Technically, this was sort of true. But oddly enough, I felt zero guilt. And I knew exactly why. "Yeah?" I said. "Well,youwere so anxious to have the door opened thatIwas just helping out." I smiled. "So you're welcome."
She sputtered, "You're welcome? Like I'm supposed tothankyou?" She whirled back to Jake. "She made me fall. Yousawthat, right? Don't you even care?"
I was tempted to point out the obvious. If he'd cared, he wouldn’t have literally stepped over her to get to me. He hadn't even paused. It would be funny if it weren't so cold.
I hesitated. Actually, it was still funny. Or maybe, I just had a twisted sense of humor. Something to think about later.
When Jake said nothing, Bianca whirled to Vince and said, "And what about you? Don'tyoucare?"
Vince glanced at his watch and said to Jake, "So we have an agreement?"
Now, Bianca was glaring athim. "Are you ignoring me?"
Vince shrugged. "Looks to me like it's a battle you're not gonna win. Might want to cut your losses and move on."
Bianca made a sound of frustration. "How come nobody cares? I twisted my ankle, you know."
Unable to resist, I chirped, "Better than a broken foot."
Bianca turned to me and said, "Will you stop bringing that up? Ithoughtit was broken. Obviously, I was mistaken. But it's not like I'm a medical doctor, so stop judging me, okay?"
I glanced down at her ankles. "Neither one looks twisted to me."
She rolled her eyes. "What do you think? It's gonna look like a pretzel or something? Tell me, haveyouever had a twisted ankle?"
"No," I said, "but I do like pretzels. Does that help?"
She looked at me for a long moment, and I swear, I saw smoke coming out of her ears.
It was Vince who finally broke the silence. "So Jake, we're all set. Right?"
Jake gave him a nod, and Vince turned and walked toward the elevator. He hit the down button and waited.
As for Bianca, she was still standing in the same spot. Worse, she was staring straight at me. As I watched, her cool gaze travelled from the top of my head to the toes of my sneakers.
I could almost hear her thoughts.What exactly, does Jake see in her?
It was a good question, and one I didn't like to dwell on. It's not that I didn't see my appeal. I was reasonably good-looking, and unlike Bianca, I wasn't a screaming shrew.
Plus, love-aside, I honestly liked Jake, and cared for him in ways that Bianca would never understand.
Still, I wasn't blind to the fact that Jake was the big leagues, and I was just a girl who happened to grow up in his hometown. Was that my appeal? Our shared history?
Bianca was still staring, and I tried not to wilt under her scrutiny. She might be a shrew, but she had a certain sophistication that I'd never have, no matter how hard I tried.
When the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, I forced a cheery smile and told her, "Your ride's waiting."
"Yeah, whatever," she muttered, turning away. As I watched, she limped the short distance to the elevator, wincing as she moved.
I knew it had to be an act. After all, she'd tackled at least a few flights of stairs with no problem. And she'd been standing there just fine.
Plus, hadn't there been some foot-stomping? It was hard to stomp with a sprained ankle. Right?
Still, watching her, a little voice in my head whispered,What if she really is hurt?To laugh at her pain seemed needlessly cruel.
But Jake, apparently, saw things differently. Next to me, he gave a low chuckle.
Bianca, having limped her way to the deepest part of the elevator, slowly turned around to face us. In a pathetic, choked voice, she said, "What's so funny now?"
"Ask Vince," Jake said. "He'll know."
Bianca looked to Vince and demanded, "Well?"
Vince looked down and gave a slow shake of his head. Just before the elevator doors slid shut, I heard him say, "You were limping with the wrong foot."
