Day 97 Birthday Parties And Attention-Seeking Exes
Day 97 Of How To Move On From A Man — 1LD
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I’m Andie and my ex, Douglas, dumped me. This is my break-up, so to speak. Douglas is a power player in Melbourne, worth more than I could ever comprehend.
I have no idea why we broke up.
I work and live at 1 Lovelock Drive. There, my best friend James and I are building Highway, our unisex clothing line. Our two other best friends, GG and Sophia, are investors.
GG is dating Douglas’ brother. Awkward.
My friends have been acting strange since the breakup. Since things have changed, I’ve found papers in James’ briefcase outlining plans for an expensive office space for our business.
“Do you think I can come with you?”
Standing in the middle of my living room, dressed in the most stunning dress ever to grace my body, I was in a panic.
Foolishly, I assumed James would get ready at our house and we would go in together. Assumptions a normal friend would have about their housemate and best friend attending the same social event together.
And James saw me in the changing rooms of Saint Laurent, panicking about the prospect of spending an evening in the same room as my ex. He knew how hard this would be. I needed him and he wasn’t there.
“We’re already on the way, babe,” replied Sophia, the noise of passing traffic audible in the background. “But I can wait by the front and be there as soon as you walk in?”
Lately, Sophia was starting to feel like a lifeline. Well, a half-lifeline. Like she was playing both sides at once. She knew the right thing to say at the moment, to appease me. And to shut me up?
The sceptic in me, the dubious and duped businesswoman felt like it was a little of both.
“No, no, it’s fine. Go in, have a glass of champagne ready for me.” Sophia laughed. “How about a bottle?!”
I knew she was joking. I could have slugged an entire cask of cheap bubbles I was that on edge.
My Uber pulled up out front of Gimlet. Foolish me didn’t think about the way the windows of the party would overlook the street.
Onlookers watched as I climbed out of the car.
What were they thinking of me?
Do they wonder why I’m here?
If I were them, I would question why the brother’s ex is here. The panic started to set in as I looked up at the regal city building and the myriad of faces I could see through the glass.
Suddenly, I began to convince myself I wouldn’t know anyone at the party. I would be standing alone, at the bar with no one to talk to.
How could I walk in? How could I not walk in? Each stair I ascended to the party felt final like I had better take in this moment as my last.
As the lights of the stairs dissipated and the glow of the Gimlet dining room, converted into a beautiful party space, talk over, I saw the faces.
No one cared I was there, except for my friends, who I found by the DJ.
No one was staring.
There wasn’t a stir toward my appearance that gave any justification to my panic.
“Girl, you look stunning,” James noted, as he kissed me on the cheek. It wasn’t long ago he was asking where I was, and now I was thinking the same thing of him.
Get it out of your mind, I begged myself.
Paint a smile.
The birthday boy came over. “Happy birthday Taylor,” I said, giving him a gentle hug, trying not to leave my make-up on his suit.
“Thank you, beautiful.” He held onto me.
“And ignore my brother. The girl he’s with is a nobody.”
A nobody, I thought. Yet, enough of a somebody for his brother to warn me on his night of nights before I had even locked eyes with my ex. My fear was coming true.
I didn’t want this night to be about my break-up.
And now it did.
You’re reading The Andie Chronicles, the 2023 romance-fiction series from the 1 Lovelock Drive (1LD) universe.
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