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“So, tell me, Dad. Why were you at Ariane’s apartment?”
“She called me there because she was scared!” I said. “She told me she felt like someone was there and she wanted someone to come over and check it out. When I got there, she was panicked and shaken up, so I gave her a hug to comfort her. What’s so wrong about that?”
I knew Casey didn’t believe a word I said, but it was the halfway truth. Nothing had happened between Ariane and I that night. She’d kicked me out before I could even try to plead my case. That’s what I’d been so angry about, but I didn’t feel the need to tell Casey my every move.
“There’s something not right here,” she said. “I can feel it in my bones. I can see it every time you two look at each other. I don’t know what it is, but I hope it’s worth the lies you tell yourself every single day.”
She stormed out of my study and went upstairs to her room for the night. I thought about following and just telling her the truth. But the truth was, I wasn’t sure if it was worth it. If Ariane was as serious as she said she was—about us being nothing more than coworkers—there was no need to ever speak a word about what had happened between us.
I tossed and turned all night trying to get to sleep. I checked my phone a thousand times, to see if Ariane had reached out to say she’d changed her mind, but she hadn’t. I wanted to reach out to her and double-check, but I didn’t make a move either. Even though I was desperate to mend things, I didn’t want to look that way.
When I couldn’t get to sleep, I got up and did a few laps in the pool. Swimming always helped clear my head of the clutter. However, that night, being in the pool only brought on more confusion. I felt like I was going through a mid-life crisis or something.
Lucas was on my mind heavier than usual while I swam. I kept thinking about our relationship and how far gone it was. I hadn’t had a real conversation with my only son in months, and I wondered how long it would continue.
“Hey, Dad.” I called my dad when I was finished with the pool, just to see if he had any late-night advice for me.
“Hey, son. You're calling pretty late tonight. Everything okay?”
I let out a long sigh before I answered. Everything wasn't alright, but I really didn’t want to drop any more stress on my old man than he already had. So I bit my tongue and changed the subject to something more meaningful to the both of us.
“Yeah, just calling to check in with you. I couldn’t sleep tonight so I did a few laps in the pool, the way you used to.”
“Ahh,” he chuckled. “I remember those times. You know, I was the first Michael Phelps before there ever was one.”
Ariane
The following day at the office, I noticed the shift in Casey’s mood toward me. She was less patient and more standoffish. She didn’t come to my office that morning at all to say good morning—as she usually did—nor did she remind me of any upcoming events. Her reminder wasn’t really needed, because I had everything I needed on my iPad, but she was definitely different.
Logan wasn’t there at all that day. He had meetings back-to-back, so I didn’t expect him to be. But he didn’t even update the iPad with any new tasks. Which left me having to go over to Casey’s office and ask her for further direction.
“Hey, Casey. Good morning.”
“Morning,” she replied without even looking up from her desk.
I was taken aback for a moment by her reply, so I just kind of stood there in her doorway not knowing what to say. She still hadn’t looked up at me before she replied again. And that reply was just as annoyed as the first.
“Did you need something?”
“Oh, uh…” I chuckled, trying to hide my embarrassment. “There weren’t any new tasks on the iPad this morning. I was just wondering if there was anything that needed to be done, or if Logan forgot to add anything in today.”
She finally looked up from her paperwork and folded her hands together in front of her. There was a look of sternness on her face that I couldn’t read, but I knew she wasn’t a happy camper at all that morning.
“Did you reach out to your boss?” she asked. “If there isn’t anything updated for today, there probably isn’t anything that needs to be done today.”
She grew a slight smirk after every word. At first, I wanted to return that same energy—to let her know I could be just as feisty—but instead, I smiled and nodded. I thanked her for her time and proceeded back to my desk to wait for any new updates.
Throughout the day, I saw Casey in passing. I wasn’t as busy as I made myself look that afternoon; I just wanted to stick around in case anything came up. Then, it dawned on me. Maybe she was the one who’d come into my apartment and gone through my things.Oh my gosh, does she know?My palms started sweating but I tried to rationalize—if she knew, she would have already confronted me with it.
When lunchtime rolled around, I grew so sick of the tension between us that I took it upon myself to invite her to lunch. To my surprise, she agreed to go with me.
“Did I do something wrong” I asked, once we were seated and ordered.
Behind her Ray-Ban sunglasses, I could see a cold look in her eyes. But there was also an unsureness there as well. Like she didn’t know whether she wanted to be my friend or my enemy.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Do you feel like you did?”
I sat up straighter in my chair to give her the same cold shoulder she was giving me. I was over her attitude and over beating around the bush. If there was something that needed to be said or something that needed to be cat-fought out, I would much rather get it out of the way.
