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“WELL,” I SAID AS I took a longer pull from my martini than I’d otherwise planned. “Shit just got interesting.”
“What do you mean?” Lisa asked.
“Janice Jones just entered the bar.”
“Like hell she did.”
“She did. She just walked past us.”
“Is she alone?”
“Yes. Well, at least for now she is. She might be meeting a friend for all we know. Either that, or in this crowd, which is filled with business men, she might be seeking a new friend...” I took a breath to calm my nerves. “You know, I’ve always known that, after all these months, we’d somehow come into contact with each other again after what Rowe did to us and to her. And here we are now—in the same bar together. Jesus.”
“Do you want to leave? We can always leave, Jennifer.”
“No,” I said as I watched Janice move toward an empty table to the far left of us. She was every bit as beautiful as I remembered her to be—and just as stylish. Her blonde hair was swept up into a chic chignon, she was wearing a pair of wool, straight-legged pants, on her feet were a pair of sexy Manolo Blahnik pumps, and as she removed her red overcoat before sitting down, I noted that she was wearing an elegant Monili keyhole sweater in vanilla that I owned myself. There were daytime diamonds at her ears, neck, and wrists.
I didn’t know how Janice Jones was making a living now, but I did know through Blackwell’s influence that with the jewels alone, she was wearing a thirty-thousand-dollar outfit. So if a friend didn’t join her? I knew exactly why she was alone—she had hopes for catching a man.
“Everything happens for a reason,” I said. “I don’t believe in coincidence. But you already know that about me.”
“Did she see you when she walked by us?”
“If she did, she did a damned good job of concealing it. But, no. To be fair to her, I don’t think she saw me at all.”
“Well, this is uncomfortable,” Lisa said.
“Why is it uncomfortable?”
“Because of what she did to you and Alex when you visited her in Vegas. She was terrible to you. She tricked you and threatened you, for God’s sake.”
“But in the end, she did the right thing, didn’t she? She surprised all of us when she gave that press conference—and right in our time of need. She knew what she was doing that day. She timed it to the moment. She knew that what she had to say about her relationship with Rowe would destroy him, and that it would be enough to rid him from Wenn’s board. I’ve always wanted to thank her for what she did, and now is my chance.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I think it’s time for me to extend an olive branch. Are you OK sitting here alone for ten or fifteen minutes?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I reached for my martini, slid off my chair, and started to weave through the crowd toward Janice, who looked up at me in surprise and with parted lips as I approached her. She hadn’t seen me. The truth was right there on her face.
“Janice,” I said as I stood in front of her with an extended hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Is it, Jennifer?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t have come over if I’d thought otherwise. Do you mind if I sit down with you for a moment?”
“Why would you want to sit down with me? Especially after how I treated you and your husband when you visited me in Vegas?”
“Because of what you did afterward,” I said. “I’d like to thank you properly. If you’d prefer that I leave, I understand.”
“No,” she said. “Please, sit down.”
I sat down next to her and noticed that no one had come by to offer her a drink yet.
“Can I offer you a cocktail?” I said. “It’s the least I can do.”
“You’re being very kind...”
“I think you know why. What would you like?”
“Just a glass of champagne.”
I turned toward the bar, held up a hand, and caught the bartender’s attention. He arched his eyebrows when he saw me and I said very slowly so that he could read my lips, “A glass of champagne?”
He nodded at me at once, and turned to fill a flute.
“It must be incredible being you,” Janice said.
“I’m sorry?”
“Hold up a hand, and the world bends to you.”
“The world hasn’t always been kind to me, Janice—far from it. It’s only within the past three years that things have gone well for me.”
“By marrying up?”
She was on the defense. I got that. I’d essentially just ambushed her. So? I just kept my voice steady and told her the truth. “Actually, by marrying the love of my life.”
And when I said that, her shoulders seemed to slump a little.
“When I was with Stephen, I thought that I’d met the love of my life,” she said.
“I’m sure you did. You were together for two years, weren’t you?”
“We were.”
“And he promised you the moon...”
“He promised me the universe.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “After that day we met in Vegas, I saw how much you loved him. And how far you were willing to go to protect him. I’ve done the same for my own husband. What you did for Stephen that day? I got it then, and I get it know. You were doing your best to protect him.”
“I was.”
“The reason I came over now is because I wanted to thank you for what you did when you gave that press conference. It made all the difference for my husband. I don’t want to take much of your time. I just wanted to personally thank you for what you did, because what you did took guts.”
