Lie, Lie Again(98)
She crossed her fingers. “Let’s hope so.”
“All right, then. Um, by the way, Lily is coming over in an hour or so. You should stop in and say hi.”
Sylvia kept her expression neutral, but her mind was racing ahead. Of course she would stop by. The timing couldn’t be better. “Thanks. I just might do that.”
As she walked to her apartment, her phone chirped. It was a text from Belinda.
You left work early. Everything okay?
How nice that she was concerned.
Yes. I was feeling sick, but it must’ve been something I ate this morning. I’m feeling much better now.
Oh, good. :) I wanted to tell you I have a date tonight! And he’s not from the internet, LOL! I met him at my niece’s ballet recital on Saturday. He’s divorced and a dad, but we’re at that age.
Sylvia’s radar was up. Divorced and a dad? There had to be hundreds of thousands of divorced dads in Southern California alone, so it was downright ludicrous to think for a second that it was Sal. He hadn’t said anything about his daughter doing ballet, only hip-hop.
That’s great! Details? How old is his daughter? Is she a friend of your niece? And what’s his name? Wouldn’t want to refer to him as “the ballet dad”!
Ha! Yes, my sister says he’s a good guy. His name is Jason. :)
Of course his name was Jason. Not Sal.
Have a great time with Jason. Details tomorrow.
U got it. Fingers crossed he doesn’t turn out to be a freak show. And funny enough, Sarah is going out with her guy with the good arms. I can’t believe she had the nerve to ask him out!
What the actual fuck? Sylvia resisted the temptation to throw her phone against the wall. How had that even happened?
How cute. The one she was gushing about from accounting or some such?
Yes! They’re only meeting for coffee after work because he has to take his kid somewhere or something, but she’s freaking out. You should text her. That girl needs all the moral support.
LOL. Have fun tonight.
This was no laughing matter. How the fuck had Sarah conjured up enough courage to ask Sal out, let alone convince him to say yes?
She wished she’d strangled Sarah in the bathroom when she’d had the chance. This upcoming coffee date would put a wrench in her plans, but no matter. She was up for the task. Unexpected challenges only made things more interesting.
A smile tugged at her lips. Snagging Sal away from Sarah would be all too simple. For God’s sake, he’d probably scorch his tongue from downing his drink too fast and claim he had to rush off for a family emergency.
First things first.
She headed back to the bathroom and assessed her face. She really had done a first-rate job of creating a sallow complexion. Embry hadn’t said a word about it, but she was probably too polite to be honest about something like that.
Now it was time to revert to her vibrant self. She washed her face with an invigorating cleanser and patted it dry. Thanks to the abundance of high-quality skin-care products on the market, her skin had a youthful glow. Complemented with the right makeup, she could pass for twenty-nine. She opted for a daytime look even though it was nearing the evening hours. The goal was to appear like she was heading to the gym.
Lining her lips and filling them in with a muted plum was the final step. She pressed them together. Perfect. If she hadn’t pursued marketing, she certainly could’ve found success in makeup artistry. And now for the wardrobe. Low-rise yoga pants were in order. It was imperative that her tattoo peeked out from the waistband. She decided upon a cropped black-and-white color-block sports tank. It allowed for a better view of the web. She chose a cropped zipper hoodie to wear over her ensemble and evaluated her look. Not bad. The spider crept out from beneath the waistband. It really was hard to ignore, with its vibrant jeweled body. Lily wouldn’t be able to look away. On the way out, she shoved the plastic bag holding the burner phone into the pocket of her sweatshirt, along with Hugh’s camera.
She knocked on the Taylors’ door, taking note that an unfamiliar stroller was parked on the porch. It had to be Lily’s. A large floral-print diaper bag hung from the handle. As she stood outside the door, she leaned down to ease open the bag’s zipper before she resumed a waiting stance.
Embry swung open the door. “Hi! Come in.”
“Hi!” she said in a girlish voice. Waving toward Lily, she said a polite hello and made a beeline toward Hunter, whose infant seat sat on the kitchen table. “Hi, you little cutie,” she said, leaning over him, allowing the unzipped hoodie to fall open. She turned toward Lily. “It looks like he’s already bigger. They grow so fast,” she said, spreading her arms to the side. A dorky move at best, but it allowed for a great view of her tattoo. “Thanks for returning my license, by the way. I was going crazy trying to figure out where I’d left it.”
“You’re welcome. I found it on the sofa.” Sylvia noticed Lily’s eyes went to her hip, but then she forced her gaze upward.
“What a stroke of luck that you met Embry and figured out we know each other. Kooky coincidence.” She watched Lily’s face, searching for any hint of deception.
“Very much so.” She smiled timidly.
Before Sylvia could respond, Kylie looked up from where she was sorting crayons by color on the table. “Miss Sylvie, you color?”
“Oh, I wish I could stay and color, but I’m off to try a yoga class.” To Embry she added, “I hope it helps with the stress.”