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“Hey, Derek,” Tommy says, opening the door. “What can I do for you?”
“I need help. Again.”
With a smile, he steps back and opens the door wider. “Come on in. We’ll bring out the Scrabble board and you can tell us all about it.”
A feeling of relief floods me as I step inside. Tommy knows me so well. He grabs the Scrabble board from the closet and then calls out for Edith to join us. She doesn’t always play Scrabble with us, but she’s a pretty mean competitor when she does.
Tommy hands us each a tray and then we all draw tiles to see who goes first. I grab an E. Go figure. Grabbing the tile with the highest points on it, Tommy earns the right to go first and carefully picks his seven letters. He stares at them for a moment then moves them around on his tray. I’m waiting for him to ask me what’s going on, but I know better than to distract him while he’s thinking, so I wait. Finally, he smiles and lays the word ‘Whizbang’ down on the Scrabble board.
“That’s seventy-eight points for me,” he says, writing down his total. Then he sets the pen down and gives me his attention. “Okay, now tell us what’s going on.”
I shake my head as I search for the right words. “I got sent home early from rehearsals today. Evidently, I’m not bringing the Derek I brought to the auditions and Nicholas isn’t pleased.” My eyes drop to my tiles as I try to form a word. Scrabble usually relaxes me, but it’s not working tonight. My insides still feel like a guitar string pulled too tight, and there’s a pounding in my head that is making it impossible for me to come up with any winning words.
“Do you think maybe that could have something to do with missing Katie?” Edith asks laying down the word quartz. It’s only twenty-four points but she manages to snag a double word tile bringing it to forty-eight. She lifts an eyebrow at me and tilts her head. I hate that she is beating me, but even more, I hate that she is right.
I sigh as I stare at my letters. “Of course it has to do with Katie, but how else was I supposed to take it when she told her ex she’d think about taking him back?”
“Were those her actual words?” Edith asks, fixing me with a pointed stare.
“I don’t know if they were the actual words,” I say, throwing my hands up. “It’s been nearly two weeks. I don’t remember exactly, but I know he said he wanted her back, and she said she’d think about it.”
“And is she back together with him?”
“I have no idea.” Which isn’t exactly true. I may not post on social media, but I managed to find Katie’s and I haven’t seen a post that she got back together with Adam, and her status still says single. Of course that could just mean she hasn’t updated, but I doubt it.
Edith sighs and shakes her head. “You have so much to learn. Saying she would think about it is not the same thing as saying yes. In fact, it sounds more like he was pressuring her and wouldn’t take no for an answer, so she copped out and said whatever she could to make him stop.”
“That’s a thing?” Clearly, I understand women even less than I thought.
“Of course that’s a thing. It’s called letting someone down easy, though it doesn’t always work, especially if the guy is stubborn. Most men do it too. They say they’ll call a woman and then they don’t, hoping she’ll either forget or move on.”
“I have never done that.” I’m offended at the mere implication.
“Me either,” Tommy says. “That seems like a waste of time.”
“I know you two haven’t.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “But most men do. My point is, it sounds like Katie was trying to let him down easy.”
I rub my head as I consider her words. “She did tell me she didn’t have feelings for him any longer.”
“See? But instead of listening to her, you only heard what you wanted to hear and decided cutting her out of your life would be easier, but you don’t seem happier to me. In fact, you seem more miserable than I’ve seen you in a long time.”
I pick up a tile as I think about my life. My job is better. I really enjoy being on the stage, but the rest of my life does feel empty in a way it hadn’t before Katie upended it. “Even if you’re right, what do I do about it? I haven’t talked to her since I left and I’m about to go away for several months.”
“I have an idea. I can’t guarantee it will work, but if it does, hopefully you’ll get your mojo back knowing you’re coming back to something.”
I look down at the tiles in my tray. Though I didn’t see it before, there’s an H, O, M, and E staring back at me. It’s no eight-ball answer, but I’ll take it. “Well, I have to do something or Nicholas is going to fire me, so tell me what I need to do.”
We continue to play as she lays out her idea. It’s good, but not foolproof. There’s always the chance that Katie won’t talk to me or that she’ll say no, but it’s better than anything I could come up with on my own. I just hope it’s enough.
CHAPTER21
Katie
My phone beeps,and I press the lighted button. “Yes?” I’ve always had an office phone, but not one that allowed the receptionist downstairs to call me. When you work in the cubicle section, they just send people up and tell them to look for you. Generally, that results in them either wandering the cubicle maze aimlessly or calling out your name and you popping up like a groundhog. I definitely don’t miss that.
“There’s a woman here to see you, Miss Malone. She says her name is Edith.”
Edith. Edith. Where have I heard that name? It sounds vaguely familiar, but I know it’s none of my friends. Then it hits me. Edith was one of Derek’s friends. What on earth could she want to talk to me about?
