Lucky Charm (39 page)

“Ann, I have a confession to make.” Lilly paused, taking a sip of water. “But you have to promise not to get mad at me,
okay
?”

“How can I promise that if I don’t know what you’re about to say?”

“Then I’ll just keep my mouth shut
. I
t’ll probably be better this way anyway.”

“What were you going to tell me?”

“Oh, Ann, I’m sorry
. P
lease don’t hate me for this!” Lilly took a deep breath, wringing her fingers. “I bought the necklace and asked the palm reader to tell you that it was a lucky charm.”

“What? The whole thing was a set up?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Ann!”

“You knew all along
,
and you let me carry on like a complete fool?”

“It wasn’t like that at all! I thought it would give you confidence to venture out more, to get out of your comfort zone. Please, don’t make more out of it than it was
. A
ll I wanted was to help.”

“Does Etienne know about this? Did you ask him to go out with me as some pathetic charity act?”

“No, Ann. I swear! I didn’t tell anyone about it. Etienne had nothing to do with it
. H
e liked you all on his own.”

“Just how naïve do you think I am?” The realization of the terrible hoax made her insides boil
. F
or weeks
,
Annabel had marveled at Etienne’s sudden change of heart after their initial date that had been such a fiasco
. H
is sudden interest in her had seemed so mysteriously romantic to her, but now, the reason was crystal clear
.
Lilly must have asked him to take pity on her. “I should have seen through the whole thing from the start
. A
French count with a chateau suddenly falls in love with me– it’s ridiculous! Let me guess
. T
he chateau was rented
,
and he is an unemployed actor?”

“No, Annabel! That’s not true at all! Etienne is Simon’s best friend
. H
e really is a count
,
and the chateau is his. And I never told him anything about the necklace! He really likes you
.
I’m sure there’s a reason why he hasn’t been able to call. Please, don’t ruin this because of my stupid mistake!”

“I don’t need your help with my love life. And I certainly don’t need you to make a fool out of me anymore. You know, Lilly, for years I’ve been your friend. I’ve listened to you bitch and moan about your parents, I’ve watched you treat great guys like crap, and I always stuck by you. But the one time I needed your help, you went ahead and made a fool out of me.”

Annabel rose from her chair and hurried out into the street
. S
he had to get away from Lilly right now.

“Wait up, Ann!” Throwing a fifty-dollar bill on the bar, Lilly rushed after her friend. “Don’t be like this!”

Once outside, Annabel frantically looked for a cab. Miraculously, a cab had just pulled over by the curb, and she jumped inside. As the cab drove away, Annabel watched Lilly storm out on the sidewalk, flailing her hands wildly.

A moment later, Annabel saw Lilly’s number come up on her cell phone and let the call go to voicemail
. I
t was going to be a while
before
she would be able to talk to her friend again, if at all.

Back in her apartment, Annabel found her answering machine message light blinking. She turned on the play button, and Etienne’s voice filled the room
.

“Annabel, I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch, but things have been crazy busy at work. I have some good news, though
.
I will see you soon.”

A few hours ago
,
she would have been beside herself with happiness, but now, she no longer cared. When Lilly put on the show, she really followed through. Well, Annabel was not going to fall for it any longer
.
Etienne could call her and email her all he wanted, but she would be damned if she would reply. Her hands shaking, Annabel picked up her cell phone and typed a text message to Etienne,
I know about the necklace
. N
o need to keep up the charade any longer.
Feeling wrung out and empty, she pressed the send button
. T
here was no going back now
. W
eeks of hopes and anticipation had been wiped down to nothing.

The answering machine played on, “Ann, it’s Jeremy…” The familiar notes in Jeremy’s voice made her twinge. “I hope you got the flowers. Can we please talk?”

Jeremy’s voice unhinged her, just like Jeremy’s unexpected appearance on her doorstep did the day before
. H
e wanted to see her, he was asking for forgiveness
. S
hould she give him another chance? A few months back
,
she would have laughed at the notion
. S
he had been so brisk in her actions, so resolute in her decision to cross Jeremy out of her life. But now, despite all the hurt he had caused her, she was having second thoughts.

“Oh, what the hell! Things couldn’t possibly get any worse than they are now,” Annabel muttered. Ever since her break up with Jeremy
,
she had been trying to avoid getting hurt and where had it gotten her? If anything, she
had
achieved the complete opposite by falling for a man she barely knew anything about. Annabel sighed, biting her lip
. E
ven now, knowing that her entire romance with Etienne had been a hoax, she held a secret hope that there might be a plausible explanation that would convince her otherwise. But that was all it was – wishful thinking
. F
aced with a choice of being heartbroken and alone or heartbroken with someone by her side, even if that someone did not mean anything to her anymore, she
was inclining towards forgiving Jeremy
.

Annabel took a deep breath and dialed Jeremy’s number
. H
er fingers still remembered the sequence of buttons on the keypad. She listened to the long dial tones and waited: one, two
.
O
ne more ring and she would hang up.

