“Well? Didn’t I?”
“Mom! That’s not the point! This is bad, so bad.”
“Why?” She looks at me with concern. “Why is it such a bad thing?”
“Because of Bria? Because he’s seven years older than me? Because he’s my employer?” I shout.
“Oh, nonsense! Your father is five years older than me. Age is just a number, and seven isn’t that big of a difference.”
“Okay, well… it still won’t work.”
“Won’t? Why are you so sure it won’t? How will you ever know if you don’t try?”
I look up at her, and I imagine it for a minute.
Nick and I together.
Nick and Bria and I together.
Kissing Nick, sleeping in the same bed as Nick, making love to Nick… my cheeks flush.
“What’s all the commotion?” my dad asks, coming into the living room. He’s wearing sweatpants and drinking a beer. “Oh! Evi! Hello, darling.” He comes over and kisses me on the forehead. His face crinkles with worry. “What’s wrong?”
“Evi’s in love with her employer,” my mother answers casually.
“Mom!” I shout. “No, Dad, that’s not what Mom meant—”
“Good guy?” he asks, looking at me with stern consternation.
The question catches me off guard.
“Erm, yes, he’s a great guy, but—”
“Okay, then.” He nods his head. And then he walks away, as if Nick being a “good guy” is the only question he needs to ask.
I hunker down into the couch further, and I put my head in my mother’s lap.
“Evianna, I know it’s confusing. But it’s not the worst thing in the world.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “I just wish it could’ve been anyone else. Anyone but Nick. But it’s not. It’s him, and he’s so important to me, and he’s been through so much. How did this happen?”
“The best things are unexpected, Ev.”
“The most confusing things, you mean,” I retort. “I should just quit.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t quit. You have Mexico in a few weeks.”
“Oh, crap,” I groan. “I totally forgot about that. I don’t think I can go.”
“Evianna Marie Hall… I did not teach you to run away from your problems. I taught you to take a chance, to believe in magic, and most importantly, to listen to your heart. Can you honestly tell me that quitting your job would make you happier?”
“No,” I reply quietly. “But it’ll make everything easier.”
“Doing nothing is easy. That’s why so many people do it.”
I sit there silently as she strokes my hair.
“What do you think I should do?”
“Well… has he professed his feelings?”
“No, not verbally. But he punched Dan.”
“What?” She sits up and stares at me. “Seriously?”
I laugh. “Yes. We saw Dan and Mia at a restaurant yesterday, and Dan had some choice words for me, and Nick went after him and punched him. Clocked him real good,” I say, smiling.
“Good man, indeed,” my mother says breathlessly. “I like him so much already.”
“And he hugged me,” I add. “He’s never said anything outright, but the way he looks at me, and acts around me… it’s not one-sided.”
“Okay, well there’s probably a reason he hasn’t told you.”
“Maybe because it’s highly inappropriate?”
“Evianna, stop with this whole employer-employee thing, okay?” Her words shock me. “You are two people who happen to work together. But you’re two human people, and humans are emotional creatures. Don’t think of him as your boss. You met because of that, but you are falling in love with the person he is, regardless of his relationship to you.”
I look at my mother, and she smiles, brushing her hair behind her ears.
“When did you get so wise, Mom?” I ask, and she giggles.
“I’ve always been wise, darling.”
“Guess so,” I say.
“Just wait it out. There’s nothing you can do at this point. Wait and see what happens. I already know what you want. Now you just have to wait for Nick to admit that he wants the same thing.”
Twentyfive.
Evianna