Chapter 27
On our walk home that night, Ben is silent.
“Everything okay?” If he’s pissed about John, he’s going to have to come out and say it.
“Bad day.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“No.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
Oh-kay.Bad Mood Ben. This is a new one.
We continue our solitary march for a few blocks. He hasn’t taken my hand like he usually does and it’s crazy how much that’s killing me.
“Any thoughts on dinner? Do I need to break out the big guns and make queso?”
He grunts in response.
“Wow, no reaction to the gun punorthe queso?”
We stop at a crosswalk and I watch him as we wait for the light to turn. When he finally makes eye contact, I get a tight-lipped smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
“I’m sorry you had a bad day.”
He nods, still saying nothing.
“I’d like to help.”
“You can’t help,” he snaps. “I can’t talk to you about it and you know that, so quit asking.”
Whoa.I blink and take a step back.
“Actually, I didn’t know that. I wasn’t even sure the reason you’re upset was work related.”
“What else would it be?”
He stares me down, eyes glittering. I’m a long way past being intimidated by him, but I haven’t seen this look on his face since I called him a caveman. It’s not a memory I’m eager to relive.
“I thought it might have to do with the reason you closed your blinds today.”There.Gauntlet thrown.
“I closed my blinds so I wouldn’t have to watch my girlfriend eat a cozy lunch with a guy who wants to get into her pants.” My face must do something funny because he bites out, “I’m sorry, I meant mysecretgirlfriend.”
I’m so taken aback by his vitriol, it takes me a moment to work up a response.
“Wow. So as a reminder, John is mycolleague, nothing more, and I work with him a lot, so you better make your peace with it now.” I flush as I recall his date invitation and my subsequent sin of omission. Definitely not sharing that tidbit just now. “And I guessyou’rethe only one who’s allowed to feel jealous? Because you don’t see me interrogating you about the time you spend with Corinne, the woman whoheavilyimplied you two were dating. But I’m just expected to ignore all that, right?”
He opens his mouth to respond but I cut him off.
“You know what, don’t answer that. I don’t think this has anything to do with John. This has to do with your bill imploding. Or maybe you feel guilty about stealing money out of schoolteachers’ pockets. As youshould, by the way. I’d love to know what your mother thinks about this.” The light finally changes toWALKand I take off, forcing him to jog to catch up with me.
“Is this thehelpyou were offering me a minute ago?” he calls as I rush ahead. “Please, pile on. Tell me more about what a shitty job I’m doing and what a heartless monster I am. I didn’t get enough of that today.”
I take a deep breath before answering. “Look, I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, but you don’t get to take your bad day out on me. I’m not your punching bag.”
