"If he has called," I say patiently, "I'm not sure I want to hear his voice or his excuses. If he hasn't called, it'll hurt."
"Okay." She doesn't sound so sure, but she drops it, and we stop talking and enjoy our delicious facials. We've decided to go for the whole princess treatment today, and indulge in one-hour massages, mani-pedi's and waxing too.
"That was fantastic." I link my arm through Natalie's as we leave the spa and take a deep breath of early-summer air. "Tell Luke thanks for me. It's so nice having an obscenely rich brother-in-law who loves nothing more than spoiling his gorgeous wife, and therefore, his gorgeous wife's bff gets spoiled too."
"I will tell him," Natalie laughs and leads me down the street to our favorite café for lunch. I look over at my friend and smile. She's is beautiful, with her freshly polished face and chestnut hair back in a loose pony tail.
We order our usual of soup and sandwiches and find a table.
"So, I think you should turn your phone on, friend." Natalie says with a raised eyebrow. She pulls off her thin green scarf and drapes it on the back of the chair next to her.
"No." I sip my diet Coke.
"I dare you." Her lips turn up in a soft smile and I glare at her.
"Don't be a bitch, Nat."
"Don't be a pussy, Jules."
Fuck.
I hate how well she knows me. She knows I can't resist a dare. I have four older brothers who got me into all kinds of shit with my mom growing up because of their dares.
"Goddamn it, Natalie," I mutter and pull my iPhone out of my Gucci handbag. "You turn it on."
I pass her the phone and she fires it up, watching the screen and twirling a strand of her hair with her fingers.
"Does it seriously take this long for that piece of shit to fire up?" I ask.
"Yes." She laughs up at me and keeps watching the screen. "Looks like ten voice mails and twenty two texts."
"Holy fuck. I don't know that many people."
"Here." She tries to hand the phone back to me but I wave it away.
"No. You check them."
"No, Jules. Jesus, grow a pair and check your phone."
I take a deep breath and continue to glare at my best friend. God, I hate her right now.
"Okay, give it to me."
She hands it to me and I check the voice mail first. The first six messages are from my family, wanting to know if I'm okay. The seventh and eighth are Natalie wanting to meet up for a spa day and threatening to call Will.
The ninth is Mrs. Glover telling me that I forgot a personal item in my office and she'll mail it to me.
The tenth is Nate. It was left this morning.
"Julianne," he sighs and pauses and I grip the phone tighter, pressing it harder against my ear as if I'll be able to hear his voice more clearly this way. "I hope that four days is long enough. I can't go another day without hearing your voice. Please, baby, call me. Talk to me. I love you."