Chasing Chaos: A Novel Read Free Page B

He’d do it at the
water treatment plant if it meant you’d finally be married.”
    “Don’t
be rude.”
    “Let
me handle it, please. I want you to have a proper wedding.”
    “If
you’re talking about a church, I’m moving the time to noon and disinviting
you.”
    “No,
I’m not talking about a church, just—” Daphne thought quickly, “just give me
until the end of the day to come up with an idea.”
    “I
don’t want to wait forever.”
    “What
counts as forever, Greta?” Daphne asked, exasperated.
    “Wednesday.
You have till Wednesday.”
    “Wednesday
evening.”
    “Deal.”
    “But
if I only have till Wednesday, then I get to plan everything. Food. Music. Even
the invite list.”
    Greta
frowned.
    “I
totally get carte blanche on the invite list.”
    Greta
glared at her.
    “What
if Sandy and I make the list together?”
    “That
is not an improvement.”
    “Carte
blanche. We don’t have time to run it by you. We need to get the invites to
everyone today.”
    Greta
nodded, considering. “That is true.”
    “Of
course it’s true! We only have four days.”
    “Agreed.
You may have carte blanche on the invite list.”
    Daphne
heaved a sigh. “I’m happy for you.”
    “I
know.” Greta smiled, her green eyes twinkling a bit. Greta always found humor
in Daphne’s exasperation.
    Carrie
returned with the coffee carafe and two mugs, and Daphne gave her a grateful
look.
    As
she sipped from her mug, holding it with both hands to absorb warmth, Daphne
looked around Rivet. Few things had changed since she first began coming here
six years ago, back when it was owned by her then-boss. Now it was owned by her
friends, and now her friends were getting married.
    Things
might be OK now, but they weren’t OK back then. Daphne felt another wave of
guilt.
    Guilt
because Greta had trusted someone she shouldn’t have, all for Daphne. Guilt
because Daphne had tried to use people to get what she needed out of Hollywood,
and years ago she had tried to use the wrong person—and Greta had gone along
with it for Daphne’s sake. The shitty thing was, Daphne had indeed needed that
help to get ahead.
    Because
of Daphne, Greta nearly died.
    Because
of Greta, Daphne owned a condo in Brentwood and could meet Carrie for lunch at
Uptown Coffee where they let her work all damn day and never considered kicking
her out. They loved having Daphne work there. And she was only twenty-eight
years old. A wunderkind by anyone’s standards.
    And
now Greta and Timmy—the man Daphne had tried to drive away from Greta because
of her own petty jealousy—were getting married.
    All
of Daphne’s remembered pain came back in a flash, a flash of the light off the
ring on Greta’s finger.
    For
an instant, Daphne wanted to run from the table. How could Greta still call
Daphne a friend? How could any of this new life of Daphne’s be true? She feared
she would wake from a dream, and it would be five years ago. Greta would be in
the hospital, and that pool of blood would still be on their apartment floor.
    “I
need to pee,” Daphne said, standing. “I’ll be right back.” She needed a moment
to herself, to convince herself not to run. This was an argument she’d been
having with herself for years.
    Sometimes
she thought she stuck around only because she didn’t have anywhere to run to.
     
    ~~~~
     
    Five
minutes later, Daphne sat down again. To Greta, she still appeared troubled.
Greta had an idea of what Daphne might be thinking about.
    “How’s
Dan?” Greta asked, deliberately interrupting Daphne’s thoughts.
    Greta
had noticed when Daphne’s thoughts started drifting. Greta had been concerned
that her agreeing to marry Timmy would affect Daphne in negative ways, but she
wasn’t sure what those ways might be. So she’d observed her friend to ascertain
what she might be thinking. She’d meant it when she’d said she knew Daphne was
happy for her. Daphne’s petty jealousy of Timmy had died a long time ago. No.
She was afraid