She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I was wondering how you felt about me taking time off next month?”
My gaze stayed on hers as I processed her request. When was the last time she’d taken time off? Had it already been a year? I flipped through my mental calendar, trying to remember what I had next month. There would be very little to do with Nicole’s divorce by then. I would make sure of that. I had a meeting scheduled for later in the week with a well-known romance author, who was divorcing his wife, to see if they could settle out-of-court, so that shouldn’t run over to the next month. I realized I was still staring at Corinne and blinked rapidly. I was in the habit of staring people down when I was lost in thought. I cleared my throat.
“Sure. Just put it on the Outlook Calendar so we can plan for it,” I said finally.
Her shoulders sagged a little.
“Anything else I should know about?” I asked.
She shook her head, but I knew there was something she wanted to tell me. Women were so fucking annoying. Why couldn’t they just spit it out? They would be a lot easier to deal with if they just voiced their thoughts instead of making us go on a goddamn scavenger hunt. I shook my head and went back to the papers in front of me. I didn’t have time for that shit.
“It’s just,” she said quietly. I let out a breath. Of course she was going to start talking again when I was already trying to focus on something else. “I think my boyfriend is going to propose to me when we go on vacation.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Well, that’s good, right?” I asked slowly. One could never be too sure when he was going to hit a nerve when it came to women and these sensitive subjects.
“I guess,” she said, shrugging. I rubbed my temple and looked at my watch. I had an hour to spare before I had to bolt to meet with Nicole, so I took a seat where I’d been before Corinne decided to turn into Bugs Bunny with her chewing.
“What’s the problem? Haven’t you been together for a while now?” I asked.
She started chipping at her nail polish. “Eight months.”
Oh, wow. Her boyfriend really jumped into that one. I didn’t comment, because nothing good would come out of my mouth. It wasn’t worse than Gabriel Lane and Nicole. Fucking Nicole. Instead, I nodded for her to continue. She glanced up at me, her eyes welling with unshed tears. Jesus, fuck. I didn’t do well with emotional females. How did I get myself into this mess?
“I just don’t know if he’s the one, you know? I don’t know if he’s my forever,” she whispered, still chipping at her nails.
“Have you told him this? Maybe you should.”
“He’s a great guy. He makes me laugh, gets along with my parents, has a good job,” she continued, ignoring me. “He has his own place, and he wants kids.”
I tilted my head. So far I’d heard nothing but good. Throw in a vintage black Mustang, and I was about to marry the guy. I looked at my watch again.
“I’m assuming you’re going to get to the bad part soon?”
She wiped her tears. “I don’t know. I was with my ex-boyfriend for six years. I’ve only been with Daniel eight months. I feel like, I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe I don’t even know him, you know?”
“Corinne, as I’m sure you know, I am not equipped to give relationship advice.” I paused and added, “At all.”
She nodded and sniffled. “I know, but you date a lot. How do you know they’re not the woman you want to marry?”
I let out a long breath and leaned back in my seat. That was a good question. How did I know? I frowned.
“I don’t,” I said with a shrug. She looked puzzled, so I continued. “I’ve never cared enough to continue any of those relationships, so I just assume they’re not the one.” She continued to stare at me at a loss for words, which made me keep talking. “I’ll let you in on a little secret: none of us know what we’re doing. We’re all winging it. Your boyfriend? He’s winging it. He’s proposing to you because he hopes you’re his forever. Maybe he believes it, I guess he must if he’s taking the plunge, but if you’re not willing to take it with him, you should probably pull him off that cliff before he does it, not when he does it.”
She nodded. “You’re right. Maybe I’m just having second thoughts because of all of these damn divorce cases we go through.”
I laughed. “I’m pretty sure that was in the job description when you applied.”
“People change,” she said with a smile.
Right. That again. I shrugged.
“You don’t think somebody will come along and change you?” she asked, frowning. I thought about that for a moment, my mind instantly going to Nicole. Again. I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
“I think the right person for me will want to keep me just the way I am.”
Corinne seemed to be satisfied with my answer. I gathered the papers and put them back in the folder.
“Are you done having your moment?” I asked. “Because I really have somewhere to be.”