A server came over with Janice’s glass of champagne and placed it in front of her.
“Cheers,” I said as I lifted my martini to her. “Cheers to you, and thank you, Janice. I mean that. I know what you did couldn’t have been easy for you.”
“It wasn’t, but what else could I do? He threatened me with my life.”
“If that’s the case, then you did do the right thing.”
“I guess I did.”
She touched my glass with hers, and we sipped.
“I’m curious,” she said. “How was life always not so kind to you? You know my story. You know that I used to be a stripper, which sure as hell wasn’t my goal in life as a young girl. But shit happens, doesn’t it?”
“It does. As for me, I was born to abusive parents who are alcoholics. My father used to beat me when I was a child. My mother would look on, but because she was either drunk or because she didn’t care, she never intervened. She’s in prison now, and I have nothing to do with either of them. I was born into poverty and abuse. Despite how people perceive me now because I happen to be the wife of Alexander Wenn, I didn’t exactly have the easiest or safest of childhoods, Janice.”
“I didn’t know that,” she said.
“Not many do—not that I’m ashamed of it. As you say, shit happens. But I think that you might agree that what we’ve gone through in life has made us into the strong women we are today. My friend Lisa and I got out of Maine as quickly as we could. We came to Manhattan with next to nothing in the bank, and it took me four months before I finally landed a job here. I was pretty much down to my last dime when Wenn hired me and I met Alex.”
“Who changed everything,” she said.
“He did. And he’s a good man. He’s my best friend. If he were here with me now, he’d also be thanking you for what you did.”
“When I gave that press conference, I was scared out of my mind.”
“Why wouldn’t you be? You likely still saw Stephen as a threat.”
“I did.”
“And yet you triumphed over it.”
She smiled grimly when I said that, and then shook her head at me. “Have I?” she asked. “After what I did to him, many people in this city still treat me as a pariah.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” she said. “I knew what I was doing that day, and I also knew that there would be social repercussions. I think that until the day I die, I’ll always be seen as the stripper who broke apart a family and ruined a marriage. And now Meredith is dead,” she said. “What’s to become of their girls?”
When she said that, her eyes became lit with tears, which she immediately blinked away.
“Stephen didn’t tell you that he was married when you met and fell in love with him, did he?”
“No, that came out months later. Otherwise, I never would have pursued a relationship with him. I might have been a stripper, Jennifer, but I still have my morals and ethics. When he finally came clean with me about his wife and two children, I already was deeply in love with him. I threatened to leave him when I learned the truth, but he kept promising me that soon he’d leave Meredith so that we could be together. And I actually believed it,” she said. “God, I was such a fool for believing him. I kick myself every day for it. And where is he now?” she asked. “He seems to be off everyone’s radar.”
“You haven’t heard from him since you went public?”
“Not a word.”
“You’ve been through hell,” I said. “I’m so sorry, Janice.”
“You are far kinder than I ever gave you credit for. After what I did—after how I broke apart that family—I don’t deserve anyone’s kindness.”
I placed my hand over hers, and disagreed. “You and I both know better.”
“Maybe we do, but life sure as hell doesn’t.”
And how was I to read that—was she in some sort of financial trouble? Could I help her? “Are you working now?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
“Janice, for whatever it’s worth, I’m just going to put this out there. If you ever feel that you need work, please know that Alex and I will find a place for you at Wenn. And at a good salary. I can promise you that.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“I think I’ve already explained why.”
When she checked her watch, I took it as a cue. Was she expecting someone, or was she just through with me? I looked around the space, which was becoming increasingly crowded with businessmen and women. But mostly men. “Are you here to meet a friend?” I asked. “If so, I don’t want to intrude. I should leave before your friend arrives.”
She laughed quietly when I said that—but it was a sad laugh.
“I’m here alone, Jennifer. You know—hoping to meet a friend.”
By that, she meant a new man—and my heart went out to her. “You’re a beautiful, smart, savvy woman, Janice. And you look lovely right now. If you need a job, all you need to do is call me and you’ll have one at once. I promise you that. I’ll personally make certain of it. There are plenty of positions at Wenn that I could place you in. Well-paying positions. If you’re not interested? Well, may you find the man of your dreams today.”
“That’s the thing,” she said to me as she downed her champagne before I left. “I thought that Stephen was the man of my dreams. And look at how that turned out.”
