Hot Pink Heels (The Street Series) (22 page)

“You’re sorry?” Amanda repeated. “Is that what you said?” She couldn’t believe she’d heard Clarissa correctly.

“Yes, Amanda, I am so sorry for the way I behaved the night of the fundraiser,” Clarissa said earnestly, taking one of Amanda’s hands from her lap. “There’s no way to say it, except that I was a complete bitch.”

Amanda was stunned. She’d never heard someone make such a sincere-sounding apology to her before. Oh, her parents had apologized and so had her brother, for refusing to speak to her for a time after what happened her junior year, but even then, it was more like an “I’m sorry this isn’t working out for us” rather than an actual apology
from the heart.

She sat back, at a loss for words, and Clarissa pressed on. “I was so jealous of you, you have no idea,” she said. “When I saw the way Jack looked at you, I couldn’t stand it—I just saw red, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I had lost control of my emotions.”

“You were jealous of
me
?” Amanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How in the world could you be—you are Clarissa Black, millionaire and heiress to even more, I mean, you could have any guy in the world!”

“Any guy except the one I’ve been in love with for half my life,” Clarissa said sadly.

“Oh,” Amanda’s breath left her lungs when she saw the look on Clarissa’s face and heard her admission. “Clarissa, I didn’t set out to do anything to ruin your relationship with Jack, you’ve got to believe that. I mean, yeah, I’m a hooker, so I tried to get into his pants, because hey, he was paying and most of the time the clients aren’t as hot as he is.”

Clarissa blanched a bit at the word “hooker” but she recovered nicely. “I can’t blame you for wanting to uh, be with him, but Jack’s never given me more than a simple peck on the lips, and it’s obvious to anyone within a hundred feet of the two of you that there is some major chemistry there.”

Amanda had no idea what it cost the other woman to say those words, but she could sense someone in pain. “Clarissa, I’m the one who is sorry, especially if I’m the reason he broke up with you,” she said earnestly.

“Actually, I broke up with him,” Clarissa said with a tiny smile. At Amanda’s surprised look, she went on. “Yes, you see, you weren’t the reason we broke up. You were, however, what finally made me see the light of day.”

The guilt returned, but Amanda stayed silent, sensing there was more Clarissa wanted to say. “Our relationship was doomed from the start,” Clarissa said. “Jack and I have sort of been best friends since middle school, and it was just kind of natural that we would date each other when we got out of high school. You always say you want to be married to your best friend, right?”

Amanda nodded in agreement. She wasn’t sure if now was the right
time to say something, so again she kept quiet. “It wasn’t right from the start—I mean, Jack was wonderful, he’s always been very sweet and attentive. The problem was that where I was falling hard and I felt sparks fly whenever I was near him, I could tell it wasn’t the same for him,” Clarissa admitted.

“I forced it, and there wasn’t another woman in the picture that he was attracted to, so it really wasn’t an issue,” she said. “I got butterflies in my stomach when he would call, or smile at me, or take my hand, but he never even tried to go beyond that. No kisses except the very safe peck on the cheek
or lips.”

Amanda was reeling. If Jackson was so tightly reined with Clarissa, a beautiful and desirable woman, what did it mean that he could so easily lose control with Amanda?

She steered her thoughts back to the woman in front of her. “So, I knew it was forced, but I clung to it, especially after my parents died, because I had no one to turn to,” Clarissa said. “I thought for awhile after that that maybe there was a future there, because he was so much more attentive, he would hold my hand more, brush my cheek, he spent all of his free time with me.”

“I see now that I was wrong,” Clarissa sighed. “I was living in denial, in love with the man who considered me his best friend and nothing else. He was there for me through the hardest part of my life, and I refused to let him go.”

Amanda’s thoughts were whirling. What did she do with this information? She felt like she should apologize, but she wasn’t sure if she would offend Clarissa by apologizing when Clarissa was apologizing to her.

