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“And then what will you do? If you quit now, you’re back at square one, doing something you hate, not knowing which way to go with your life. Right now, you actually look like you enjoy your work. You like spending time with Ben, right?”
“Right,” I said. “It’s just complicated because of Aaron.”
Olivia nodded, and I made up my mind. I didn’t have to wait for him to tell me this wasn’t working––a job went both ways, and I could say to him that this just wasn’t a good fit and be done with it. Once I stopped lying to everyone, I could breathe easier, too. The relief I would feel was already promising, and I nodded, confirming it to myself. When I see Aaron tomorrow, I would tell him I would give him one more week, so he could have time to find someone else, and then that would be that.
Olivia and I started talking about other things, and the alcohol flowed as freely as our conversation. Olivia was swaying on her feet by the time she got up to go.
“You’re leaving already?” I asked.
“I have work tomorrow, and I’m already going to be so hungover. I hate being on my feet in the hot kitchen. I better stop now so that I don’t die altogether.”
I scrunched my nose. “Fine, I guess we can call it a night.”
“You don’t have to go,” Olivia said.
“And drink alone? That will just be sad.”
Olivia giggled and leaned closer for a hug. When she hugged me, I stumbled, losing my balance, and we both nearly went down. We finally let go of each other, giggling.
“I’ll talk to you soon,” she said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?”
“You always say that,” I said.
“I always mean it!” Olivia said, her voice a little too loud before she waved and left the bar.
I sat back on the stool and sighed. It was better for me to leave, too. Tomorrow, I had to see Aaron and Ben again, and dealing with Aaron, telling him I was done, was going to be hard enough. To do it while hungover, and to tell Ben that I was finishing up with a headache, was going to be a bitch.
I hated that Ben would be the one at the shit end of the stick when I walked away. He was the only one I didn’t want to hurt, but this was business. I had to look out for myself, and I couldn’t keep juggling everything and lying about it.
Quitting was the best thing to do.
I grabbed my handbag and left the bar. Just as I walked out of the door, I bumped into someone.
“Oh!” I cried out and lost my balance.
Large, strong hands grabbed my arms, keeping me upright.
“Careful,” a deep, familiar voice said. I frowned and looked into his dark eyes.
“Aaron?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Girl’s night,” I said. “I was just on my way home.”
“Oh,” he said. “I was just arriving.” Despite only just arriving, Aaron looked like he’d been drinking. He slurred his words a little, and his eyes didn’t quite focus on mine. His eyes slid over my face and down my body, making me blush.
“I have to talk to you,” I said. It might as well be now.
A little voice screamed at me that I was drunk, and this was the worst time to tell Aaron that it wasn’t working, but I was drunk, and I never listened to the little voice when I was in this state.
“Yeah?” he asked. “What is it that you want to talk about?”
“About my job,” I said.
Aaron shook his head. “Oh, no. This isn’t the time to discuss business. I’m off the clock, and you should be, too. We can talk about investments tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to talk about investments. I want to talk about me being your nanny.”
