Dirty Little Secrets(71)

Vince handled my car well as we left the neighborhood, more to just get away from a painful scene than anything else. Sitting in the passenger seat, I dialed Karla’s number from my phone’s history. It took me three tries, but she eventually picked up. “Hey, Karla.”

“Alix,” she said, sounding down and wary. “Why are you calling?”

“I think the two of us need to talk. Just talk, nothing else,” I said. “I’m pretty sure you know why.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and just when I was about to ask if she was still there, Karla answered. “In public only.”

“That’s fine by me,” I said, trying not to let my anger creep into my voice. There was something in Karla’s voice, maybe it was just the connection, but she sounded drained, devoid of emotion. I’d come to understand over the past day that it was a sign of shock or sadness more than anything else. “Where?”

“LA Zoo, by the koalas.”

I thought about where we were and nodded. “That’s fine, Karla. What time?”

“Is an hour all right?”

“Sure. I’ll see you in an hour. Good bye.” I hung up and turned to Vince. “So, off we go to the zoo.”

“And just how do we get there?” Vince asked. “I’ve never been to Los Angeles before.”

I rolled my eyes and spotted an AM/PM. “Pull over, let’s grab drinks, and I’ll drive.”

While we were in the store, I waited while Vince grabbed a one-liter Coke for himself. “Jeez, you planning on having to go run five miles or something this afternoon? That’s a ton of sugar.”

“I missed breakfast, and didn’t eat too damn much of dinner last night either,” Vince said. “Not since seeing the news about Kade’s dad. Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure. I figure we’re past the point of being hung up on certain social norms, don’t you?”

The clerk who rang us up did a slight double take when he saw me, but he didn’t say anything when Vince gave him a dark look. Instead, he made change quickly and we left. “So, what I wanted to know is, does your moving to Portland have something to do with Kade?”

“Are you asking if he and I were sleeping together before?” I asked, for some reason a smile coming to my face. “Come on, Vince, if you’re going to be an attorney you’ve got to be more forward than that when you question people.”

“There’s a difference between a mock trial or a deposition and my boss’s well, how are you defining yourself?”

I thought about it. In my head, I was Kade’s Princess, but that was to stay between us. Instead, I thought of what we’d said to each other the day before, and I realized my feelings were the same. “Fiancée,” I said. “But that’s just between us. Since I paid for your drink, it’s attorney-client privilege.”

Vince laughed, and we drove toward the Zoo. The parking lot was full, it was a weekend after all, but I was able to find a parking spot. Paying for our tickets, Vince looked around and shook his head. “Hate the zoo, personally. I know it sounds weird, but I’d prefer to see them in the real world. Seeing animals all caged up just gets me right in the feels.”

“Right in the feels?” I asked. “Are you trying to sound cool or something, Vince?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No way. I was a short-haul trucker, remember? Once you do that long enough, you’re never allowed to be cool again.”

We made our way through the zoo, following the map, and I thought about what Vince said. It was kind of sad to see the animals, as dramatically impressive as they were, in a state of captivity. “Where are the koalas again?”

“Hang a left at the next path,” Vince said. We turned and saw the sign for the Australian animals. Approaching the koalas, I saw Karla standing and watching the enclosure, where there were four koalas making their way around a tree.

“Karla!” I called out, trying to balance the need to warn her of our approach with the need to not draw attention to myself. Thankfully, Los Angeles is perhaps the one city in the United States where a nearly six foot blonde model doesn’t garner attention, even one as instantly infamous as I was.

Karla turned and waved slowly, and I saw immediately in her face why she had sounded so strange over the phone. She was distraught and guilty. “Alix.”

“Thanks for coming,” I said quietly. Pointing toward a bench, I started to walk. “Would you mind sitting down?”

“No, I guess not. So why did you call?”