CHAPTER TWO
Jill arrives at Trevor’s engagement party. She’s an immediate center of attention.
Letting out a breath, Jill waited for security to notice her. When the man turned, she smiled. It was her brother Steve’s best friend David.
“God damn, you look good,” David said. “You should see the prunes inside.”
She smiled then looked at the crowded room. She had never been in a room where she knew no one. As she watched, her sister’s best friend floated by with a tray of hors d’ oeuvres. Well, almost no one.
“Go find Candy,” David said. “She’s waiting for you behind the main bar.”
Crossing the room, Jill felt every eye ball evaluate her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw men stare while women shifted away. She smiled. I sure brought them to attention. A hand brushed her arm and another friend walked by with a tray of hors d’ oeuvres.
Catching a glimpse of Candy, Jill stepped to the bar. With the bar pressed against her ribs, she recited in her head her purpose for tonight:
“Show him what he’s missing; Just show him what he’s missing; That’s all, just show him what he’s missing”.
Jill was seconds into her mantra trance when she felt the warmth of a man standing next to her. His eyes were focused on her face.
“Hi,” he said.
Jill looked over at him then back to the bar. She had practiced this for weeks. Sophisticated women are unfriendly. Don’t smile. Don’t be nice. Don’t be your effervescent self.
“I thought I knew everyone on the guest list,” he said. “But I do not remember an invitation to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Jill couldn’t help herself. She started laughing.
Wrinkling her nose, she asked, “Is that a pick up line?”
“Pretty pathetic, eh? I’m Jacob,” he said.
“Jill.” She held her hand out and he shook it.
“Jill as in baby mommy Jill?” Jacob asked.
“I’m not sure what you’re asking,” Jill said.
Tomorrow: Jill learns the depth of Trevor’s betrayal
~~~~~~~~
Denver Cereal is a Serial Fiction based in Denver, Colorado.
A new chapter is published every week. Monday through Saturday, a piece of the serial is posted at Stories by Claudia. The entire chapter is posted on Saturdays at On A Limb with Claudia. A pdf link to the entire chapter is also available on Saturdays at this blog.
claudia hall christian is a novelist who lives in Denver, Colorado.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
