“Seriously, who are you having dinner with?”

“Seriously, it’s none of your business.”

“Okay…” He sounded offended and I didn’t think he had any right to be. He was prying.

“I’ll text you when I’m finished and see if you’re up and still want me to come over.”

“Sweetheart, I want you to come over even if it’s late. Text me the info and I’ll have a car waiting for you.”

“Sounds good.”

Being dressed for a red carpet by a stylist probably sounded fun to most people, but I knew what worked for me and preferred to do online shopping without the pressure of trying things on. The dinner we were going to would be my final scheduled public outing with Alex. As though that wasn’t enough pressure, the entire event was to honor my favorite actress, Kate Brannan, with a lifetime achievement award. The very idea of sitting in the same room as her was overwhelming. I tried to focus on that instead of the idea that I was potentially picking a dress for my last date with Alex.

I showed up at the address I’d been given, where I met Asha and the stylist who was named Dawn. She was a boho chic Black woman with full, natural curls framing her face and a lip ring. She was effortlessly cool, exactly the kind of vibe you wanted from a stylist.

When Dawn disappeared to get the dresses, Asha said, “I can’t believe how perfectly this all worked out! It’s been so fun and successful.”

I blinked at her, wondering if she knew how stressful this had been for me and just how not to plan my relationship with Alex was turning out.

Oblivious, she said, “I mean…I can because I planned it, but the buzz has been even better than we could have hoped! We expected all eyes on Alex when we dropped the casting announcement, but the paparazzi kerfuffle was an added bonus. The producers are thrilled!”

I was spared from saying anything because Dawn returned with a rack of gowns.

She started talking me through the options she’d come up with. There was a whole lot of fluffy pink and frills happening. It was gorgeous, designer fluffy pink, but I felt out of place just looking at all of it. I wanted to be the kind of woman who could rock something this delicate and feminine, but it never felt like me.

Maybe that was the point.

“Did you start without me?”

I whipped around to see Ophelia pulling her sunglasses off, wearing my favorite leather pencil skirt and a white blouse. I didn’t even care that she’d stolen it. I was just happy to see her.

“You can’t answer a fucking text, but you can stalk me?” I couldn’t keep from smiling as I said it.

She waved her hand dismissively the way I’d seen her do to subs countless times, and I laughed because I felt a million times better already just having her there.