“That won’t last, you know,” she said frostily. “Thornton used to look at me that way, the way Hutton looks at you. It goes away. The business trips get longer. The rumors about other girls will start. His clothes will smell like cheap perfume. His lies will get more clumsy, until he won’t even bother to lie anymore.”
I shook my head. “We’re different.”
“Anyway.” She blinked back tears, the first crack in her armor I’d ever seen. “People deserve to know the truth. But I’m not totally heartless. I’m giving you a chance to offer your side of the story. Explain why you faked an engagement.” She tilted her head. “Was it about money? Was he paying you to make him seem more normal? There are all those rumors about him being weird and anti-social. Then there are the things Zlatka said about him wanting to be cruel to her in the bedroom. Tie her up and boss her around.”
Unwilling to give her the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me, I shook my head. “I have no comment.”
“You don’t want to defend yourself?”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“You lied to me!”
“Okay, fine!” I tossed a hand up. “You want an explanation? Here it is. I was sick and tired of you making me feel small. You did it all through high school and I vowed that I was not going to let you do it again. So when you stood there at the reunion cutting me down to size, instead of telling you to fuck off like I should have, I made up the lie about being engaged to Hutton to save face.”
“You did it for me?” She actually looked pleased.
“I did it to take you down a notch,” I clarified.
“Oh.” She looked less thrilled.
“I did it for girls like me who never had the guts to stand up for themselves in high school,” I went on. “I did it because it’s not okay to treat people like you’re better than they are just because you have really great hair. And then I snuck off to a coat closet and called Hutton, begging him to come rescue me, even though he hated high school, hates parties, and dreads being in public.”
“And he showed up?” She looked incredulous.
“Yes. He showed up. That’s what friends like us do for each other.”
“God. Thornton would never have done that for me. I had to drag him to that reunion, and he complained the whole time, even though I’d done so much work to put on a nice event. He doesn’t appreciate me.” Mimi pouted. “It’s almost not even worth the money.”
I rolled my eyes. “So find someone else.”
“Easy for you to say.” She scowled. “Everyone likes you. Everyone thinks you’re so clever and talented and sweet. Even in high school, no one ever said a bad word about you.”
“Mimi, give me a break. You were the most popular girl in school.”
She shook her head. “They were scared of me. It’s not the same as being liked.”
“They were scared because you were mean. Why don’t you try being kind?”
“Then I wouldn’t be respected.” She shrugged. “But I’ll give it some thought. I’ve been working on self-love.”
I held up my hands. “Look, I don’t have time to argue about this. What can I do to persuade you not to leak this story?”
“Nothing. I promised Thornton’s sister a big story. She runs dirty-little-scoop-dot-com and she hates me, so I need this to butter her up. She’s always in Thornton’s ear saying shit about me.”
“Can’t you give her another scoop?”
“Do you have one?” she asked hopefully.
I chewed my lip. “No.”
“Then I have to use you. Sorry.” She started to get off the stool.
“Wait a minute.” I put my hand on her arm. “Can you at least wait until after the weekend to tell her?”
Mimi thought for a minute. “I guess. What’s in it for me?”
I exhaled through my nostrils. “I’ll give you my side. Complete insider scoop.”
One of her brows peaked. “Including the part about the kink?”
“No. But I’ll spill everything else.” At least this way, I could control the narrative. I’d make sure Hutton was spared any embarrassment, and I’d take full responsibility. I’d make him out to be a friend who’d come to my aide.
“When can it run?”
“Monday.” That way the party would be over too. I felt horrible about it, but I didn’t see a way to come clean in time for Mrs. French to call it off—there was only one day in between the hearing and the party. Maybe I could offer to cover the cost once all was said and done. That would make me feel better.