“The point is Veronica never told me what I should weigh.”
I could feel people listening.
I wished they weren’t.
Edward continued.
“I stopped waiting to live until I looked acceptable. Eventually I changed some habits. My body changed too.”
“I stopped waiting to live until I looked acceptable.”
Max smirked.
“So Veronica inspired you to getin shape. Great.”
“No.” Edward’s answer came quickly. “That’s exactly what you don’t understand.”
Max’s smile slipped.
“That’s exactly what you don’t understand.”
Edward looked at him.
“She didn’t fix me. There was nothing about me that needed fixing before I deserved to enjoy my own life.”
Claire glanced at Max.
Then at me.
Max gave an uncomfortable laugh.
“Touching. But what’s that got to do with me?”
“She didn’t fix me.”
Edward handed him the trousers.
“Because you looked at me tonight and decided my appearance proved something about Veronica.”
Max shrugged.
“It does.”
Edward looked at him.
“Then why are you still trying to prove it?”
Edward handed him the trousers.
Max stopped smiling.
Edward turned to me.
“Can we talk somewhere private?”
His smile had disappeared, and suddenly I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what came next.
Max stopped smiling.
***
We stepped into the hallway.
“Veronica,Max was wrong about you. But there’s something I should’ve said before we came.”
“What?”
“You asked me because you thought bringing somebody who looks like me would prove something to him. I said yes because I thought you’d realize it wouldn’t.”
“There’s something I should’ve said before we came.”
I stared at him. My face burned.
“You could’ve told me that before we came, Ed.”
“Yes.”
“Instead you let me walk in there pretending you were my boyfriend. You don’t get to teach me lessons by tricking me.”
“You could’ve told me that before we came, Ed.”
“You’re right.”
No explanation.
No excuse.
Just that.
I walked farther down the hallway before I cried at my ex-husband’s wedding, which was a level of humiliation I refused to provide free of charge.
