Finding Joy (The Joy Series) (Volume 2) (16 page)

“Holy bananas,” I said.

“Holy fuck,” Ethan said next to me.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I asked him quietly.

“How could I not. She’s all …,” he waved his hand in front of him. Constance Brittany had rendered him speechless.

“Who is that?” Jillian asked. Her lip curled in disdain, and her eyes ran up and down Constance as she passed by us. Constance’s gaze was directed straight ahead. As she passed by, she seemed completely oblivious to the stares from our group.

Adam wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in close. “Who’s that?” he asked in my ear.

“That’s Constance,” I said under my breath. “My secretary.”

“Seriously?” he asked. “Does she come to work looking like a naughty schoolgirl?”

“Nooooo. Anything but,” I said, shaking my head.

“I wish,” I thought I heard Ethan say under his breath.

“She’s usually channeling a school headmistress or head nun. Definitely not that.” I pointed at her as she merged into the crowd and disappeared.

Ethan adjusted himself, but wasn’t nearly covert enough about it. Jillian’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say a word. Burke, who was good at picking up on the jealous girlfriend vibe, tried to redirect the conversation back to the band’s new plan.

Conversation went on and the evening continued, but it was never quite the same after Constance Brittany’s appearance. She had definitely shaken up the Ethan-Jillian dynamic. And later, when she hit the dance floor and ‘Oh, baby, baby’ blasted from the speakers, I had a feeling that Ethan would never be the same.

CHAPTER 9

Adam

Like a good little student, I went to class on Monday. I passed Carissa in the hall, but didn’t even attempt to talk to her. At this point, I didn’t care about the apartment. Allie was right. Her wanting to buy the space we had once shared was weird. Another buyer would come along.

After my last class, I headed uptown for my 2:30 appointment.

“It’s good to see you again, Adam,” she said, shaking my hand and grinning warmly at the door.

“It’s good to see you, too,” I said. “Thanks for meeting with me on such short notice.”

We walked into her mess of an office, and she grabbed a stack of papers on the edge of her desk. “I’ll need you to fill these out. You can take them home and send them to me later. But I also have a few questions I need to ask you. I’ll have to run the usual background check but I know everything will check out just fine.”

I nodded at Marlene, anxious to get this underway.

Alexis

I was cleaning up a memo when the email from Brittany came in. As far as I was concerned, drafting memos about discrete points of law when there was no right or wrong answer was the worst kind of legal work. So bad, in fact, that I would take any kind of distraction … even an email from Brittany Goddard.

I quickly skimmed it. She wanted to meet for coffee, and the tone of her email indicated that she thought we should do it sooner rather than later. I typed a response, offering to meet her in an hour.

I was still in high spirits from the great weekend I’d had with Adam. We’d spent yesterday lying around the apartment all day, catching up on work, reading, and movies. We had watched three back-to-back episodes of his favorite show. I had to admit that I had a new appreciation for it after being on the set last week.

We had been halfway through the second episode when Marlene had called with good news. She’d said that Amber had called her that evening from a drug and alcohol treatment facility. According to Marlene, she had sounded really good and like she might really be trying to get her life together. Amber would have to appear in court to get Lizzie back, but if all went well, Lizzie could be back at home before Christmas.

The thought that Lizzie would be celebrating the holiday at home instead of some sterile children’s home had put me on cloud nine. Nothing, not even a coffee date with an old friend with whom I had no desire to rekindle a relationship, could bring me down. I had to admit though that I was curious. Why, after all these years, would she want to talk now? What could she possibly have to say?

I was still pondering the possibilities when Ethan slunk into the room. He looked back down the hall like he might be trying to throw someone off the chase and then quickly shut the door.

“What’s up with all the sneaking around?” I asked, as he flung himself into the chair opposite me.

“I didn’t want to run into Constance.”

“Constance? Why?” I asked, even though I already knew.

“I just don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.”

“But she didn’t even see us,” I said.

“I might have talked to her once or twice,” he said, shrugging guiltily.

