Page 84 of True Sight

I swallow hard and wait for a beat to let the tension in the room grow a little bit more. I need them to think I’m nervous to tell them who I’m texting in order to really sell it. Glancing around at my friends one more time for good measure, I blurt out the only name I know is safe.

“It’s Margaret.”

“I knew it!” Malcolm cheers and starts to laughmaniacally. He spins around and slaps my phone to my chest which prompts me to release his shirt.

“Pony up, fuckers, you both owe me money.” He points a finger at Kolbi and Hank who roll their eyes and groan in perfect synchrony that only lifelong friends can achieve.

“Wait, you assholes made a bet about this?” I scoff at them, quickly sliding my phone into my back pocket for safekeeping.

“Wait, what’s going on about Margaret?” Magnolia chirps, looking at all of us completely confused.

“Seems our boy Connie here is sleeping with your bestie,” Malcolm sings, counting the cash my friends have just given him.

“Youwhat?” she cries out, her jaw nearly hitting the floor. “That lying, little…I’m going to kill her.”

When she stomps away and comes back with her phone, I know I have to loop Margaret in quickly so she doesn’t give me away.

“I have to shit my pants,” I announce loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention and distracting them for a few extra seconds.

“Then go take care of business, brother, you know where the bathroom is.” Kolbi gives me his perfected ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’ face and points towards the bathroom down the hall.

I hurry down the hallway and pull out my phone to text her, hopefully faster than Magnolia can.

Cover for me.

What the hell are you talking about?

Just cover for me, PLEASE.

When she doesn’t text me back, I wonder if I have gotten to her in time. After a few moments, a new message from her comes in.

You’re so fucking dead for this.

Thank you, thank you. I owe you big time.

Oh Mills, you owe me more than big time. I just saw a stunning pair of Jimmy Choos at Nordstrom the other day, I’ll send you a link. I’m a size six.

I roll my eyes and flush the toilet to sell the whole ‘shitting my pants’ bit before walking back into the dining room where everyone is waiting for me.

“So you’ve been togetherhow long?” Magnolia stresses into the phone. Shit, I didn’t know she called Margaret to talk to her about this. Could my friends be any more dramatic?

“Mmhmm, and you didn’t think you could tell your best friend any of this?” Magnolia’s eyes are like daggers when she throws them at me.

“Good job bagging Margaret, dude,” Malcolm jests next to me. “I didn’t realize you and Kolbi loved the throw around factor so much.”

“The throw around—” I start to ask.

“Malcolm, don’t be gross or you’re sleeping on the couch for the rest of the week. And give Conrad the money you just earned. Making bets on your friends’ relationships isn’t cool and you know that,” Ophelia demands, crossing her arms in front of her chest and waits.

He looks at her, face hung in disbelief and then rolls his eyes. “At one point I had a manhood, but now my little fox has it between her teeth and refuses to let go.” He slaps thecash into my hand and walks over to her, draping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple.

“Good boy,” she praises him, lips tipping up into a smirk.

“We will talk about this later, missy,” Magnolia hisses into her phone before dramatically pressing a button and presumably ending the call with Margaret. My phone buzzes in my hand and I glance down to read it.

Jimmy Choos and Manolos. Clear your schedule Mills, we’re going shopping on Friday.

I push out a breath knowing that while I may have lied to my friends, I at least bought myself more time in telling them what’s really going on. Sure, I’ll have to drop way more money on shoes than I ever want to but I owe it to Margaret for covering my ass like this.