she know?

“Who told you we were together?” I ask, my face going hot with fear and blistering anger.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Who told you!” I yell. “It matters!”

“Oh, fine. It was Charlie. And he’s been honest so far, he wouldn’t start lying now.”

I am stunned. Slapped in the face, kicked in the stomach.

Charlie?

“What?” I’m gasping.

“Yes, there’s nothing unusual about that. I have to know what exactly is going on with our investment, we don’t trust Logan to report the truth. Your father and I check in with Charlie every now and then. We checked in with him this morning and he told us something that couldn’t possibly be true.”

I’m going to kill him.

Logan’s going to murder him.

“Don’t get all concerned about Charlie,” my mother goes on. “He assumed we knew. But I’m glad he told us at any rate, even if he’s mistaken. Is he mistaken, Veronica?”

My mouth flaps open, closed, like a fish out of water.

“Answer me!” she yells, the malevolence coming to life.

I nearly bite my tongue off, my mouth snaps shut so fast.

“Your silence is speaking volumes,” she sneers, her voice going low, to the vile levels. “You have no idea what you’ve done, no idea what you’re doing. You think you’re going to marry Logan? Is that it? You think you’re going to be the next Juliet? Is that what this is about?”

“No,” I tell her, trying to find my voice, my strength. “No. I love him and he loves me.”

My mother erupts into laughter, the kind that comes from hate.

“Love? Oh cut the crap, you don’t know what love is. What you’re doing is because you’re tired of being second best, of never measuring up. You’re trying to take what was rightfully Juliet’s, you won’t even let her rest in peace.”

I’m so temped to tell her the truth about her, about who she really was. It takes everything I have in me to protect Juliet.

“Mom, please, I knew you wouldn’t understand so I didn’t tell you but…it’s the truth. We’re in love and it has nothing to do with Juliet, only that we had to make sure that we were being respectful and –”