I pressed the doorbell and a woman about my age with pretty brown hair and giant blue eyes opened the door. “Vicki?”
“Yeah, hi. You must be Gloria.” Gloria was my replacement. Liz’s new roommate. I felt a pang of irrational jealousy in my chest every time I thought about it. I’d left her high and dry. Of course she needed another roommate to help her pay the bills.
“Come on in, Liz is expecting you but she just got home from a run so she’s in the shower. You want some coffee, or tea?”
“No thanks,” I said. Caffeine was not on my list of approved food items. I was doing my best to follow a strict, healthy diet. If nothing else good came out of this mess I was in, I at least wanted a healthy baby in the end.
“I almost didn't recognize you from the photos Liz has of the two of you. Your hair is different, I think.”
“I’ve been out of work for a while and with the baby coming I’ve been trying to save money wherever I can,” I said. I was embarrassed to admit it, but I wasn’t going to lie. I knew that I didn’t look my best. I had to have priorities though. “I started playing kitchen beautician. It’s awful.”
“Oh no it’s not!” Gloria said, sincerely. “It’s cute. You’re gorgeous, so I doubt it would matter if you shaved it all.”
Great, she was nice too. Now I couldn’t even hate her for taking my place in my best friend’s heart. “Thanks,” I said with a smile.
“Hey! Is that my former roommate I hear?” Liz was coming down the hallway. She stopped when she saw me and cocked an eyebrow.
I knew exactly what she was looking at… my hair. “Stop it, I was just telling Gloria that I know it’s awful.”
She laughed. “It’s not… awful…” She tilted her head to the side to look at it from another angle.
I laughed too. Liz was the only one who could insult me and make it fun. “I took a little too much off the top.”
“We can fix it,” she said, confidently. “Gloria, would you mind getting our customer set up in one of the kitchen chairs with a cup of juice or something disgustingly healthy? We have to take care of the bun in the oven too. I’ll grab the supplies.”
“Not at all,” Gloria said with a grin, “Right this way.” Shaking my head and smiling, I followed the pretty brunette into the kitchen. I took the seat she offered me and chose apple juice from her list of “healthy” drinks. She tied a towel around my neck and a few seconds later Liz appeared with a small box in hand.
“What’s in the box?” I asked her.
“It’s better if you don’t know,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.
I laughed again and said, “What makes you think I trust you to do this?”
She looked at my hair with the eyebrow cocked again and said, “At this point, honey I think you’d trust my Uncle Bernie.”
I guess I couldn’t argue with that. She went to work on me. She touched up my roots and had me rinse and blow dry before beginning the cut. While she was cutting, Gloria brought out her gel nail manicure set and went about doing my nails. “So where is Jason today?” Liz asked me while she worked.
“He had a thing at his friend’s house out in Santa Monica,” I said.
“A ‘thing’?”
“I don’t know a barbecue or something.”
“Why aren’t you with him?”
“Um… I just wasn’t in the mood…”
“Don’t lie to me,” she said. “I always know when you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Your nose is a foot long, Pinocchio.”
I laughed, and then sobering quickly I said, “He is uncomfortable explaining the baby.”
Liz sighed and rolled her eyes. Gloria looked up from my nails and started to say something, but changed her mind. “You can say it,” Liz said. “Vicki knows how I feel about Jason. You may as well join me.”
Gloria smiled sadly and said, “I was just going to say that I’m sorry for you that he feels that way. I’m sure you don’t like being hidden away.”
“I don’t think of it like that,” I said. “He’s a professional and most of his friends are young up and comers. They’re married with kids of their own. Here I am carrying my billionaire boss’s illegitimate child.”
“Jason broke up with you and forced you into Alexander’s arms. Then, Alexander didn’t want any part of taking responsibility for his part in this. You’re the only one here stepping up and they both need a kick in the pants.” Liz’s face was red. She got passionate when she was defending someone she cared about. More than one boyfriend had also burned her over the years, so men were not high on her list at the moment.