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Brittany texted me that she was working late tonight, so I hung out with Ben some after work. He’s still as smitten with Melissa as he was when he met her. I probably would’ve taunted and poked fun at him more, but ever since my therapy appointment, where Mrs. Kirk seemed mildly pessimistic and optimistic at the same time about my current living situations, my mood has been dropping steadily like the ball in New York on New Year’s Eve.
It’s odd to see Brittany’s car in my driveway when I get home. Looks like out of the two of us, I stayed out later than she did. I grab the to-go box from the restaurant. I figured it would be nice if I brought home some dinner for her since she seemed to have a crazy day at work. I could feel the stress seeping from her message.
When I walk into the house, movement in the living room catches my attention. Lily is standing on the couch, looking at me, wagging her tail. I walk over to see that she was lying with Brittany, who is knocked out on the couch, still in her work clothes. She startles awake when Lily jumps off the couch to come around to see me.
“Hey,” I say when she rolls onto her back and sees me. “Have you eaten yet?” She shakes her head. “Hungry?” Another shake of the head. I walk around, set her plate on the end table, and motion for her to sit up. She does, I sit, and she rests her head in my lap. “How was work?”
“Busy. We’re in the final stages of a project for the company, so it’ll be insane this week. I don’t know how I could’ve forgotten about it.”
My fingers dive into her hair, running through it and playing with it. “You feeling okay, Britt?”
“Yeah.” It’s a half-hearted yeah. “I just needed a little nap after rushing over to drop off my key with the landlord. I was hoping to be out of here by the weekend, but with work being insane, I don’t know how much time I’ll have to look for a place.”
“Don’t stress over it; you can take your time. You stress too much, Britt. I mean, with good reason usually, but still too much.”
She watches Lily jump into the recliner before returning her gaze to me. “I kind of assumed when you said this would be temporary that you’d want me gone as soon as possible. That’s why I was giving you a heads-up that it might take longer than a week.”
I’m never going to get over repeatedly sticking my foot in my mouth when I made the offer for her to stay here. Slouching a little in my seat, I prop my legs up on the coffee table. “You can stay as long as you need to,” I tell her.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Her phone starts ringing from inside her purse on the coffee table, and she reaches over to grab it, settling her head in my lap once she’s rolled onto her side. I keep playing in her hair with one hand while using the other to drag my knuckles up and down her arm. I listen to the one-sided conversation as she talks to her mom, who seems to be recovering fine, and then her dad. Which reminds me that I haven’t talked to my own father lately.
“I’m going to change,” she tells me once she hangs up. I grab the remote to find a movie for us to watch on Netflix. A few minutes later, she reappears, still in her work clothes. “I need to run to the store. Do you need anything?”
I’m confused. Wasn’t she about to change out of her clothes? And now she’s running out of here to go to the store? “No. Do you want me to go for you?”
“Nope,” she quickly answers.
“Want me to ride with you?”
“Nope. I’ll be back.” She starts rushing toward the door.
“Wait a second. What’s going on?”
She huffs and turns to blurt out, “My period started and I can’t find my box of tampons!”
“Oh.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, oh. Are you done questioning me?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
Without another word, she swivels on her heels and leaves, letting the door slam shut behind her. Now, how was I supposed to know that’s what she was being cagey about? I get up and change into some pajama shorts, forgoing my T-shirt. Then, I call my dad.
“Hey, son,” he answers.
“Hey. How are you and Amy?”
“Good. Good. She has me going to salsa classes.” That makes me laugh. “You know as well as I do that Lexington men can’t dance, but I’m going anyway. I’m no good, but she loves it, so…”
“That’s good. She ought to get you out of the house.”
“She does. Every chance she gets. How are things with you?”
“Fine.” I sigh. “It’s been a day. Brittany’s staying here for a bit because she needed to find a new place before her lease was set to renew, but she didn’t find
