CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I was running late for work. Rushing about like a mad thing trying to get ready. I ran into the bathroom, jumped in the shower. Gave my face a good scrub to get rid of the remnants of last night’s make-up. Gruesome, crusty stuff. It would serve me right if I got the pimple from hell. Last night had all been some bizarre dream. But this was real life. Work and school and friends. My plans for the future. Those were the things that were important. And if I just kept telling myself that, everything would be fine and dandy someday.
Ruby didn’t much mind what we wore at work beyond the official café T-shirt. Her roots were strongly alternative. She’d planned to be a poet but wound up inheriting her aunt’s coffee shop in the Pearl district. Urban development had upped property prices and Ruby became quite the well-to-do businesswoman. Now she wrote her poetry on the walls in the café. I don’t think you could find a better boss. But late was still late. Not good.
I’d stayed up worrying about what had happened with David in that alleyway. Reliving the moment where he told me he considered us still married. Sleep would have been far more beneficial. Pity my brain wouldn’t switch off.
I pulled on a black pencil skirt, the official café T-shirt and a pair of flats. Done. Nothing was going to help the bruises beneath my eyes. People had pretty much gotten used to them on me lately. It took about half a stick of concealer to cover the bruise on my neck.
I roared out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, just in time to see Lauren waltz out of the kitchen, broad smile on her face. “You’re late for work.”
“That I am.”
I looped my handbag over my shoulder, grabbed my keys off the table and got going. There wasn’t time for this. Not now. Quite possibly not ever. I couldn’t imagine her ever having a good enough reason for siding with David. Over the last month she’d spent many nights by my side, letting me talk myself hoarse about him when I needed to. Because eventually, it all had to come out. Daily I told her that I didn’t deserve her, and she’d smack a kiss on my cheek. Why betray me now? I thumped down the stairs with extra oomph.
“Ev, wait.” Lauren ran after me as I stormed down the front steps.
I turned on her, house keys held before me like a weapon. “You told him where I was.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Not tell him? You knew I didn’t want to see him.” I looked her over, noticing all sorts of things I didn’t want to. “Full hair and make-up at this hour? Really, Lauren? Were you expecting him to be here, perhaps?”
Her chin dipped as she had the good grace to look embarrassed at last. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I got carried away. But he’s here to make amends. I thought you might at least want to hear what he has to say.”
I shook my head, fury bubbling away inside me. “Not your call.”
“You’ve been miserable. What was I supposed to do?” She threw her arms sky high. “He said that he’d come to make things right with you. I believe him.”
“Of course you do. He’s David Ferris, your very own teen idol.”
“No. If he wasn’t here to kiss your feet I’d have killed him. No matter who he is, he hurt you.” She seemed sincere, her mouth pinched and eyes huge. “I’m sorry about dressing up this morning. It won’t happen again.”
“You look great. But you’re wasting your time. He’s not going to be here. That isn’t going to happen.”
“No? So, who gave you that monster on your neck?”
I didn’t even need to answer that. Damn it. The sun beat down overhead, warming up the day.
“If there’s a chance you think he might be the one,” she said, making my stomach twist. “If you think you two can sort this out somehow … He’s the only one that ever got to you. The way you talk about him …”
“We were only together a few days.”
“You really think that matters?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I flailed. It wasn’t pretty. “We never made sense, Lauren. Not from day one.”
“Gah,” she said, making a strangled noise to accompany it. “This is about your fucking plan, isn’t it? Let me clue you in on something. You don’t have to make sense. You just have to want to be together and be willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. It’s amazingly simple. That’s love, Ev, putting each other first. Not worrying about if you fit into some fucktard plan that your Dad brainwashed you into believing was what you wanted out of life.”
“It’s not about the plan.” I scrubbed at my face with my hands, holding back tears of frustration and fear. “He broke me. It feels like he broke me. Why would anyone willingly take that chance again?”