“You did?” I asked. “When?”

“I bumped into her on the way to the bathroom.”

“I bet you did,” I said.

If I wasn’t mistaken, he was breaking out into a sweat just thinking about it. “Oh my God, Ethan. You totally have the hots for Constance.” I threw my head in my hands and burst  out laughing

“I do not,” he said without conviction. “Well, I mean, yeah, she’s hot for her age. She’s got to be what? Near 40? But did you see her abs? She has a freaking six-pack.”

I shook my head and looked at him in disbelief. “Ugh. I can’t believe I’m listening to this. This is Constance we’re talking about. She’s a dead fish. A dry well.”

“She wasn’t a dead fish Saturday night. She looked pretty warm to me.”

I threw my pad of sticky notes at him. “Gross. I can’t listen to this any more. Besides, I’m friends with Jillian now. Sort of. Well, mostly. I mean, I can’t be listening to you go on and on about
Constance
.”

“One, I’m not going on and on. Two, Jillian and I are not exclusive. And, three, I’ve been your friend a lot longer than Jillian so I trump her.” He gave me a wicked grin. “I’m just saying there’s more to Constance than we think, and I think at some point I’m going to have to find out what it is.”

There was a knock at the door. I immediately recognized the firm, single tap. “Come in.”

Constance breezed in with a stack of files in her hand. “Ms. Harper, Mr. Blackwell wants you to look these over before …oh!” She stopped dead in her tracks and looked a bit like a deer in headlights for a second. She squared her shoulders and pushed her glasses up on her nose. “I didn’t know you were in here, Mr. Anderson. I’m sorry if I interrupted anything.”

Had she just blushed?
Oh, shit. No, no, no.

“Constance, for the one millionth time, it’s ‘Alexis,’ and you didn’t interrupt anything.”

“Okay, great. These are the files that you need to go through before your meeting with Mr. Blackwell tomorrow.” She looked at me blankly. Constance had never, not one single time, smiled in my office, and she didn’t change her sullen streak now. However, she gave Ethan a sideways glance and shifted nervously on her feet. “I’ll be going now.”

Ethan watched her leave, without a word. After she’d shut the door behind her, I erupted in laughter.

“Stop. She’ll hear you, and you’ll give her a complex. You probably already have.” He threw my sticky-note pad back at me.

“I’m going, too,” he said sullenly, standing up.

“Hey,” I said, suddenly feeling bad for him though I wasn’t sure why. “If you really like her, go for it. I mean, I have my doubts as to whether you’ll get anywhere with her. But it’s not because you don’t have game. I just don’t think she does … Brittany costume aside.”

“Aw, shit, Alexis. My hands are full with Jillian right now anyway.” He opened the door. “I’ll catch you later.”

The situation was hilarious. But not for the reasons that Ethan thought. Over the years, I’d watched Ethan date one girl after another, and they had all fit the same bill. They were all tall, leggy, and slightly dumb. Sometimes one would snag him for a little longer than the others. Like Jillian. He had been seeing her for a couple of months now. But it was always the same. His interest never ran very deep. Despite his parting comment, his interest in Jillian had been waning for some time. I was 100 percent sure that Jillian was about to get the boot. And then his hands wouldn’t be full at all, and I had a suspicion that he was going to try to fill them with my secretary.

Ewww.

I glanced at my phone to check the time. It was close enough. I dug through my purse for my wallet and headed for the elevators. Even though I was early, Brittany was already sitting at a table in the corner. As I stood in line to get a drink, I watched her fiddle nervously with her cup. Finally, she looked up and gave me a weak smile and a wave.

I took my drink from the barista and sat down across from her. “Hi,” I said. I didn’t really know what else to say.

“Hi,” she said finally, giving me the big fake smile that I’d been expecting. “So I guess you’re wondering why I wanted to meet?”

“You kind of read my mind,” I said, with a weak laugh. I sat back in my chair. “Can I be honest?”

“Of course,” she said, still smiling.

