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I could barely breath as Esme stepped toward the door and knocked.
To not appear too eager, I waited a few seconds before I opened it.
“Hi,” I said, unable to stop crying again. How many tears could one human body produce? I’d had to chug so much water today so I didn’t get dehydrated.
“Hi,” she said, and it wasn’t lost on me that the area around her eyes was puffy and red.
“Hi,” I said again and realized that I’d already said that.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
“Yes, of course.” I moved to let her in. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Sure,” she said, and we took seats on the couch with some space between us. I didn’t want to jump all over her or presume anything. Her face was closed, and I could not get a read on how this was going to go.
The silence was so heavy, I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. Potato ran over and jumped in Esme’s lap. She said hello and started petting him, so I took that as a positive sign.
“Okay, so, I’m still not really sure what I want to say. I really didn’t think you were the kind of person who would do something like that, Paige. I didn’t think you’d use someone like that for something so petty. I understand that Wyatt is a huge asshole, but you didn’t have to do that. I’m not against getting back at an ex, but using me to do it? Not okay,” she said.
She was right. There was nothing I could say to that, because it was true.
She took a deep breath. “With that said, I still think we have something good here, and I’m not going to throw it away that quickly. It’s going to take some time to build back that trust, but I’m willing to take that risk.”
Our eyes met and I sucked in a jagged breath.
“Paige?” she asked. I realized I needed to respond.
“Yes. I, yes, I want to work on this with you. I’m just so sorry, Esme. There’s no excuse or justification,” I said.
Potato purred loudly, oblivious to the seriousness of the conversation.
“No, there isn’t, but I understand where you were coming from. I just wish you would have snuck into his house and moved all of his furniture a centimeter a day until nothing was in the same place and he thought his house was haunted by furniture-moving ghosts.”
She smiled and it was like the tension cracked.
“Where were you when I was making revenge plans? That would have been so much better,” I said.
Esme leaned closer. “Next time run your revenge plots by me. I may look sweet, but I can be petty.”
“I like petty,” I said.
I felt my face make a smile for the first time in twenty-four hours.
My microwave beeped angrily, reminding me that my dinner had been sitting in there and was probably cold again.
“Do you want some dinner? I can make you something.” I’d make her anything she wanted.
Esme thought about that for a moment. “Yeah, that would be great.”
* * *
Esme seemedto want some space, so I gave it to her. I didn’t snuggle close to her on the couch, I didn’t put my arms around her or pull her in for a kiss. I’d let her decide what she was comfortable with.
She did keep me company as I whipped together a quick dinner of chicken and rice and green beans after I’d tossed the forgotten microwave meal. The food wasn’t fancy, but it did the trick.
Being with her was so easy and relaxing that all the tension in my body evaporated in her presence.
“I don’t have any ice cream, but I do have some chocolate strawberries in the back of the freezer,” I said.
