Between Friends (30 page)

I roll my eyes thinking the last thing
I need tonight, is to go out and potentially see either Ben or
Jessica. Not that I think either of them would actually attend,
knowing I was going to go out for a couple of drinks on my
birthday, but I don’t put it past Michelle at all to pull a fast
one.

Suddenly I get another text, but this
time from Eric:

Happy Birthday Megs! See
you tonight?

That’s weird. I haven’t heard from
anyone besides Michelle for the past two weeks, and now I am
getting simultaneous text messages from everybody? I know it’s my
birthday and the perfect excuse to contact someone, but
really?

So I text Eric back:

Thanks Eric. Yeah let’s
hook up later.

Then my phone starts
ringing, and I see its Clint.
Oh
shit!

“
Hello?” I say, sounding as
calm as possible.

“
Megan? Where the hell are
you? We’ve been waiting for you for the past twenty minutes!” Clint
shouts into the phone. I can only imagine how red his face is right
now, since it always turns a million different shades of crimson
when he is on the verge of losing it.

“
I’m on my way Clint.
Sorry, I was held up. It’s my birthday and – “

“
I don’t want to hear a sob
story Megan!” Clint yells into the phone, and then whispers, “Mrs.
van den Berg is here. Now hurry up.” and clicks off from our
conversation.

When I push through Clint’s office
door, the first thing I see is my boss in a three piece suit, and
Mrs. van den Berg sitting on the sofa in his office. They both
stand up to greet me. I quickly wipe away the stray stands of hair
still plastered on my face from the whirling winds outside. Mrs.
van den Berg’s silver hair is pulled back neatly in a bun, and her
blue eye shadow is very prominent on her eyelids. She is wearing a
tweed pantsuit with piles of gold jewelry draping from her neck,
wrists and fingers. She pulls me in for a tight hug, giving me a
clear view of Clint standing behind her with a furrowed brow and
face of contorted disappointment.

“
I’m so sorry I am late.” I
gently pull away from Mrs. van den Berg, “Today is my birthday. I
was stuck on the phone with a bunch of different family members.
You know how it is when it comes to family.” I chuckle, watching
Mrs. van den Berg smile in agreement.

“
Well we’re so glad you
could make it dear.” She says and motions me to sit down beside
her.

Clint clears his throat and slides
down onto a armchair, “Well Megan, I suppose this is a formal
congratulations for the impeccable job you did on Mrs. van den
Berg’s listing -”

“
We already opened the
champagne dear” Mrs. van den Berg interrupts, passing me a bubbling
glass of pink champagne.

“
Thanks” I reply and take a
sip, then add, “I tried calling you earlier.”

“
I know dear, I got the
message. I called Clint right away. I wanted to see you in person.”
Mrs. van den Berg says with a smile.

I am so confused. This is not how I
normally deal with clients. But then again, this isn’t just an
everyday listing or an everyday client. Well for me anyway. Ben on
the other hand, has million-dollar listings all the time, but I
don’t recall him having lavish follow up meetings with
champagne…

“
You know, I normally
wouldn’t ask someone to pop in the office on a Saturday just for
some celebratory champagne.” Clint apprehensively looks from me to
Mrs. van den Berg. I choke a bit on my drink and wonder where this
is going, “But, because of the great work you did, Mrs. van den
Berg asked I set up a meeting with you as soon as possible to
discuss your future representation on a few other properties she
has and is ready to sell.”

I just sit there frozen, utterly
speechless.

“
Well dear? What do you
say? I just adored how hard working you were, and you were able to
negotiate above and beyond what I expected for my property. How
about we try to sell a few more? I just don’t have the energy like
I used to, to manage all this real estate.” Mrs. van den Berg gives
me a wink.

“
I would love to” I squeal
and thank her a million times over. I am happy to see Clint’s
grumpy and wrinkled face change to sheer joy.

