On the Record (Record #2)(10)

“Oh my God, Liz, I am so happy that you’re here. Aren’t we, Meredith?” Jamie asked without waiting for Meredith to respond. “I just knew that you and Hayden would start dating. He’s so much cooler when he’s with you. Do you think I could have dragged him to this without you? No way. He’s too uptight.”

Liz laughed softly and took a seat at the table. “Well, I’m glad I could oblige you.”

“Plus, I totally love you as a person. Doesn’t she have such a great presence, Mere?” she asked. Meredith opened her mouth to say something, but Jamie just kept right along. “I’m just so glad that he brought you for New Year’s this year. The snobby bitch he brought last year drove me nuts.”

“What?” Liz asked, before she could think better of it.

“I mean, we weren’t even going to the same party, and I was ready to ditch her before dinner ended. Do you remember her, Mere?”

“Wait, what girl?”

“I remember her,” Meredith said, getting a chance to speak up. “Redhead, right?”

“Yes! That’s her. I don’t remember her name, but I’m glad she’s gone. And I’m glad you’re here!” Jamie cried with a practically buoyant smile.

“Her name wouldn’t happen to be Calleigh, would it?” Liz asked. She heard her heartbeat in her ears when she asked the question. It had to be Calleigh. Who else was a redhead that Hayden had been involved with? But Liz hadn’t thought it was serious. Certainly not enough to bring Calleigh to D.C. with him for New Year’s Eve.

“Calleigh! Yeah, that was it. Do you know her?” Jamie asked.

“She was editor of the paper last year.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember her going on and on and on about that. When Hayden made editor, I was hard-pressed to be happy for him, because she was so annoying about it.”

Liz shrugged, trying for nonchalance. “I didn’t know they were serious.”

Jamie paused as if realizing for the first time what she had just walked into. “Oh, I don’t know if they were. And anyway, that was a long time ago. They broke up when she moved.”

“To Charlotte?” Liz offered.

“Yep. That sounds right. It’s been long, long, long over,” Jamie said with a reassuring squeeze to Liz’s arm.

Liz wasn’t sure why she even let this bother her. She was certain it had something to do with the fact that she just did not like Calleigh anymore. She had once idolized her, but now she realized how misguided that had been. Why had she thought it was ever genius that made the other woman turn down her job offer in New York for the paper in Charlotte? Maybe she had simply wanted to stay closer to Hayden.

The thought struck Liz so clearly that she almost knew it for a fact.

Hayden and James reappeared just then, drinks in hand. Liz couldn’t keep her brain from working overtime, and Hayden gave her a quizzical look. It was as if he could see the wheels turning.

Liz snatched her drink up and grabbed Hayden’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go dance,” she said, drawing him away from the group.

Jamie bit her lip in concern, but Liz turned her back on her. She knew that she should probably talk to Hayden about Calleigh. She had been curious about it since May, when Calleigh had confronted the two of them outside of a club in Raleigh, and it had only intensified since they had started dating. Sure, it was old news. Calleigh and Hayden were over and done with, but the thought of them together made her sick. The thought of Calleigh staying close by because she wanted to be near Hayden made it even worse.

“This way,” Hayden said, moving ahead of her. She followed him and they walked into another room. A band was playing and people were dancing around, but it wasn’t as packed as the dance floor she had been heading for. Liz started to veer toward the center of the room, but Hayden tucked her arm into his and walked her to a far wall. He circled her and pushed her back against the wall softly.

“What did Jamie say?” he asked with a sigh.

“What?” Liz asked, playing dumb. She didn’t want to talk about this. She just wanted to go dance and forget.

“I seriously hate leaving her alone with people. Her big mouth always manages to say the exact wrong thing. And she said something to you, didn’t she?”

“Hayden, it doesn’t matter.” She tried to put a smile back on her face and push away from the wall, but he stopped her with a sharp kiss on the mouth.

“It matters,” he breathed when he pulled back. “I haven’t seen your gorgeous self in three weeks. I couldn’t care less about the party. I don’t like to see you unhappy. And I can’t make it better if you don’t talk to me.”

Liz swallowed. “You brought Calleigh here last year.”

Hayden’s brow furrowed. “So?”

“You told me it wasn’t serious. And yet she keeps coming back up.”

“It wasn’t serious,” he said calmly, brushing a hand back through his hair.

“Okay,” Liz said with a shrug.

“Is something else wrong?”

“I just . . . I must have been oblivious last year when she was at school. I didn’t even know you guys were involved. And now I feel like I’m blindsided by her memory at every corner,” she told him honestly. “And then you said it wasn’t serious, but you brought her here and it makes me think maybe . . . we’re not that serious.”