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.”
    “Come
on.”
    Reluctantly,
Celeste slapped her palm against Gwen’s.
    Janet
shook her head at Gwen. “What’s the latest on your ex?” she asked Celeste. “Did
he come through this time?”
    “What
do you think? More empty promises, as always. He swore he would send the money
last week so I could send Arianna to science camp, but of course he never did.
It doesn’t matter to him that I’m struggling to take care of his daughter. He
doesn’t care she can’t have the experiences the other kids do because I can’t
afford to give them to her by myself.” Anytime she talked about her ex-husband,
a downtrodden feeling crushed her spirits.
    “At
least you didn’t mention it to her, so she won’t be disappointed,” Janet said,
her voice filled with sympathy.
    “I’ve
learned my lesson. I don’t believe anything he says.”
    Celeste
tried to think about her ex-husband as little as possible. After their divorce,
he’d put enough distance between him and her and their two-year-old daughter as
possible, traveling northwest to Washington and disappearing as if he’d never been
a part of their lives.
    After
a few months, he resurfaced and began a ritual of calling every few months. The
minute she mentioned child support, he became as scarce as rain in the desert.
Two years passed, and she didn’t even know if he was dead or alive. He didn’t
call to check on Arianna, nor did he provide any gifts for her birthday or
Christmas. Not even a card.
    “Arianna
is six years old, and she hasn’t seen him in four years,” Celeste said.  “What
kind of man bails on his kid like that?”
    “The
same kind of man who started back calling you a year ago but doesn’t offer any
kind of financial help,” Gwen said dryly. “That’s no real surprise, though, is
it? When you were married he never had any money, and what little he did earn
he spent it on partying and other women.”
    Gwen’s
blunt words cut through her. Thinking it was the right thing to do, she had
tried to work through the broken marriage to her philandering husband, even
going to couples counseling. In the end, she realized he didn’t want a normal marriage.
She left him, taking the most valuable thing that had come out of their relationship—their
daughter.
    Within
a few years after the collapse of her marriage, Celeste locked away her
adolescent dreams of finding love. She’d kissed so many toads on her way to
finding a prince, she didn’t believe in princes anymore.
    She
scrimped and saved, going to school part-time so she could find a better job
than waiting tables. Despite the hardship of being a single parent, she
wouldn’t change her circumstances. She didn’t regret having Arianna, but she
did wish she’d been more prudent in her choice of husbands. It broke her heart
whenever Arianna asked about her father, and she grew tired of making excuses
for his absence and unfulfilled promises.
    Janet
gave her back a comforting rub. “Everything will work out. You’ll see.”
    Celeste
swallowed down the lump in her throat. Some days she didn’t know if she was coming
or going, and last night had been such a change of pace, several times this
morning she’d wondered if she had imagined the entire night.
    “I
better go,” she said. She poured a glass of water with little ice and two
lemons, the way Derrick liked.
    “I
would do him in a minute,” Gwen murmured, looking over at the booth where
Derrick sat.
    “Word
is you already have,” Janet said.
    “I
wish.”
    Celeste
kept her head down to hide her amusement. Listening to the two of them go at it
often made her laugh.
    She
made her way over to the booth where Derrick Hoffman sat. The atmosphere of the
club was high on pretension, but it allowed for relaxation with its dim lights,
mahogany walls, leather couches, and private rooms.
    Some
of the other women developed sexual relationships with their regular customers,
thinking they could catch themselves a rich husband. The relationships