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“How long have you been here?” Mack asked as he took off his coat and sat down.
“I just got here a few minutes ago,” I said with a smile, trying to banish thoughts of Logan.
The waitress came over with my beer, and Mack ordered a drink, as well as the nachos.
“You look nice,” he commented once the waitress walked away.
“Thanks,” I said, although I doubted a turtleneck sweater and jeans were exactly a fashion statement. But it was said with Mack’s usual charm. It was probably automatic for him to compliment women. He probably would have said the same thing if I had shown up in my Hello Kitty t-shirt.
“How’s work going?” I ask
ed, since I didn’t know what else to talk about. I certainly didn’t want to bring up Logan or Kristina.
“Well enough, but I think I’m going cross-eyed from working so much. Thanks for meeting up with me. It’s nice to be out among the humans again instead of being locked inside an office.” Mack shook his head comically. “That fluorescent lighting does nothing for me.”
I laughed at his exaggerated dismay. The waitress came back with his beer and he took a long swallow.
“Thanksgiving dinner seemed to go okay with Kristina there,” he said casually. My stomach plummeted at his comment. I tried to smile as naturally as I could, but it probably looked more like a grimace.
“Yeah, it was okay.”
Mack studied me for a moment. “Is something wrong?”
I shook my head. “No.” I took a sip of my beer to have something to do. “Have you talked to your grandmother again?” I desperately wanted to change the topic, and didn’t care how obvious I was being. Unfortunately, Mack wasn’t easily distracted.
“Nothing’s changed on the grandmother front,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong?”
“I said nothing was wrong,” I insisted, starting to get annoyed. I had agreed to meet up with Mack because I thought it would be casual and fun. I wasn’t in the mood to spill my guts.
“Madison, I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but clearly something’s wrong. You looked like you were going to be sick when I mentioned Kristina.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, since there was no point in pretending there was nothing wrong. Mack had already seen through my façade.
“Fair enough,” Mack agreed, although he still looked concerned. Fortunately, the nachos came and it gave us something to concentrate on.
“I don’t think this is big enough for the both of us,” he joked, eyeing the plate. “They really skimp on the portion size.”
I laughed. “This one isn’t just for me? I thought you ordered one for yourself, too.”
As I started to eat, the ball of despair in the pit of my stomach got bigger and bigger until I felt like I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t count the times Logan and I had sat in this bar over a plate of nachos. I raised my eyes from my plate to look at Mack. As handsome and charming as he was, this just felt wrong. I felt my eyes starting to well up.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I said as I jumped up from my seat and walked quickly to the back of the bar before Mack could say a word. I felt like I had been socked in the stomach when I passed the storage room where Logan had once fucked me. I barely made it to the bathroom before the tears started spilling down my cheeks.
I was relieved to see that the bathroom was empty, and I forced myself to stop the flow of tears before I really started sobbing. I stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes, wanting to make sure I had my emotions under control. I took a deep breath before exiting. I was okay, I told myself. I had to get used to life without Logan. The wound was still raw since it had just happened. It would get easier with time.
I tried to smile when I got back to the table, but Mack’s expression told me I wasn’t fooling him.
“You’ve been crying,” he said, frowning.
“The nachos were so good I was overwhelmed with emotion.” He didn’t laugh at my joke.
“Madison, I’d like to think we’re friends. You can talk to me.”
His expression was so sympathetic that I could feel myself getting emotional again. I shook my head, telling myself I would only break down again if I told Mack, but the words poured out before I knew what I was doing.
“I walked in on Logan in bed with Kristina.”
Mack looked dumbstruck. “Are you sure?”