“
Megan” Mrs. van den Berg
says and gently places her hand on mine “When Ben Romano turned
down representing my listing, I thought he was crazy. He insisted
you were the woman for the job and spoke so highly of you. I am so
glad I listened to him dear, you are great at what you
do.”

I hesitate, and then say with outright
confusion, “Ben turned down your listing and referred me to
you?”

“
Yes dear” Mrs. van den
Berg smiles completely oblivious as to why my fingers are trembling
beneath hers.

“
Did you know about this
Clint?” I ask, feeling a surplus of unidentified emotions welling
up inside of me. I blink away the tears forming in the corners of
my eyes.

“
No I didn’t” Clint says
looking more puzzled than I feel.

I am stunned. I cannot believe Ben
would pass up on a property like that, and he did it for me. I must
have heard Mrs. van den Berg all wrong. I feel like I am in the
Twilight Zone. This can’t possibly be what is happening right now.
Am I getting Punked? I quickly scan Clint’s office, waiting for
Ashton Kutcher to pop out of Clint’s closet, where I know he keeps
his jacket, booze and secret stash of condoms. But nothing
happens.

Then distracting us all, my cell phone
starts ringing. I pull it out of my jacket, even more shocked to
see Jessica’s number flash on my screen. I must be dreaming. First
Ben passing off a multi-million dollar listing on to me, now
this…

“
I’m sorry” I say with a
tremble in my voice, “I have to take this.”

“
No problem dear” Mrs. van
den Berg says, “I have to be going anyway. I have left my signed
contracts of representation with Clint on the three other
properties. We’ll get in touch tomorrow.”

“
Thank you Mrs. van den
Berg” I say and slide out of Clint’s office and bolt in to my
cubicle.

When I answer my cell phone, I
cautiously place it up to my ear only to mutter a quiet hello. I
hear Jessica respond with a guarded greeting. I am shocked to
discover my mouth has turned against me and I am at a loss of
words.

“
Megan, are you there?”
Jessica says with concern.

“
Are you going to yell at
me?” I ask, feeling my body vibrate with angst.

“
No” Jessica says with a
laugh, “I got your email.”

“
Oh” I say still feeling
unsure of how to deal with Jessica.

“
Look Megan, I know you
never meant to hurt me…but you did. I have never ever lied to you
about anything.” She sighs into the phone, and I can tell she is
still genuinely disappointed.

“
I didn’t lie to you on
purpose,” I say in defense, “I am really sorry, but I was horrified
that morning when I woke up with Ben in my bed. I had no idea what
was going on and-“

“
I know Megan.” Jessica
says and cuts me off, “Don’t think this phone call means I am not
still mad at you, your little secret ruined my wedding you
know.”

“
I know” I sigh.

“
But – I refuse to miss out
on my best friends twenty-fifth birthday. What kind of friend would
I be if I wasn’t there for her when she became one year closer to a
senior citizen?”

“
Are you forgiving me?” I
say with a strained laugh.

“
Don’t be cute!” Jessica
shouts with a chuckle, “Now, we are going out tonight, no ifs ands
or buts. I already talked to everyone and we have reservations for
nine at JBar.”

“
Oh” I say with a hint of
uncertainty to my voice.

Jessica must read my mind, because she
says, “Don’t worry, Ben won’t be there.”

Once I get home, I finally get a call
from Emily, and a text from Matthew and Stephanie. They all wish me
a happy birthday, and say they are excited to see me tonight. Emily
asks me what I am going to wear, which I respond I’m not sure yet.
I hang up with her and rifle through my closet in search of a
proper twenty-fifth birthday outfit, but nothing sparks my
interest. My closet looks like a dull businesswoman fantasy. It’s
full of pantsuits, A-line skirts and blouses. Nothing I own seems
to have any sex appeal or allure. Both things I decide I need, as a
freshly aged and apparently single woman. I rip out about fifteen
playfully and flirty dresses and blast a streamline of Rihanna’s
greatest hits. I drink red wine and give myself my own personal
fashion show.

