“Okay then, so buy a white dress,” Katya laughed, jotting that down in her notes.
“Definitely. A little white dress. What flavor is this one, the pink? I love it!”
“Strawberry lemonade, I thought it might be fun. For the satellites, you can choose a filling to match whatever flavor you pick, but for the main, I wouldn't ...”
Katya's voice died off. Lauren glanced at her, then did a double take and put down her fork. Patted her friend on the arm and said her name a couple times.
“I'm sorry,” Katya breathed. “Would you excuse me for a moment? I just need to say hello to an old friend.”
She stepped down from the stool, then took a couple steps onto the dance floor. Was impressed with how calm and composed she was – she wasn't shaking. She wasn't trembling. Sure, when she'd first heard that laugh, a laugh she'd never heard often enough, it had rocked her a little. Shocked her into movement. But she was calm. And she was composed.
“Wulfric.”
The party that had entered the room had moved to within a couple yards of her tasting. What they were doing there, she didn't know. Was Wulf throwing a party? Were those his business associates? She flicked her eyes down to where his hand was resting on the one woman's hip.
“Hello,” he said, his smile still in place. It made her feel sick. “What a small world. Gentlemen, Natasha – this is Katya Tocci. We used to be neighbors.”
That was his introduction. She'd slept next to him and seen him naked and he'd been inside her, and that's what she got? They were neighbors?
“Do you work here at the reception hall?” one of the men asked in a polite voice. Her eyes didn't move away from Wulf's.
“No, I'm here with a client, going over some wedding details,” she answered.
“Ah, yes. Ms. Tocci here is a baker!” Wulf explained.
His voice was heavy with condescension – he was saying it to be rude. Putting down her profession. He'd never cared about what she did, before – he'd once told her he wouldn't give a shit if she pumped gas for a living, that's not what their relationship was about. Yet here he was, using it as a weapon to undermine her. To put her down.
“I am. I design and make wedding cakes,” she said proudly.
“That's cute,” the other woman said. “My son is having his eighth grade graduation in a week, maybe you could make him a little something!”
“Can I speak to you?” Katya blurted out, her voice loud in the room. She swore she could hear it echo. The painted on smile never left Wulf's face as he removed his hand from the other woman and placed it on the small of Katya's back, guiding her away from the group.
“Do not create a scene,” he whispered when they were out of hearing range from his friends.
“Are you shitting me!?” she hissed, slapping his hand away as she turned to face him. “What the fuck is going on, Wulf?”
“I didn't know you'd be here,” he assured her. “I wouldn't have come if I'd known. This building is for sale, those people are looking to buy. That's it.”
“That's it? That's it!? I haven't spoken to you in a week, you won't return my calls, my messages, my voicemails, nothing, and that's it?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest.
“I am at work, Tocci. You're at work. We have clients here. Act like a professional,” he warned her.
Act like a professional? Oh, Wulfric. Katya had moved way beyond acting like anything. She gave literally zero fucks. Her anger had reached its boiling point.
“Don't you ever fucking tell me what to do!” she snapped at him, and was pleased when he looked shocked. “And act like a professional!? HA! I'll do that when you learn how to act like a human being.”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” he growled.
“Fuck you.”
“We've done that dance.”
How did we get to this point? From laughing and playing in my bedroom, to hurling swear words at each other in front of strangers? Who is this person in front of me?
“What did I do to you?” she suddenly whispered, catching him off guard. She cleared her throat and spoke again. “I was nice to you. I was kind to you. I never asked for more than you were willing to give. I'm sorry I told you how I felt, I'm sorry if I made things awkward. I would have apologized to you a week ago, but you wouldn't let me. You wouldn't even do me the courtesy of just ending it. No, you were too busy being a mean, nasty, hurtful, asshole. What did I ever do to you to deserve that!?”
By the end, she was yelling. Before, their voices had been at a level where it was obvious the conversation was intense, but still within the realm of polite. Now, the cat was out of the bag. She was shouting and breathing hard and probably red in the face.
And she wasn't the only one.
“Asshole? I'm an asshole? I have bent over backwards for you,” he yelled back. “I was nice to you. I went to your home. I met your goddamn mother. I let you fuck some other guy, almost the entire time we were together, and I never said shit! Didn't fucking complain once. And I'm the bad guy? Sorry, Tocci. You've got it backwards. You're the asshole.”
“Me!?” she shrieked. “You should've said something! Wulfric fucking Stone, so high and mighty, looks down on everyone else, treats us all like we're peasants, and you couldn't even fucking open your mouth and just tell me what you were feeling!”
“I didn't have to tell you shit.”
“Maybe if you had, you could've learned that I stopped sleeping with him – weeks ago!”
“I don't owe you anything.”
She shoved him in the chest.
“No, you don't feel anything, that's the problem.”
“Fuck off.”
“We've done that dance,” she mocked him.
“Yeah, you have done that dance with me – and who knows who else.”
She slapped him across the face, then stepped up close to him.
“You're a pussy,” she growled. “Mad at me for seeing someone else. Scared of what I was feeling for you. Scared you might be feeling something for me. So you ran away. Pussy.”
She didn't wait for his response. The moment was too much. She was most definitely not this girl, no matter what Tori, or Liam, or some made up profile, said about her. She stepped around him and strode back to her table.
“Tough talk, Tocci,” he called her out, matching her step for step. “Is that the first time you've ever said that word?”
“Just go away,” she grumbled, grabbing at her notepad and pens and sketchbook, trying to ignore the fact that everyone else in the room was staring at them with rapt attention.
“No. You started this, so I'll fucking finish it. You want to know what the real problem is?”