“Annabel?” Jeremy’s voice overflowed with joyful disbelief. “I’m so glad you called.”

“Hi
,
Jeremy,” She steeled her voice
. S
he was not about to melt into gooey jelly. “Thank you for the flowers
. T
hey were lovely.”

“I’m glad you liked them
.
I was beginning to worry that you didn’t receive them. It’s so good to hear your voice...”

Jeremy broke off, and she could sense the uneasiness on the other end of the line. Where was his suaveness, his flowery expressions that he used to proffer so easily? Could it be that he had indeed become a different person who deserved another chance?

“Annabel?”

“Yes?”

“When may I see you? We could have dinner together
.
I just want to talk…”

The pleading notes in his voice tugged at her heart like strings
on
a marionette.
             
“Tomorrow,” she blurted out. “Meet me at seven at the steak place.” The steak place – that was what they used to call the neighborhood diner because of the cheap, but incredibly good steaks.

“Well, Ann, now that
you’ve
agreed to have dinner with me, I’m not going to mess it up
.
I’m taking you to a decent place.” Jeremy chuckled, and for the first time Annabel heard the old Jeremy come through. “How about Aquavit? I remember you wanted to go there…”

Annabel closed her eyes
. O
f course
,
she remembered
. I
t was one of the places she and Jeremy
had
fanaticized dining at once he made it as a writer. Well, now Jeremy’s dream had come true, but they were no longer together.

“All right then. I’ll meet you there at seven,” she conceded, her voice a model of composure
. S
he might have been a wreck on the inside, but she was not about to abandon her armor.

“Great. I’m looking forward to it. Goodnight now.”

Before she could say another word, he hung up.

Annabel clenched the receiver tightly, as her mind went to work immediately, rehashing her conversation with Jeremy. Had she been too cool with him, too detached? Was she making a mistake by agreeing to see him?

Later,
as
Annabel lay in bed, tossing a
nd turning way past midnight,
one single, searing thought kept racing through her mind: tomorrow she was going to see Jeremy.

The next morning
,
Annabel stared distractedly at her computer in the office
. S
he had spent a restless night, but thankfully
,
her lack of sleep did not manifest itself in dark circles under her eyes
. I
f anything, she looked fresh-faced and bright-eyed, her eyes shining and her skin
f
lushed from all the a
gitation that had kept her up all
night.

As she tried to concentrate on work, her thoughts kept turning to Jeremy and what their meeting would be like. What if they would have nothing to say to each other? She sighed, glancing at the roses on her desk
. I
n all the years that they had been together, Jeremy had never sent her flowers, and now, he was wooing her with flair. Yet, despite Jeremy’s panache, something felt off
. G
ranted, there were plenty of reasons for uneasiness between them, but she sensed that there was more to it
. S
ometh
ing about Jeremy had changed
,
yet
she could not quite put her finger on it. There were plenty of reasons for him to seem different
. T
heir lives had grown worlds, if not galaxies apart, and it was bound to show. Still, it baffled her that someone she had been with for so long and thought she knew so well could seem like a complete stranger only after a handful of months.

But then she had to admit that one could not always trust what one saw
. S
he had thought that she knew Etienne well enough to trust him with her heart, and yet again, she had been mistaken. With a dejected sigh, Annabel reached for her cell phone and checked for missed calls and text messages. What was the point of lying to herself? It would be foolish to deny that, despite the cold text she had sent him last night, deep down she hoped that Etienne would fight to convince her that it had all been a terrible misunderstanding and that he was crazy in love with her. But alas, such
hopes were the stuff of dreams
. T
he only messages on her cell phone were those from Lilly, which Annabel ignored for now
. S
ure, she’d have to forgive Lilly eventually, but she was not ready to give in just yet.

“Big plans for to
night?” At a quarter to five
,
Pa
i
ge appeared in the doorway of Annabel’s office.

Annabel glanced at the clock guiltily. The day had been a waste
,
and there was no sense in spending another hour mindlessly staring at her computer. Tomorrow, she would pay for her sins by playing catch-up, but today she was determined to look her best for Jeremy.

“I’ve got kind of a date…” Annabel trailed off lamely, hoping that Paige would not press her for details.

“Still seeing that French charm
er of yours? What was his name…
Etienne? Why didn’t you tell me he was in town
?
I would have told you to get out of here.”

For a moment
,
Annabel was tempted to smile and work her way out the door, but then this was Paige
. A
fter everything her boss had done for her, Annabel could not lie to her.

“The thing is, I’m not seeing Etienne tonight…”

“Another fella in the picture?” Paige winked. “I like that
. I
t’s good to keep your options open.”

Annabel shook her head, wishing she could see things so simply, but for some reason, for her, it was never that easy.

“I’m meeting Jeremy for dinner,” she blurted out, afraid to say a word more.

“Ah.” Paige nodded. “And what about Etienne?”

“That’s all over
. I
t was just a fling anyway.” Annabel pressed her lips together.

“I see. But are you sure you’re doing the right thing
,
seeing Jeremy?”