“That night, when I saw him look at you from the podium, I knew,” Clarissa said. “I knew he wasn’t mine anymore, and it was time to face the music and let him go, but I certainly screwed it up with my jealousy.”

“It’s okay, Clarissa,” Amanda said, unwilling to hear the poor woman put herself through anymore of this. Clarissa stopped her with a hand held up.

“Please just let me get this all out, and then I hope that we can actually become friends,” the other woman said. “I said some terrible things to you that night, and I am sorry for all of them. I did mean them at the time, but it was just my jealousy talking and I seriously regret everything I said, including the fact that I called you a hooker to Jack’s face.”

Amanda nearly laughed out loud at that last admission, but Clarissa’s next sentence was her undoing. “Amanda, would you please, please forgive me for all the horrible things I said to you, and about you and all the things I thought about you? I know I don’t deserve it, but I really would like to get to know you better. I don’t have a single friend in the world other than Jack and I’d hate to think that you might be in his life forever and we can’t consider each other friends.”

Forever? What was she talking about? There’s no way Jack would marry someone like me
. Amanda was still in shock over the apology, but she could see Clarissa drilling her with that pitiful look as she waited for Amanda’s response.

“Clarissa, I’m not sure what to say, I’ve never had anyone ask me to forgive them, ever,” Amanda said slowly. “But of course I do forgive you, although I think you reacted the way I certainly would have in the same situation, except I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have used such nice words!” She laughed, which had Clarissa smiling a bit.

“As far as calling me a hooker,” Amanda said, causing Clarissa to suck in a breath. “I am a hooker. It’s what I do, so if you were trying to insult me, you need to come up with something better than that.”

Clarissa’s eyes were huge, but when Amanda burst out laughing, she joined in
, breaking the tension between the two women. “I don’t know how long I’ll be around,” Amanda admitted. “But as long as I am, I would love to have a girlfriend to confide in, if you don’t think it would be too weird with the way we met.”

“Absolutely not,” Clarissa said. “I’m not over Jack, but I know he’s not the one God has for me, so it won’t bother me to see you with him, because he has been my best friend for so long, I truly just want him to be happy.”

“Well, I think you’re jumping the gun a little, because there is no relationship between me and Jack, but I appreciate the words and the offer,” said Amanda.

“Now, tell me what’s going on with the two of you,” Clarissa said conspiratorially. “Jack told me when I called last night that things weren’t going so well and I could only assume he meant between the two of you.”

Armed with half a plan, Jackson steered his car toward his parents’ house, ready to set things in motion. If only he had something solid to set in motion. He was hoping his dad could help him with the rest of the idea that had been forming in his mind since earlier in the afternoon, but first he hoped it was homemade pizza night.

He pulled into the driveway before he realized Rissa’s car was parked at the curb in front of his parents’ house. Strange, he thought. Their little brunch should’ve been over hours ago.

When he pushed open the front door, he heard something he’d been missing for almost two years: his mother’s laughter. But it wasn’t just Laura, he heard his dad’s booming chuckle and two other feminine voices.

As Jackson stepped into the kitchen, he almost dropped the two-liter soda he was carrying. There was Clarissa, sitting very close to Amanda as she whispered something in her ear. Amanda burst out laughing and Clarissa joined in.

He felt like he’d stepped into the twilight zone. Chuck and Laura were sitting next to each other, sharing a glass of wine and laughing over something Chuck had said. It was like old times, when Clarissa had come over to hang out with him and Melanie. Like a knife to the heart, he felt the loss of his sister all over again, despite the fact that he was glad to see Amanda enjoying herself.

Amanda looked up to see Jackson’s face
and immediately stood up and went to him. She touched his arm lightly, wanting to do more, but she felt awkward in front of Clarissa and his parents. “What’s the matter?” She asked.

