Jaded

[13] Alice in Attyland

"You're dating Atty, right? I hope you don't mind him still being hung up on me."

Who the... what in the hell is happening right now?

One second I'm minding my business at the appetizers table, stuffing my plate and hurting nobody, the next I'm hit with this.

When I turn to face my 'guest' I see a tall brunette with sparkling honey eyes and a diamond choker perched on her slender neck. Great, my harasser is pretty.

Before I can manage a response, she sticks out a neatly trimmed hand. "Alice Manet. You're Jade, I'm assuming. The one Marge has been fawning over."

I clear my throat, trying to quickly shove down the mini croissant lodged in there from earlier. There was no room on my plate so I had shoved it in my mouth hoping nobody saw.

"Take your time, those croissants aren't the easiest to chow down," she remarks in an offhanded tone that is probably meant to be sweet but really isn't.

Okay, so Alice Manet apparently saw.

"Well I don't know about the fawning but yeah, I'm Jade." And I'll be ignoring that croissant comment. Nobody can ruin croissants for me, they're my mama's specialty. That and macaroons.

Hmm, macaroons. I love those suckers.

"So," she says, keeping her eyes trained on me.

This is awkward. What does she expect? For me to bring up her Atty comment? No way am I doing that. Instead, I'll be heading to the jerk himself first chance I get and grilling him on why he felt it was appropriate to leave out the warning about an ex.

I may be a fake girlfriend but I can't be worth my salt as an actress if I don't know the full story. And since I don't know the full story (this could be a genuine ex that broke Atty's baby heart or a delusional hook up for all I know) I'll be keeping my mouth shut until I don't have a choice.

"How is it going with you guys?" she asks. After her earlier bluntness, I'm surprised she's deciding to play coy. Not the best move when your opponent has decided to play dumb.

"Good." Can't mess up if its only a word.

"I see, that's good, it's great. Not many women are okay with their partner's heart being elsewhere."

"Ha ha ha. It's not a problem, I can share his heart with his family. But you're right, many women can't share and that's why a lot of couples break up." I have no idea if that's why her and Atty broke up or if they were even a thing but the comment was right there, I had to say it.

She frowns, and shakes her head. "It's alright if you want to pretend you don't see it. Atty's a catch so yeah, if that's what you gotta do to stay with him then alright. Just thought I would introduce myself since you may have been wondering."

Actually no, I wasn't wondering. Up until a few moments ago, I didn't even know what 'Alice Manet' was. Now I know it's an annoying who. Atty's supposed ex-who.

This is upsetting me more than it should. I'm not actually his girlfriend and if his heart really is stuck on her then what's it to me.

But the more I think of it, the more nauseous I feel. I can't imagine Atty, of all people, even being able to stand her let alone love her. And now I feel like a bitch. Great. This was supposed to be a fun time party. The only drama I wanted was the Devin-centred type.

When I return to the table, Atty is in full blown debate with Marge over the benefits of working from home. Since Marge seems to be losing the battle, she jumps at me the moment I sit down.