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I shook my head, already thinking about what I could tell Darlene. “Nah, don’t worry about it.” I paused. “At least, not yet. Let me figure it out, and I’ll get back to you. Bye.” I pulled the phone from my ear, prepared to end the call, when I heard Jerry say something on the other end.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“You still need to keep up your end of the agreement, Ryan. If she’s talking about moving, there’s a chance she’ll try to petition the agreement. She might be looking to fight for full custody herself.”
My jaw tightened. It wasn’t like the Darlene I’d married to be sneaky. If nothing else, Darlene was honest to a fault. She never missed a chance to tell me about my failures, but she also always told me what I could do and what I was doing right, and she always wanted the best for her family. As cruel as she could be, I knew that much about her.
But she wasn’t the Darlene I’d married anymore. She was the one I’d divorced.
“Thanks.”
“Talk soon,” Jerry said, and this time he hung up, leaving me on the other end staring out the window of the quiet suburban street. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed that way, only that my mind spun with so many questions and thoughts about what to do and how to do it. I was supposed to have James every other weekend. I hadn’t seen him any of those weekends because of this damn job. If there was any chance at all that Darlene was going to pursue full custody, and if she was trying to do it behind my back, I was sure it was that asshole boyfriend of hers telling her to do it.
No matter what, though, I couldn’t give her any proof that she should have it. And the first thing I had to do was keep up with my time, my weekends, with the kid. How the hell would I pull that off? I didn’t even live in an apartment yet. I hadn’t had time to look.
My arm fell to my side, and my body slumped. I needed a place for him to live. The warehouse wouldn’t do it, and that was the second thing. Or maybe it should be first. I shook my head, at a loss for words and options. I had a lot of things to do, but my business was the only thing I had going for me right now. Jerry had said I had that in my favor, so I had to use it.
Chapter 7
Christie
I had never been to a steakhouse, the fancy ones where people walked around shaving meat off of skewers. The charcoal-gray carpet darkened the already dim room. Eggshell walls were made lighter by the sconces that cast a soft orange glow toward the ceiling. The chandeliers offered a soft glimmer above, but I couldn’t see the art lining the walls between sconces or even the nametags—or were they pocket squares? —on the waiters’ chests. It had seemed like a good idea to come here at the time, but now I was wondering if I was celebrating too early.
It wasn’t like I had any job prospects. I took a sip of red wine that had made me feel like a kid, ironically, buying some cabernet I knew I wouldn’t like just because the waiter recommended it. I wasn’t sure how adults celebrated and realized this was the first time I’d done so truly on my own. Mom had always pushed me to do things outside my comfort zone, but when I did, she flipped a switch and wanted to know everything, everyone, every time. It was easier not to do anything at all, and I found I liked it that way. I just wished I’d spent a little more time trying. I was nearing thirty.
My adventure at the airport made me feel unprepared and unpredictable. My emotions had gotten the better of me, and that idiot Mike hadn’t made it easier to turn down Ryan. He was like that knight in shining armor in anime who let the girl be their own woman, yet he was protective and comforting all the same.
I ducked my head between my arms with my elbows on the table, suddenly feeling exposed with all my thoughts of my one-night romance.Stupid, stupid, stupid, I kept thinking, feeling ashamed as if my memories were laid bare to the world.
Ryan still hadn’t responded, and after so long, I was starting to lose hope of getting my phone back. Not that I’d stop trying, but the more time that passed now that my lecture was over, my only concern was with the panic-stricken voice of my mom on the other end of the line.
I thought to message her on Insta or something, but at this point, I didn’t even want to hear what she had to say. I was finally away from it all, away from the overbearing weight of guilt, pressure, and suffocating curiosity that had made the world seem not worth the effort.
And she wondered why I was so boring.
A softthumpmade me jump, all color draining from my face, when I noticed a familiar face I couldn’t pin down standing next to me.
I smiled nonetheless and shook his proffered hand before he opened himself up with a confident and, dare I say, charming baritone voice.
“Well, hello. Christie, is it? Andrew. Andrew Mayhew from Mayhew Industries.”
Not Andrew Rock, but I recognized his face from the lecture hall.
“Hi, Andrew. You were in my session, right?”
He nodded, his deep-set brown eyes glinting in the dim light. “I’m surprised. And impressed. You barely met my eyes when I shook your hand.”
I blushed, pinning a lock of hair behind my ear before it covered my face. “Sorry. I was distracted.”
“It was a wonderful talk.” He pulled out a chair to sit and spread his hands across the eggplant-colored tablecloth, his casual white long-sleeve polo bunching up at his wrists. “And I apologize for barging in on you. It was rude of me. I promise I didn’t follow you here or anything. I was on my way out.”
“Oh, it’s okay.”
“I just hoped to speak with you. I tried to call...”
I froze. I’d handed out business cards. With my name, number, and email address. I prayed that no one else had called, though part of me prayed they did. Who knew when I’d have the chance to respond? I decided to take a chance with Andrew because it sounded like he could be a real reason for me to celebrate.
“I’msosorry, Andrew,” I said, my fingers bracing my fallen jaw. “I lost my phone before my flight here, and the man who has it... never mind. I don’t have my phone. I’m using someone else’s until I get it back.” I couldn’t just share my story of a one-night stand and ruin whatever this was before it began.
