I breathed a massive sigh of relief as I relaxed for a few minutes, surprised that I’d finally gotten rid of Ria. Now that I didn’t need to forge any documents, I could focus on my real job.
Except all I could think about was celebrating with Ginger.
So, I quickly scanned my emails before leaving the office. The only one that seemed somewhat important was from the De Veers Diamond Group, but it appeared to just be a follow-up email. Nothing in the header suggested that I should be alarmed.
On my way out of the building, I stopped at my secretary’s desk. “I might be out next week. Please only contact me for anything that can’t wait until I return.”
She nodded, and I was so thankful to have a trustworthy assistant.
As soon as I got into my car, I called Ginger to tell her the good news.
“Jorge, you’ll never believe what happened to us today!”
“No, Ginger. You’ll never believe what happened to me today!”
19
Ginger
When Jorge invited me out for drinks at The Spicy Pineapple that night, the only thing he said was that we would be celebrating. I assumed it had something to do with Ria leaving for Belgium, and while I never even wanted to speak or hear her name ever again, I gladly accepted his invitation. The past few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster. And as much as I would have loved for it to have just been the two of us, I was elated to see our friends waiting for us at a large booth.
Margo, Chase, and Eva were laughing and enjoying some appetizers by the time we sat down.
“Oh, this is wonderful! I didn’t know all of you guys would be here!”
Chase wrapped his arm around Margo, kissing her on her forehead at the same time. “How could I not celebrate with you two. I’ve only been telling Jorge to ditch Ria since the second he met her. Besides, Margo and I will use any excuse to get out of the house nowadays.”
Margo quickly pulled out her cellphone. “That reminds me. Our babysitter hasn’t texted us to let us know everything’s okay yet.”
“Relax,” Chase said while chuckling. “We haven’t even been gone an hour yet. I can’t wait to see how you act once she starts school.”
As Jorge wrapped his arm around me, it was impossible to ignore how uncomfortable Eva suddenly felt. She was the only one there without a partner. And out of all of us, she was someone who thrived on being in a relationship.
Eva shifted in her seat and decided to break the sudden tension. “So, tell us exactly what happened when Ria showed up at your office, Jorge.”
I looked up at Jorge, who immediately smiled upon remembering the whole situation.
Yes, please tell them how she dug her own grave.
“I was on the phone with my lawyer, asking him how to create a marriage certificate without legally filing it when she came barging into my office. I stood in front of the phone so she wouldn’t see the red light on the speaker, and my lawyer knew better than to say a word. And then Ria admitted to everything. She laid into me about wasting her time, then confessed to embezzling nearly a million bucks.”
All of us at the table burst out laughing before he kept talking.
“Anyway, I was too stunned to say anything back to her. And she just kept staring at me. When she finally asked why I was so quiet, I moved aside, and that’s when my lawyer started speaking. She bolted out of the office so fast that she nearly hit her head on the door!”
I wish she’d knocked herself out on that door!
Chase’s eyes went to my engagement ring, which I had completely forgotten to take off. “So, now that Ria’s out of the picture, how much longer will you be wearing that diamond, Ginger? Or is it no longer a ‘fake,’ if you catch my drift?”
Jorge shifted uncomfortably in his seat a little bit, but I prevented myself from getting too excited. I probably should have taken it off, but I loved how people automatically looked at it. I had never been the focus of envy before, and it felt amazing.
But I also wanted to be the focus of real envy.
If and when he does propose, it’s not going to be in front of a bunch of people. Calm down, woman!
Just as he was about to speak, Guadalupe and Yuslan showed up and pulled up a few chairs. Before they could see the ring, however, I quickly slipped it off and tucked it into my purse. I would never hear the end of it if Guadalupe saw that thing on my finger.
“All of my girls are here,” she yelled enthusiastically while sitting down. “Oh, this is wonderful, especially after the day that I had. I’ll tell you girls something, as much as I love owning a spa, some of our clients are a little too uppity. Several women came in and acted as though I should have rolled out the red carpet.”
