Chapter 5

3 hours, 1 train and 1 cab later, Liza arrived home to Maggie's loft. She was exhausted, mentally and emotionally, and collapsed onto the couch as soon as she walked in the door.

"Long weekend?" Maggie leaned over the edge of the couch and put her hand on Liza's shoulder. She reached around with the other hand and lowered a glass of red wine down to Liza.

"The longest, Maggie. You have no idea." Maggie came around and sat down on the couch, eyeing her best friend. She looked tired.

"So, did you and Boss Man finally bang?" She asked bluntly, sipping her wine as Liza choked on the sip she had just taken.

Coughing, Liza set her glass down on the coffee table.

"No, but we almost did."

"What? I need details, pronto."

"I ran into him last night and we went to this coffeehouse/club place in East Hampton. Berlin was playing and – "

"Don't tell me it was 'Take My Breath Away'," Maggie smirked, "That song can do dangerous things to people."

Liza laughed "Yes, it can, and it did. I kissed him and the next thing I knew we were making out outside my hotel room like teenagers, Mags."

"And….?"

"I told him about me. I told him everything, Maggie. My age, about Caitlin, about everything."

"Holy shit, Liza. Please do not tell me that he didn't want to sleep with you after he found out you were 40. I'll kick him where the sun don't shine. Repeatedly."

"I love you for that, but no." He just needed some time to process things, which I totally understand. I lied to him, for a year. That's gonna screw with anyone's head. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up Maggie. Anyways, he left this morning before I saw him, and Kelsey told me he was headed back to the city to pick up his daughters and take them to his summer house for the week. So now I just don't know what to do. Do I text him or call him or just let him process things on his own timeline?"

Maggie surveyed her best friend. The worry on her face was something new. She had never seen her this worked up when she and Josh had faced a bump in the road. This was new. She must care about this Charles Brooks a lot more than she had let on. She leaned over and squeezed Liza's knee.

"Liza, if it's meant to be, it'll be. I know that's not the most helpful thing to say, but you just gotta have faith. I wouldn't text him. Let him miss you, darling. You're very missable. On that note, Josh came by yesterday."

"Way to bury the lead! What did he want?"

"Just to talk, allegedly. I think he wants you back Liza. Don't blame the dude."

"Maggie, I love Josh, but I am not in love with him anymore. He wants something different than what I do. I don't want to lead him on and have him resent me for not being able or wanting to give him a child. It's not fair to either of us."

"I know, I know." Maggie got up to refill their glasses.

"So, I think I need to tell Kelsey about me. I want to talk to Charles about coming clean at Empirical, but Kelsey needs to know. I can't drop a bomb like that without telling her first.

"Agreed. When do you want to tell her? Tonight?"

"Maybe. Might as well rip off the collective band aid. Should I tell Lauren too?"

"That's up to you. I hope she can keep her mouth shut about it until I decide to go public with everyone."

"Let's do it tonight. I need to take a shower though. Can you call Kelsey and see if they can come over? And we're going to need more wine."

Maggie smiled. "On it, girl. I'll take care of it. You go get cleaned up. You look like a 40-year-old."

"Hahaha"

A few hours later, Liza was cleaned up and feeling refreshed. As hard as it was, she was putting the Charles drama on the back burner so that she could focus on Kelsey. She puttered around the apartment, pulling together some photos and random things from her life to show to Kelsey. Her diploma from Dartmouth, pictures of her with Caitlin as a baby, the one picture of her and David that she had kept. Maggie had iced some wine and put out a plate of bruschetta and some crackers. A joint hung lazily from her mouth as she set out some wine glasses. Liza was tempted to take a drag to ease her nerves, but she laughed away the though. She couldn't be high when she told Kelsey the truth.

Some knocked once and the door opened. Lauren still felt free to come and go as she pleased, even though she was dating Max and Maggie was dating Malkie.

"Hola, my bitches! What are we celebrating tonight?" She snatched the joint from Maggie and took a drag before grabbing some wine and hopping up onto a barstool. Kelsey followed behind her, shrugging her jacket off. Liza handed a glass of wine to her and smiled.

"I want to tell you two something." Liza said, gesturing for them to sit down on the couch. She started pacing the living room.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Lauren squealed, "I knew it! Why else would you look that tired!" Maggie smacked her playfully on the shoulder.

Liza shook her head. "No, no, I'm not pregnant." She set her wine glass down and squared her shoulders. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not 26."

"What? Liza, what are you talking about?" Kelsey narrowed her eyes at the woman she thought was one of her best friends.

"I'm 40 years old. I'm not 26. I lied about my age to get my job at Empirical because no one would hire me as a 40-year-old. I'm divorced, I have a daughter that is only a few years younger than the two of you. I quit my job in publishing 15 years ago to raise my daughter, Caitlin, and no one would hire someone who had been out of the workforce for so long. So, when I met Josh and he thought I was 26, Maggie thought I should pretend to be in my twenties. And it worked."

Kelsey got up and refilled her glass, downing it, and refilling it again. "So, you've been lying to me, to us, to everyone, for a year? Why the hell wouldn't you tell me? You could have trusted me Liza! Jesus, we're running an effing Millennial imprint, and you're not even a millennial?"

"Kelsey, I am so sorry. I was going to tell you before Millennial launched. I told Josh at Lauren's hot mitzvah, and he wanted me to come clean with you. But you were so happy, and I couldn't ruin that for you." Liza's voice caught as she felt tears well up. "Kelsey, you mean so much to me. You were one of the first people to befriend me, and I value our friendship so much. I hope you can forgive me."

"Why did you do it?" Kelsey sat down on a barstool and sighed. Liza sat down in front of her and took her hands.

"Because of my daughter. I needed a job, and I wanted desperately to get back into publishing. I needed to support Caitlin, and I was desperate. One day, when you have a baby, I hope you can fully understand why I did what I did. And I understand that you might not want to work with me anymore. Especially after this next part."

"What else could there possibly be?"

"Charles and I, well, we have feelings for each other. That's part of why I broke up with Josh. Besides that, he wanted kids, I couldn't string him along knowing I had feelings for someone else."

"You and Charles?" Kelsey smiled and started laughing. "Honestly, you two would be perfect together. You're both dorky and freakishly tall. And apparently, old. Does he know?!"

Liza smiled and nodded. "I told him last night. So, does this mean we are still friends?"

Kelsey let out a deep breath and sighed. "I can't promise that I won't get upset at some point about this, because you have been lying to me, but I forgive you. You're still Liza, just 14 years old than I thought. Besides, it's not me you have to worry about."

Liza looked at her questioningly.

"Diana."