Me: No, what’s up?
There was a knock on the door. I opened it and found Kimberly on the other side wearing her pajamas and a pair of flip-flops. She looked upset.
“Kimmy, what happened?”
“Adam and I had a fight.”
"What do you mean a fight? Did he—" My pulse quickened, and I felt my muscles tighten before she interrupted me with a palm on my chest.
“What? No. No. Of course not, he would never.”
"So, you had an argument?" I clarified, feeling my pulse return to normal.
“Yes, counselor. We had anargument." She rolled her eyes and stomped past me to sit on the couch. "He's acting like an idiot."
"Okay." I closed my laptop as I walked past the table to join her on the couch. "Start from the beginning."
"Well, Adam will be living full-time in Barbados for the next two years, at least, and Lisa moved out of the garden level. So I talked to him about moving his stuff there and giving up his apartment." She raised her hands and dropped them on her lap. "And, he's acting like an idiot. He's attached to that overpriced shoebox, but he agreed to move his stuff into the garden apartment on the condition that he pay me the same amount of rent I was charging Lisa."
“So we’re both on the same page, he agreed to give up the apartment that he loves to move into your house, which you know makes him uncomfortable and he wants to give you money. Right?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“Kimmy, I know where you’re coming from, but have you tried to see where Adam is coming from?”
"I've tried, but it's still ridiculous. We're getting ready to share everything. Adam paying me rent would be like paying himself rent. I don't understand why he doesn't see it that way, and I'm scared of what that means for us."
“Are you ready to call off the engagement because Adam wants to pay you rent?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“Then you need to figure this out. Trust me, you don’t want to lose the person you love most in the world because you weren’t willing to do everything in your power to make it work.”
"Is that advice for me or for yourself?”
She glanced over my shoulder. I turned around to see Lisa standing in the doorway that separated her bedroom from the living room.
"Hi," she said quietly, and I wondered how much of that she heard. "I was about to put CJ to bed, and since you usually miss it, I thought you might want to help?"
“Yeah. I’ll be right there.” I nodded and smiled before turning to Kimberly. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded and raised her eyebrows. I shook my head at her before walking into Lisa and CJ’s room.
Apparently, having me participate in the bedtime routine proved to be a little too exciting for CJ. We read seven books, sang a lot of songs, and finally had to put him in the crib and pretend to be asleep—fake snores and all—before we heard his slow, sleepy breathing.
"Hopefully, it won't be that crazy tomorrow," Lisa whisper-chuckled.
“Right? That was brutal.” I smiled at her.
“Well, goodnight, Cole.” Her tone was gentle, but her intent was clear. It was time for me to leave.
I climbed out of bed and moved toward the door. “Right. Goodnight, Lisa.”
When I re-enteredthe living room, Kimberly was gone. I assumed she went back to her apartment. When I went to my room, I found her sprawled out in my bed, fast asleep. RJ was awake and working on a tablet and a laptop simultaneously.
“How long has she been in here?” I asked.
“Thirty-four minutes,” he answered without looking up. “Do not wake her.”