Shaking his head to jog his mind, Jackson looked at her. “Nothing really, it just reminds me of old times, when Mel was here,” he said
with a raspy voice. Everyone stopped and the look on his mom’s face said everything.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a party pooper,” Jackson said. “I just didn’t know there was a party. And since when are the two of you BFF’s?” He looked pointedly at Clarissa.

She giggled. Clarissa
giggled
. He didn’t think he’d ever heard her make that sound, even before her parents died. Then again, he’d never seen her hang around with another woman near her age.

“Wow, did I step into a time warp?” Jackson laughed, finally catching up with everyone else as he grabbed a seat. He put the soda on the table, which had Laura jumping up for cups and ice. “Please tell me that’s your homemade pizza I smell, mom.”

“Actually, Clarissa and Amanda made it, and I just supervised,” Laura said with a grin at her son’s obvious confusion. “You did say you wanted me to get some help with the cooking and cleaning, right? I felt like it would strain these old bones too much to cook your favorite mushroom, Swiss and artichoke pizza, so the girls did it for me, thank goodness.”

“Okay, I don’t know what happened today, but I’m just gonna go with it,” Jackson said with a grin at Amanda and Clarissa.
“Mostly because I’m starving, and I don’t want to do anything to upset the cooks.”

Clarissa was the first to get up when the timer went off a few moments later, and Amanda grabbed the paper plates. The two worked together like they’d been best friends all their lives, much to Jackson’s surprise.

When all five of them were around the table, Chuck blessed the food, asking for safety for Whitney. Amanda was still uncomfortable, but she sat quietly with one hand held in Jackson’s warm one and the other in Clarissa’s well-manicured hand.

They attacked the pizza like ravenous animals, but Clarissa wiped her mouth after the first bite. “Now, let’s talk about what we’re going to do to help Whitney,” she said to the surprise of nearly eve
ryone at the table.

No one said anything as they all stared at Clarissa. “What? Surely you don’t think you can pull off a rescue without my money and expertise,” she said, feigning a snooty air as she raised one eyebrow and adopted a British accent.

“Well, we wouldn’t have thought you would be the first to jump in and volunteer,” Jackson said. “But we probably could use all the help we can get. However, we really need prayers for this to work out.”

“Done,” Clarissa said. “I’ve called everyone at the foundation and asked them to put it on the list—we have a sort of prayer chain at my foundation,” she said in an aside to Amanda. “I’ve spent time praying about this and I know that prayer is important, but what God has told me as I was praying is that it’s time for me to get involved. I have a plan, and before any of you blow it out of the water, just agree to hear me out, okay?”

Four pairs of eyes were focused on her, but they were so stunned they could not respond. “Well?” Clarissa raised both eyebrows now and adopted her business “I-won’t-take-your-crap” attitude, and suddenly they were tripping over each other to
respond.

“Of course, Chuck and I are happy that you want to help,” Laura trilled.

“Clarissa, you’re one in a million,” Chuck said with a smile.

“You don’t have to do this,” Amanda protested.

“You’re out of your mind,” Jackson snapped.

“Good, now that I have your attention, let’s get down to business,” Clarissa said. She began to outline her plan, and Amanda could do little more than sit back in wonder as her newfound friend took charge of the situation. Jackson’s jaw was working in frustration, but he kept silent.

“Here’s what we need to do,” Clarissa began. “Amanda has shared some of the details of the situation with me, and this is what I feel is the best idea. I will welcome any suggestions at the end, but please just listen for now. We need to get Whitney out, but we don’t want Amanda to be put in danger. Billy knows Jack’s car as well as Chuck’s because of the incident last night, and she told me you were originally driving Harry’s car the night you met, correct?” She looked at Jackson for confirmation. Sighing, he nodded.

“Okay, so in order to get Whitney out, we have to get someone else in,” Clarissa said. “Someone Billy doesn’t recognize, and there has to be a plausible situation in order for him to fall for the plan. Amanda has also shared with me some of the ways the women have come to ah,
work
for Billy.”