Unfortunately, I decide
nothing is exciting enough, or fits me quite right. I glance at the
clock, and notice it is only six o’clock. I still have plenty of
time to whip down to Macy’s and find something appropriate to wear
for tonight
.

I deserve it.

I pound back the last droplets of my
wine, and dance over to my door and pull on my blazer. I click off
my iPod, ending the dance party for one, and hear complete silence.
As I slide on my shoes, a knock on my door startles me to the point
of a high-pitched shriek. Who on earth could that be? The only two
people have the access code to get into my building without me
buzzing them up are my mother and Jessica.

I pull open the door, and my chest
practically seizes when I see him.

Chapter 26

Nothing I could have done,
would have prepared me for this moment. Ben is standing three feet
in front of me, looking as hot as ever with a clean-shaven face,
hair gelled back and his mouth slightly parted. The outfit he is
wearing makes my heart flutter around in my chest. He looks
fantastic leaning against my doorway all spiffed up. The way
his
teal knit sweater clings to
his muscular chest, contrasted by his brown bomber leather jacket,
coupled with his dark wash jeans sitting perfectly on his hips, is
enough to make me ache inside. But I remain as poised as possible
and plaster on my best poker face to greet him with a cold, “How
did you get in here?”

Ben clears his
throat and blushes a bit, “I called your mother and she gave me the
code
to get into your
building.”

Damn my mother and her crazy
Ben obsession. How dare she!

“
Oh really” I say
unimpressed and lean against the doorway to block
his view into my condo, “Well you should
have called first, because I was just on my way out.”

“
Oh” Ben sighs
and runs his fingers through his dark hair. He pauses for a second,
letting a moment of silence linger between us. He narrows
his
eyes at me and tilts his chin
upward
, “But even if I would have
called you, you would have just ignored it. Isn’t that what you’ve
been doing lately…purposely avoiding me?”

I blush a bit and
look away, “I’ve avoided you for good reason,”
I say and cross my arms in front of my
chest.

Ben leans over
and
places his hand on the brass
knob putting his face inches in front of mine, “Are you going to
let me in or not?”

I gulp and step
aside
to let him walk through my
doorway. He slides off his jacket and places it on the bench in the
entry. He casually walks into the living room and flops down on my
sofa in his usual spot, (the far left corner, which just happens to
be the comfiest worn in cushion). He looks up at me with pursed
lips and drapes his arm along the back of the sofa then pats the
spot beside him. I roll my eyes and shake my head, stubbornly
frozen in my foyer.

“
Just say what
you have to say Ben.” I snap, and then add, “
Because I really have to get going.”

I can’t stand his
casual demeanor. It’s like he has forgotten everything that
happe
ned in Costa Rica, and it’s
like he just thinks all is well between us; when it clearly isn’t
(at least from my perspective). More importantly, I just wish he
would put me out of my misery and flash the friend card, so I can
tell him the idea of us being friends is no longer an
option.

“
Fine” Ben sighs,
and nervously says, “Well first of all, Happy Birthday.”

“
Thanks” I mutter
tapping my foot impatiently on the floor.

“
I’m really sorry
for what happened at the wedding. That was totally out of line.” He
gets up from the sofa, and starts to walk over to me.

“
Thanks Ben,
that’s just what I needed. A really nice apology
,” I sarcastically say, “I still don’t know what
you’re doing here. After everything that happened, you can’t
actually think things will ever be the same between us. Besides,
shouldn’t you be at The Berghoff on another date
tonight?”

“
What are you
talking about?” Ben stops dead in his tracks, “Wait? How did you
know I was at The Berghoff?”

“
Michelle saw
you!” I shout and suddenly start to feel the tears well up in the
corners of my eyes.

Pull it together
Megan! Do not let him see you cry!
Not now! You were doing so well!