Blended TML Ch 37

Piper watches Tiffany leave Mary’s table. Tiffany’s eyes flick toward Piper but don’t linger. She doesn’t recognize Piper like this, at least not from a distance. Piper can read a lot in Tiffany’s expression and body language, and the same goes for Mary, though not everything. She’s curious about what transpired, but one question has been answered: Tiffany doesn’t have her phone on her, so that’s why she hasn’t replied to the text Piper sent her two minutes ago from the gift shop.

Mary sits, margarita in hand, a vacant look in her eyes. Whatever happened between those two left serious psychic damage.

Piper dons her sunglasses and slips behind a column, letting Tiffany pass before following her. It doesn’t even occur to her that this is a fun thing to do because it’s like a movie; she just wants information and hasn’t decided how to get it yet. Indeed, she has no plan at all. She needs to get back to Mary, but she can’t let this go.

Tiffany climbs to the upper terrace, and Piper can’t help but wish that she wasn’t wearing that wrap. She is stunning tonight, and that makes Piper want to give her the benefit of the doubt for purely selfish reasons.

Tiffany arrives at the upper VIP bar. Like magic, Katya and Brise appear, both wearing string bikinis. They sweep in from either side, Brise taking Tiffany’s left arm, and Katya taking her right. The flesh on display is devastating. Brise sparkles like a goddess, that is, if goddesses have perfectly bronzed buttocks.

Piper halts her follow and watches as they head for a plush booth. Tiffany tells a server to bring a bottle of Bollinger.

Well, that’s a couple of questions answered. Not the ones that Piper was after when she started tailing Tiffany, but one must adapt to changing circumstances. She returns to Mary.

“Everything OK?” she asks, climbing onto her seat and taking a sip.

“Oh yeah,” Mary replies, mid-drink, her voice warped by the acoustics of her big, round margarita glass. The look in her eyes is death.

Piper can’t help but feel a twinge of annoyance at all her work being undone. This is the same sorry state Mary was in when she learned that Penny wasn’t coming home. The temptation to speculate and let her thoughts run is strong, but she fights it.

Piper nudges Mary under the table with her foot. “Are you lying?”

There’s hesitation. “Yup.”

“Do we need to get out of here?”

Mary focuses. “We can eat.”

Piper has to give her space right here and now. She can get Mary to talk, but Mary is a grown-up and, in all likelihood, the toughest person for miles around. She can recover and organize her thoughts without help. The trouble is that she will try to keep it all in. Piper will wait until Mary has sorted through it, then get her to vent. That will satisfy Piper’s curiosity and benefit Mary’s mental health. Everyone will win. She just has to be patient.