“It’s been a really long time, Britt. I just don’t think there’s much to say at this point.”

The smile slid from her face. “I know. It has been,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “The thing is I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I’ve been in the city for three years now. I knew you were here. But, even after I saw you a couple of months ago, I just didn’t have the courage.”

As curious as I was about Brittany’s motivations, I wasn’t interested in making amends, and I certainly didn’t want to relive the past. “I’m not sure what to say, Britt.”

“I understand why you hate me. You have every right to.” Apparently,
she
wasn’t afraid of reliving it.

I sighed. “You’re right; I should. But I don’t. I don’t hate you. But I don’t think we can be friends either if that’s what you’re looking for.”

She looked back down at the table again. “I don’t expect you to be my friend, but I think there are some things you should know. Things you should’ve been told a long time ago.”

Her dramatic introduction grabbed my attention. If she was going to tell me about Joy, she was right. Someone should have told me years ago. But she was too late. Much too late. “If this is about the accident, I already know.”

She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. “You mean that you know about the little girl?”

“I do,” I said. “I found out a few months ago. I still don’t fully understand how I was kept in the dark for so long, but I haven’t been able to really sit down and talk to my parents about it.”

She looked at me questioningly. “But you’ve always been so close to your parents. I always envied that about you.”

She was right again. Throughout my entire charmed childhood, I had been exceptionally close to both my parents. I’d never been one of those kids who preferred one parent over the other. The three of us had been a single unit … right up until I learned that the past decade had been nothing but a lie. “Yeah, well … we’re not that close right now. They’re not too happy with some of the decisions I’ve made lately.”

“I’m guessing you’re not too happy with them either,” she said. “And me. I wasn’t a very good friend.”

“A very good friend? You disappeared on me, Britt. When I needed you the most, you were gone. You never even came to see me after the accident. Not one time. My whole world was upside down.”

“I know you think that,” she said sadly. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “But he wouldn’t let us, Allie. I wanted to see you, but he wouldn’t let me in. None of us. We all tried. But he convinced us that the best thing for you was to just let you go. Let you move on and create a new life for yourself.”

My heart stopped. “Who?” I asked though I already knew the answer.

“Your dad. I called, Allie. I called and called and called. I sent flowers. I brought over books and your favorite magazines. But they wouldn’t let me see you.” A tear slipped down her face.

“My mom, too?” I asked. For some reason, I hadn’t been able to lie as much of the blame on my mom as my dad. But, of course, she had been in the deception, too. Deep down, I knew it, but I’d wanted to believe that I still had one ally.

“You know, I always got the feeling that she was just doing what he told her to do. When I’d drop by, she’d look at me with those sad eyes of hers. But then again, we were all sad. So I didn’t question her too much.”

“Why were you sad?” I looked around the coffee shop, which was strangely busy for this late in the day, and wished that we had met somewhere else. Somewhere more private. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold myself together, and someone from my office could wander in at any moment. At least we were in the corner.

“It was awful, Allie. For everyone. It was like you’d died, too.”

All these years, I had thought my friends had abandoned me, but Brittany was telling me that they’d had no other choice … and that she’d had felt like I had died. Had my best friend grieved for me? How was it possible after I had done something so horrible?

I buried my face in my hands. The pattern in the brushed metal table top began to blur. “I didn’t understand why you didn’t want to be my friend any more,” I said. “I understood why Thomas didn’t, but you … I didn’t understand.” Finally, the dam of emotions that I had been trying to contain broke. Tears slid down my face onto the table.

“Oh, Allie,” Brittany said. “I tried. I really did. When you were still in a coma, they encouraged us to visit all the time. They wanted us to talk to you … said you could hear us … said if we talked to you would have a reason to wake up. At first, I came to the hospital all the time, but it was the end of the year, and things got busy with prom and graduation and stuff.”

The ‘stuff’ she was referring to was all the parties and celebrations that I had missed. At the time, I’d thought it was a big deal. Now, it meant nothing.