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I was, but the main reason I was going in that general direction was to talk to Hope. I had no idea what I would say, but I needed to talk to her. It was clear from the body language of her and Bash that they were on a date. I tried to suppress my jealousy and frustration that I allowed Hope to slip through my fingers one more time.
The only reason I went over there was to talk to them, to say hello and to see Hope and confirm she was indeed dating Bash. If I got to look at her, talk to her, smell her perfume, all the better, though doing all of that was its own unique form of torment. If she was truly out of my reach, then it would be best to know it and find a way to try to move on. How I would do that was anyone’s guess.
As I was walking up to them, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. It was then that I looked closer at Hope’s body language. I hadn’t wanted to before but as I approached them, I could see she was tense and annoyed by who she was sitting with.
When Hope said that she couldn’t ever see herself leaving her family for Bash, I watched his expression and I could tell he wasn’t getting it. He couldn’t see why she wouldn’t want to be with him, especially for something as simple as geography.
I could tell Bash didn’t understand Hope at all. Her family meant everything to her. She was close with her sisters, especially her older sister, Faith, who had a two-year-old daughter. Hope loved spending time with her and would hate to be away from her or the rest of the family. If Bash couldn’t get the most fundamental concept about Hope, he wouldn’t get her.
There was something about the way he was looking at her and the annoyance on Hope’s face that made me see she needed some help. She needed some way to get Bash to understand they were done, and to leave her alone. I don’t know why, but I could tell that she had been trying with little to no success for a while.
I wasn’t sure what would come out of my mouth when I opened it, and I was just as surprised as Hope and Bash when it did. The minute it was out, I didn’t regret it. I took a small bit of satisfaction in seeing Bash’s face fall, as if he finally understood he had been defeated. I heard Hope’s sharp intake of breath, but I didn’t dare look down at her.
“Really? When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me?” Bash asked.
“It’s new. We’ve only been on a few dates. We’ve been keeping it quiet even from our family,” I said and then looked down at Hope.
She looked up at me with a questioning expression. I smiled down at her in what I wished was a reassuring way. I wanted to convey to her that she should go along with this little charade. If we just stuck together for a little bit we would get through this. She could trust me, and she wasn’t alone.
I must have done a good job silently communicating with her as she smiled back up at me and I could see her shoulders relax before she looked over at Bash. As she did, she reached out her hand and put it on top of mine. My body immediately reacted to having her touch me.
“Yes. It’s true. It’s so new I didn’t know how to tell you or if Mac even wanted to let anyone know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive you,” she said to Bash.
He took a moment to take in what we were saying. I wasn’t sure how he would react. Would he feel jilted by Hope and think she lied to him? Would he take it out on her? On me? Would he think we were lying and call us out on it?
“This is wonderful! I’m so happy for you two,” Bash said.
“You are?” Hope asked.
“Thank you. So are we,” I said at the same time.
“It’s clear to see you two have something special and I’m not one to get in the way of other people’s happiness. I wish you’d told me before, but I can understand, considering your families you’d want to keep this under wraps,” Bash said.
“Thank you for understanding,” Hope said.
“Of course. Of course. I want nothing but your happiness, Hope. I’m sorry we couldn’t work out but maybe it’s for the best.”
“You will find someone, someone in Boston, who sees you for the wonderful guy that you are. I just know it,” Hope said.
“That’s so kind of you to say. Actually, come to think of it, there’s a woman I’ve noticed where I get my coffee every morning,” Bash said.
“There you go. You should ask her out,” Hope said and beamed at him.
“You know. I just might. Thanks for seeing me tonight, and telling me about you two. I feel like I’m in on a lovely little secret,” he said, whispering the last part.
“It’s not that much of a secret,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Well, it was enough of one that Hope didn’t want to tell me on a date,” Bash said.
“Bash, this wasn’t a date. I was just meeting an old friend. We had broken up months ago,” Hope stated.
“True,” Bash said and tilted his head side to side as if he didn’t agree with her. “It doesn’t matter. What does is you two are together and seem happy. Congrats.”
I squeezed Hope’s shoulder. I wanted to show Bash she and I were indeed together but also to caution Hope that Bash seemed to be taking the news a little too well.
“How is the restaurant going? I hear you’re thinking of opening up another one in New York?” I asked.
“Maybe. Possibly. I’m still going over all my options. Which I can now,” Bash said with a short laugh.