Lauren looked at me, her own eyes bright. “I know he hurt you. So punish the bastard, keep him waiting. The fucker, he deserves it. But if you love him, then think about hearing what he has to say.”
Maybe I was coming down with a cold, tight chest and itchy eyes. Having your heart broken should come with some positives, some perspective to balance out the bad. I should have been wiser, tougher, but I didn’t feel it just then. I jangled my house keys. Ruby was going to kill me. I’d have to forego my usual walk and catch a streetcar to have even a hope in hell of not getting my Texas-sized ass fired. “I have to go.”
Lauren nodded, face set. “You know, I love you so much more than I ever loved him. Without question.”
I snorted. “Thanks.”
“But has it occurred to you that you wouldn’t be this upset if you didn’t still love him at least a little bit?”
“I don’t like you making sense at this hour of the morning. Stop it.”
She took a step back, giving me a smile. “You were always there talking sense at me when I needed it. So I’m not going to stop nagging you just because you don’t like what you’re hearing. Deal with it.”
“I love you, Lauren.”
“I know, you Thomas kids are crazy for me. Why just last night, your brother did this thing …”
I fled from the sound of her evil laughter.
*
Work was fine. Two guys came in to ask me to a frat party that was coming up. I’d never received such invites pre-David. I therefore declined them post-David. If I was indeed post-David. Who knew? Various people tried for autographs or information and I sold them coffee and cake instead. We closed up close to dusk.
All day I’d been on edge, wondering if he’d put in an appearance. Tomorrow was today, but I hadn’t seen any sign of him. Maybe he’d changed his mind. Mine changed from one minute to the next. My promise to him not to decide yet was safe and sound.
We were just locking up when Ruby jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow. Probably a bit harder than she meant to because I’m pretty sure I sustained a kidney injury.
“He’s really here,” she hissed, nodding at David who did indeed lurk nearby, waiting. He was here, just like he’d said he’d be. Nervous excitement bubbled up inside of me. With a ball cap on and the beard, he blended well. Especially with the haircut. My heart sobbed a little at the loss of his long dark hair. But I’d never admit to it. Amanda had told Ruby about his reappearance last night. Given the lack of paparazzi and screaming fans in the vicinity, it must still be a secret from the rest of the city.
I stared at him, unsure how to feel. Last night at the club had been surreal. Here and now, this was me living my normal life. Seeing him in it, I didn’t know how I felt. Discombobulated was a good word.
“Did you want to meet him?” I asked.
“No, I’m reserving judgment. I think actually meeting him might render me partial. He’s very attractive, isn’t he?” Ruby gave him a slow look over, lingering on his jeans-clad leg longer than necessary. She had a thing for men’s thighs. Soccer players sent her into a frenzy. Odd for a poet, but then I’d found no one ever really fit a certain type. Everyone had their quirks.
Ruby continued looking him over like he was meat at market. “Maybe don’t divorce him.”
“You sound very impartial. See you later.”
Her hand hooked my arm. “Wait. If you stay with him will you still work for me?”
“Yes. I’ll even try to be on time more often. Night, Ruby.”
He stood on the sidewalk, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. Seeing him felt similar to standing at a cliff’s edge. The little voice in the back of my head whispered damn the consequences, you know you can probably fly. If you can’t, imagine the thrill of the fall. Reason, on the other hand, screamed bloody murder at me.
At what point exactly could you decide you were going insane?
“Evelyn.”
Everything stopped. If he ever figured out what it did to me when he said my name like that, I was done for. God, I’d missed him. It’d been like having a piece of me missing. But now that he was back, I didn’t know how we fit together anymore. I didn’t even know if we could.
“Hi,” I said.
“You look tired,” he said, mouth turning downward. “I mean, you look good, of course. But …”
“It’s fine.” I studied the sidewalk, took a deep breath. “It was a busy day.”
“So this is where you work?”
“Yeah.”