Chapter 18

Van

The meeting with Barbi was a shit show! A fucking nightmare!

Nothing went right. Trying to make Barbi confess ended up being a total flop. Plan A down the drain. What made the situation even worse was seeing Olivia there, surrounded by those men who could easily pass for her father. The only good thing that happened was that she left before Barbi arrived.

The past day and a half since I left the restaurant has been a blur of self-pity and excessive drinking, and now I'm dealing with the consequences. The last thing I remember before I got shit-faced last night was sending a message to Bre.

When I woke from my drunken stupor, it was to a message from her telling me to meet her at The Grind, a coffee shop near her house at ten am. I'm still lying in bed, trying to make myself get up.

Placing my phone on the bedside table, the faint light from its screen momentarily fills the dim room. As I stand, the world seems to sway, a constant reminder of last night's excessive indulgence. Despite my stomach's protest, I push myself forward, knowing I have to move swiftly to make it in time.

Stepping into the shower, the glaring light in the bathroom intensifies the throbbing in my head. I seek solace under the cascading hot water, allowing it to cleanse me of the lingering effects of the night before. I forcefully scrub my mouth in an effort to eliminate the persistent flavor of whiskey. Unfortunately, the toothpaste only does so much to help.

In a rush, I slip into a hoodie and sweatpants, finding comfort in their softness as my stomach continues to bother me. I hurry downstairs, eager to escape the confines of my apartment. Stepping outside, I take a deep breath, the refreshing morning air awakens my senses as I make my way toward my car, eager to meet Bre.

I get there before her and order our drinks, a plain black coffee with a shot of espresso for me and a Caramel Macchiato with soy milk for her. I've gotten coffee for her and Olivia enough to know what both of them drink.

As I scan the shop, my eyes land on a secluded table tucked away in the back corner, far from the bustling crowd. It's perfect. I don't need everyone hearing the chaotic mess that is my life.

Sitting down, I sip on my coffee, my knee bouncing nervously under the table. With each passing minute I wait, my anxiety grows.

Finally, I see her coming around the corner through the window. She has her hair up in one of those ponytail things and sunglasses on her face. Bre's definitely dressed for comfort in a baggy shirt and some leggings.

The door jingles as she opens it and a chorus of ‘Welcome to The Grind' rings out. I see her looking around and I lift my arm. The place isn't that big, so it's not like she wouldn't see me, but still.

"Good morning," she groans as she drops down in the chair in front of me. I slide the coffee over to her. "Thank you. I need this."

When she removes her sunglasses, I notice the dark circles under her eyes and the smudged makeup that seems to have been applied the day before.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just hungover, which, by the looks of it, I could say the same thing about you." She cradles the cup in her hand.

"Yeah. We need a new plan. The first one was a fucking flop. Olivia still thinks I cheated on her. I need a foolproof confession from Barbi to convince her and prove my innocence. It's the only way I'll get Olivia back. I can't live without her. It fucking hurts too much."

"Okay, tell me what happened at the meeting and I'll share something with you after."

A heavy sigh escapes my lips. "Fine. I got to the restaurant and was set on getting Barbi to confess. But then I saw Olivia. She was with these two older men, and they looked chummy. She looked at me and fuck, Bre, I could see the pain in her eyes. I wanted to run to her, pull her into my arms and kiss her, but I was frozen. Then she scurried out of there, which was a good thing because no sooner than she left Barbi showed up. If Olivia hadn't left, she could have seen her. God only knows what she would think."

I can see the change of expression on Bre's face and a sinking feeling hits my gut. All of a sudden I feel sick and I'm not sure why.

"Umm…" she starts.

"What is it, Bre?" My heart races, knowing it's going to be bad.

"She told me about seeing you. But that's not all. She also saw Barbi coming in as she left. She knows she was there to meet you."

"Fuck!" My fist slams down on the table, catching the attention of the patrons in the shop.

"Sorry," I say loudly. Thankfully, I had a lid on my coffee and Bre was holding hers or they would have spilled.

"That's not all," Bre adds. "She ended things with the two of them, even though she liked them. She still has feelings for you she needs to sort out."

She's not with them. I'm not even letting the part about her caring for them tarnish the one piece of good news I've gotten since all this shit happened. I still have a chance and it's what I need to continue my fight.

"I still have a shot." I smile like the cat who got the cream.

"You do, but Van, she likes them too. Just remember that. Maybe there's a way for everyone to be happy. One big happy family."

I get what Bre's saying, but I don't want to share.

"We need a new plan. One that Barbi will fall for," I tell her.

"There's one thing that Barbi has always been and that's jealous." My eyes widen at her words. She has my full attention. "She was jealous of you and Oliva, and the friendship that Olivia and I had. We need to play into that, Van. Hit her where she's the most vulnerable."

"Okay, but how do we do that? Olivia isn't going to have anything to do with her or me right now. So how do we make her jealous of anything between us?"

Bre leans back in her chair as an evil grin spreads across her face. I swear, if she had her pinky to her mouth, she'd look like the evil villain in the Austin Powers movie.

"Simple. We drive her mad with jealousy until she cracks and confesses. It'll be just like a Legally Blonde court moment, but not actually in court."

Stupefied, my mouth drops open as I stare at her, struggling to comprehend what she means.

"Why does your face look like that?" she asks.

"I'm trying to figure out what you're talking about?"

"Legally Blonde! Seriously, Van, you have no clue what I'm talking about?"

"Bre, if I did, I wouldn't have asked you. Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."

"Fine, but we're revisiting your lack of knowledge of one of the most iconic movies ever. It's simple, we're going to pretend to date and Barbi will go ballistic. Her rage at not being able to trap you will drive her fucking mad enough to hopefully confess what a skank ass bitch she is."

"Do you think it'll work?" I ask.

"I do. Now, text her and see when she can hang out. Make it a weekend because the weekdays are busy for me."

With a sigh, I reluctantly put my coffee on the table and pull my phone out.

I quickly type a message to Barbi.

Me: Hey want to hang out this weekend?

When I see the check mark turn green, then the little dots dancing on the screen, my stomach turns. Everything about Barbi makes me want to puke.

Fuckingtrampasswhore: I knew you couldn't stay away. How is Friday night? I can come to your house and we can replay our last night there together.

Me: I was thinking we could hit a bar or two. I'll send you all the details later.

Fuckingtrampasswhore: Alright baby. We can meet before Friday if you want.

Me: I can't. I'm crazy busy at work this week.

I don't wait to see if she replies and slide my phone back into my pocket.

"Friday."

"Perfect," Bre replies.

"I get your plan. We pretend to be together to drive Barbi mad. But what happens when Olivia finds out? There's no way she's not going to. It'll be the first thing Barbi runs to do. Then she'll not only hate me, but you as well," I remind her of the minor flaw in her plan.

"No, because I'm going to tell Olivia what we're doing," Bre says smugly.

God, I hope this works.