Headspace by Calinda B Read Free Book Online

going on. I guess she’s decided to meet Brian in the evenings, too. I wondered what her new interest in art was all about.” His face turns an angry, blotted red.
    “It might not be what you think it is,” I say reassuringly.
    “Oh?” His voice is laced with sarcasm. “And what might it be?” He starts to scoot out of the booth.
    I lean over and grab his shirtsleeve. “Not so fast, cowboy. Cool your jets.”
    “Hell, no, I won’t cool my jets. My jets are burning at full throttle right now.”
    “I can see that. Calm down. This is not the time for an angry confrontation.”
    He downs his vodka. “This is the perfect time for an angry confrontation. It will be in front of everyone. She always wants to look perfect in public.” Once again he scoots away from me.
    I lunge across the table, grab his arm, and hiss at him. “Stop it, Jonas.”
    A few diners have turned to stare at us. Jenner and Brian are too far away and too absorbed in each other to notice anything.
    “It’s okay, he just got an alarming pulse-com,” I say to the onlookers, trying to get everyone to mind their own business. “I’ve got this.”
    An older woman nods and turns to her companion. The other diners follow suit and I turn back to my friend. “Now you just calm the fuck down, Jonas. You don’t know what she’s doing or why she’s doing it.”
    “Yeah? Well, she sure looks cozy doing it, whatever it is.”
    “What’s Brian do for a living?”
    “He’s an event planner for the high and mighty.”
    “So maybe they’re planning an event.”
    “And what might that be? My funeral?”
    “Don’t be dumb. I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of it. Hasn’t she ever planned an event with this guy before?”
    “Well, yeah, she’s got some pricey clients at her work.”
    I scoff. “At her ‘work.’” I make quote marks around the word. “And what work might that be besides sponging off of you? She’s a volunteer at the Nuevo Opera. She helps sell tickets. What kind of a job is that?”
    “Yeah, I know. But sometimes her duties there extend to making sure a diva is treated in true diva fashion. But you’re right. I don’t want to make this evening about her. I want to enjoy my friend.”
    “And your friend wants to enjoy her friend.” I smile warmly at him. “So let’s do that.”
    Our salads and freshly baked bread arrive and we set to eating. The beer, food, and camaraderie are making me feel warm and relaxed. “I really think you’ll sort all this out with your girlfriend, as much as it pains me to say that. You’ll get your head on straight.”
    “So we’re back here again.” Jonas signals for the waiter. “I’ll have another one of these,” he says, pointing to his drink. His eyes flick over to where Jenner is sitting and back to me. “Now I know what you mean about topics you wish you didn’t have to discuss. I had just about gotten her and bozo Brian out of my head.”
    “Things have to be dealt with. You can’t sweep a topic under the rug just because you find it uncomfortable.”
    He gives me a pointed look. “You do hear yourself, right?”
    “Oops. I do.”
    “So don’t go getting all pop psychology on me since we haven’t touched your forbidden topic once tonight. I gave you my word.”
    “Got it.” I gesture to our gender-bender waiter and point down at my empty beer glass. He nods and I turn back to Jonas. “It seems we’ve gone down the wrong road this evening.”
    “It’s not going the way I’d planned.”
    “And what was that plan? That you and I would sail off to bed and be happy ever after?”
    He chuckles. “No. That’s a great idea, though. I just wanted to have an easy outing with you. Life sucks lately.”
    I reach out to touch his hand. We touch affectionately all the time but this time Jonas’s return squeeze feels a little too intimate. His fingers find their way to the top of my hand and start stroking, back and forth, back and forth. They wander up along my