“Girl!” she cried, sprinting over to Alicia with a tabloid. “You’re in the press!”
“What?” Alicia stepped out of the kitchen, where she had been preparing dinner.
“The press, girl!” Candice slapped the paper onto the island counter. “Look!”
Alicia flipped open the paper and looked right at a picture of Danica.
And her.
It was from the fundraiser. Paparazzi photos of her exiting the Magistrate’s Ballroom, Danica’s arm clasped around her, decorated a whole spread on the third page. The headline read“Romance Eschewer Danica Moreau Seen with Unknown Woman at Fundraiser.”The caption wasn’t much better.“Danica Moreau, the billionaire who has her pick of lovers butis rarely seen with them, exits the Magistrate’s Ballroom with a pretty blonde. Who is she? Our sources don’t know!”Someone implied that she might be a model, so that was something.
“The pics are all over the internet, too.” Candice held up her phone. “I gotta warn you. They’re not the most flattering ones I’ve seen. Your eyes are only half open in most of them.”
Alicia was barely listening. She sat down at the kitchen table and stared at the collage of her and Danica getting into the limo. The way Danica touched her, leaned in toward her, ignored the other people around them… it was clear, even to Alicia’s eyes, that they were a romantic item as opposed to conveniently traveling together.
“You think people are gonna figure out who I am and start hounding me?”
“I have no idea. You should talk to the security guy downstairs about it.”
Pfft. Yeah right.The “security guy” was some college kid with a night job. If the press showed up at their building… so long, folks.
Until now, Alicia operated under the assumption that her relationship with Danica was private. After all, she was an intensely private person. How many tabloid spreads showed up of her again? Probably not many.Now I’m involved.
Susan and Sid had found out at Midnight. Candice was quick to know as well. Scott at Blue Bird had to figure something was going on, but he was probably as knowledgeable about Danica Moreau as Alicia used to be. Now? Anyone who gave the slightest damn was all over it. How many would demonize her for dating one of the most eligible bachelorettes in America?It’s hard for me to think of her that way.She was damn hot, yes, but so were other women. As rich as her? Not really.
Alicia was in a daze the rest of the night. She took a bath and went to bed thinking of Danica.I want to hear her voice.ShouldAlicia call her? Or would that be pushing boundaries they had barely established? No. She was probably busy. Alicia had to go to bed early for a morning and afternoon shift at Blue Bird, but Danica rarely had such luxuries. Sleep was elusive to her. So, what was she doing right now?
Alicia dragged her phone across her pillow and texted her.
“Are you asleep?”
She never received a reply. Either she was asleep or she busied herself with important matters in Detroit.I hope they’re going well for her.Sighing, Alicia rolled over and forced herself to sleep. She needed to be alert for work in the morning. Time to make her own money.
Not before spending the next few hours imagining she was there with her, though. She wanted to believe that a woman accustomed to her usual finery wouldn’t mind slumming it in a queen-sized bed bedecked in a homemade comforter and a pillowcase that hadn’t been washed in… well...
God. I’m infatuated. I need to get my shit together.The only thing worse than being infatuated was being in love. That sounded straight-up dangerous.
“Hey, Alicia,” Rochelle, the second hostess, said. “You with the program over here? Because we’ve got three parties waiting to be seated.”
Alicia looked up from the podium, face to face with three groups and one ragged hostess.
“Oh!”I’m going to get fired at this rate.As nice as it would be to get lost in her memories and future fantasies of Danica, Alicia had to stay practical. Right now, anyway.
“So sorry about that.” She pasted on the fakest smile she could muster, grabbing four menus before gesturing to the nearest family. “The James party?”
The stout woman in front nodded. “We’ve been waiting fifteen minutes.”
“Uh…” Alicia struggled with that smile. “Again, my apologies.”I’ve been hanging out with Danica too long. Starting to talk like her.“Right this way.”
Alicia really needed to get her shit together. It was one thing to indulge in the occasional daydream during her downtime. Quite another to get fired over it.Because no matter what Candice says, I can’t rely on a woman I’ve barely started dating to take care of me financially.Even though it was totally her fault that she kept getting fired.
By the time her shift ended, she had flubbed through four more parties, backed Rochelle’s workload up five times more than it should have been, and accidentally loaded one newbie waiter with so many diners that the other, more experienced waiters were about to stage a coup at the front of the restaurant. Scott had to call Alicia over to explain that these waiters relied a lot on tips… as if she were new to this business!
Hours later, Alicia ascended the stairs to her apartment, head hanging low and muscles sore from being on her feet all day – and from bearing the weight of her shame. She was supposed to be damn good at her job. How many years had she put into it? How many places had she worked? Blue Bird wasn’t the best, but it should’ve been easy in terms of knowing how to behave and diffuse situations.
There was a term for her condition.“Pussy Drunk,”or something like that.
She reached her door. Something was taped above the handle.
