As soon as Claire was within touching distance, Maddy let out a gasp so dramatic that several seagulls took flight.
"CLAIRE!" She screamed.
Before Claire could brace herself, Maddy launched herself forward like a bullet fired from a gun. The suitcase tipped over. The hat on Maddy’s head nearly flew into the water.
And suddenly, Maddy was wrapped around Claire like an expensive, nice smelling, octopus.
"I can’t believe this is happening to us!" Maddy wailed. "We have lost everything."
"We haven’t lost anything," Claire corrected.
"We have!" Maddy cried. "We lost the house."
"You still live in a mansion." Claire replied flatly.
"That’s right, we live in a mansion." Maddy sobbed.
"No. You live in a mansion." Claire pointlessly reminded her.
Maddy went on as if she was deaf. "We lost our company!"
"My company."
"Our company!"
Donovan scratched his head, feeling lost like many others on the dock.
Claire sighed. "Maddy, you have never worked in Alden and Heimi’s. You are not an investor there. It is not your company. The house I was kicked out of does not belong to you either. You have not lost anything."
Maddy buried her face against Claire’s shoulder and cried harder. Nearby, dockworkers exchanged concerned glances, probably assuming Maddy was the one whose entire life had collapsed.
In reality, Maddy’s biggest hardship this month had been waiting three days for a custom pair of earrings.
Claire sighed. Somehow, she found herself patting Maddy’s back. "There, there."
Maddy sniffled. "How can you be strong during our tragedy?"
"Our tragedy?"
"Everything reminds me of our past. I walked past the company headquarters and cried."
Claire rolled her eyes. "You’ve only been inside once and it was to redecorate my office!"
"I know!" Maddy wailed.
Claire rolled her eyes toward the sky.
Donovan began laughing so hard he almost dropped the net.
Maddy continued dramatically. "Ritah is saying so many awful things about us. She is making people hate us."
"You mean hate me.
"They will hate me by association."
Claire almost growled. "That is not how it works, Maddy."
"But it does," Maddy wailed, "Love and hatred by association is a real thing. At least, to me. If you like someone, I like them too. When you hate someone, I hate them too. How could this happen to us? All our life’s work is gone!"
Claire should have pushed her away. Instead, she let Maddy continue clinging to her. After all, Maddy had been doing exactly that since they were eight years old. When something bad happened to Claire, Maddy would take it personally. If Claire didn’t cry, Maddy would cry for them both.
The problem was that Maddy was too dramatic. If she died tomorrow, Claire suspected that Maddy would show up in the most expensive funeral dress, in six-inch heels, throw herself into the cold arms of her corpse, and sob, "I can’t believe this happened to us." Or would it be, "I can’t believe we are dead."
And somehow, Claire would probably end up comforting her then, too.
Maddy’s sobbing came to an end right around the minute when Claire was preparing to knock her friend over the head, tie her up and leave her in the boat.
As soon as Maddy mentioned needing a tissue to wipe her eyes, many eager hands swooped in to help. The dock suddenly became the arena of competitive young men, each trying to win Maddy’s heart with a tissue.
It came as no surprise to Claire. Things had always been like this since she met Maddy. Her friend was naturally attractive. She was a mix between the girl next door and a supermodel. In high school, her desk was always stacked with love letters and gifts.
Her family had been plagued by suitors as soon as she came of age.
Maddy turned them all down. Nobody but her knew that Maddy had sworn not to marry unless Claire got married first. Of course, Claire found this to be extreme and senseless. But it was Maddy! Friendship with her came with vows, promising to love each other until death tore them apart.
After sending away her disappointed suitors, Maddy slipped an arm through Claire’s, acting like a kitten that had found its mother. "I cannot believe that we are pregnant, Claire."
Claire gasped. She pulled away from Maddy and looked at the woman’s belly. "Maddy, don’t tell me you went out and got pregnant just because you heard that I was pregnant! This better be one of those situations where your ’we’ is a stupid combination of you and I."
Maddy chuckled.
Claire lifted her hand and smacked her on the arm. "Don’t laugh, this is not funny. Your mother will send a squad of hit men after me. Before they get to me, I will kill you first."
Maddy pouted for a moment. It was a pout that should have been illegal.
Her lower lip pushed forward ever so slightly, soft and pink, while her enormous blue eyes widened with wounded innocence. Long lashes fluttered dramatically beneath perfectly shaped brows. Her cheeks puffed a fraction, adding an almost childish sweetness to the look.
It was ridiculous.
It was manipulative.
It worked far more often than it should have.
Claire heard an ’awww’ in the background that made her roll her eyes.
"Don’t use that pout on me," Claire covered Maddy’s face with her right hand. "I am the one person in the world who never falls for it. Just tell me what I need to know. Did you do something stupid or not?"
She took her hand away from Maddy’s face and her friend sighed. Even her shoulders fell. Quickly, Maddy stuck to Claire again like glue.
"If I were pregnant, you would be the first to know." Her voice took on a tremor, as if she was about to cry again. "Like I should have been the first to know about your pregnancy. I cannot believe that Apollo Ashford heard about it before me! What the hell Claire? Why am I the last person in the world to know?"
Claire grimaced, "Last person in the world is an exaggeration. Also, considering that Apollo is the one who got me pregnant, he deserved to know before you did."
"WHAT?!" Maddy’s scream exploded across the dock like a cannon blast.
This time, her hat went flying into the water. Seagulls scattered in terror. Even Maddy’s admirers seemed scared of her.
For one horrifying moment, everyone feared something truly terrible had occurred.