Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“You were always a straight-A student. You’ll figure it out. Especially since your current place to stay is counting on it.” She flashes the kind of fake, overly sweet grin that could serve as a sugar-free substitute for the supposed coffee I’m going to be making and heads back out of the guest bedroom and into the hallway.
I run a hand over my face and groan as I snag my phone off the nightstand. It lights up with one tap of my index finger and text notifications that must have come in last night while I was asleep clutter the screen.
Thomas: We are going to talk, Norah. You can’t avoid it.
The first one I see is more than enough to ruin a mood, and there are at least twenty more where that came from. But I’m not much for being a masochist at five in the morning or wasting my time on horrible human beings, so I ignore them and focus on the one message that’s from a sender I like.
Lillian: I have GREAT news! I am in possession of ALL of your belongings and currently trying to make arrangements to get them to Red Bridge. Thomas is on some kind of business trip, and Donna let me inside.
Donna is Thomas’s housekeeper-who-used-to-be-my-housekeeper until everything turned to shit and I left town.
After I walked out on my wedding, but before I left New York, I had to play a shell game of sorts to keep my distance from Thomas and my mother and pretty much everyone other than Lil.
Obviously, that made it impossible for me to go back to my—Thomas’s—apartment and get my stuff, so Lillian has been working on it ever since.
Lil sent the original message last night, but she gets up before dawn every morning so she can hit the gym before work, so I don’t hesitate to reply.
Me: I could kiss you right now. THANK YOU.
Lillian: Oh, you’ll definitely want to kiss me when you see what else I managed to get for you.
Me: What are you talking about?
Lillian: You’ll see eventually. ;) And I’ll let you know when I’m able to get a moving truck that’s willing to make the trek to Vermont. New York movers are busier than a hooker’s asshole this time of year.
Me: A moving truck???
Lillian: Yes, a moving truck. Because, as it turns out, when your ex-fiancé is a piece of shit and your friend is in charge of gathering your belongings while said piece of shit is out of town, you end up with A LOT of stuff. Some people might suggest you attempt to purge some things for top dollar, but what do I know? I’m just the woman who spent ten hours at your ex’s place packing A LOT of valuable stuff.
My stomach turns. I am both grateful and terrified. Thomas is not going to take being essentially robbed very well. But I guess since I wouldn’t take the money Lil offered directly, this is her way of forcing me to accept some help.
Lillian: PS: You can go ahead and send my Best Friend of the Year award in the mail. Queen Lillian, Master of the Universe would be the appropriate engraving.
“Ten minutes, Nore!” My sister’s voice fills my ears.
Shit. I groan and let my head fall back against the headboard.
There’s a huge, tired, psychologically drained part of me that wants to tell her to kiss my ass and go back to sleep, but when she adds, “Either meet me at the car or start packing up your suitcase!” I bite my tongue.
Josie doesn’t mince words. If she says my current living situation relies on me learning how to be a barista, there’s a high probability she means it. Plus, I’m zero for one in the standing up for myself with stubborn mules department—and Lillian’s shoes have the wear and tear from my walk after getting kicked out of Mr. Macho’s truck to prove it.
And I can only play the desperate little sister role and utilize guilt as my main talking point for so long. Grandma Rose, may she rest in peace, came through in the emotional manipulation tactic for me on Saturday, but she’d probably have to rise from the grave for that ploy to work on Josie again.
My only option is to get dressed and hope to hell I can figure out how to make fancy coffee with a flipping smile on my face.
One day, I’ll be able to put on my own clothes, but today, I’m going to have to settle for a pair of Lillian’s gym shoes, jeans, and a simple black T-shirt that has a Prada label etched inside.
I don’t know how well Prada goes with coffee-making but looks like I’m about to find out.
7
Norah
For the first time since Josie opened the door at six, the quaint wood beams and brick walls of CAFFEINE are blissfully empty, and I am exhausted.