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“He’s gone?” I ask, and she bobs her head, her tears starting to dry up.
“He left yesterday.” She pulls a compact mirror out of her travel bag and starts reapplying some make-up. “He said he’d have his things shipped later.”
“How do you feel about all of this?”
She snaps her mirror shut and hesitates. “I’m glad he’s gone. And if we are being honest, he’s easily the worst sex I’ve ever had. I think I just got caught up in the fact he looks exactly like -”
I know this one!
“Charlie Hunnam!” We say at the same time and laugh.
“Exactly,” she smiles, looking more like herself. “Thank you.”
I am taken aback. Even when I helped her acclimate to Seattle when she first moved here, she never thanked me. “For what?”
“Even after Derek and I started dating, you were never mean to me. And I’ve never heard you bad mouthing me to anyone at work.” She shrinks back but it is such a small movement, I’m not sure if that’s even what I saw. “I don’t think I would have been nice if our roles were reverse.”
“To be fair,” I flash my best smile her way and realize it is the first time I’ve felt decent since leaving Theo in Hawaii. “I definitely flamed you to hell and back with my friends.”
Mindy giggles and some color flushes her cheeks. “I hope we can be friends now that Derek is gone. Or at least,” she winks, “not kill each other at work.”
“If nothing else, we’re bonded for life.” I grab a pack of M&M’s, tear it open and pop chocolaty goodness in my mouth, offering her some. “We both dated the poor man’s version of Charlie Hunnam.”
“And survived,” she accepts the chocolate and crunches them between her back teeth.
“And survived.” I agree with a nod.
And Mindy’s absolutely correct. We survived Derek Sterling. But in thinking of Derek, my mind wanders back to Theo, and I am left wondering if I will survive leaving him. Or if I will be that eighty-year-old woman Tommy was describing who regrets letting my fear of being hurt keep me alone.
“You should call him.” Mindy slices through my thoughts. “The guy from Hawaii. You should give him a call.”
“Maybe I will.” But I know I probably won’t.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I come home to an empty and quiet apartment and my heart sinks. It is the first time since returning from Hawaii that Eve and Tommy aren’t here to keep me company, to keep me distracted.
I slither around the kitchen counter and trot over to the whiteboard on the fridge. Eve and Tommy have both left me messages.
“Kit Kat,” Eve’s handwriting is neat and looks like a computer font. “Flying to Denver, will be back tomorrow to get ready for the NYE party. And yes, you’re going!”
“I ate the rest of your Oreo’s.” Tommy’s writing on the other hand looks more like a child’s than a grown man. “I’ll pick some up on my way home tonight. Out with Lauren.”
I chuckle and shake my head. I change out of my tight uniform; it must be shrinking in the wash because it can’t be because of all my snacking. I slip into a giant Seahawks t-shirt that I stole from Tommy a few months ago, and some Christmas pajama pants.
Jumping over the top of the couch, since Eve isn’t here to fuss at me for it, I slide down to a seated position and smile when I realize I don’t have to fight anyone for the remote. I surf my options on Netflix, crinkling my nose the further I get down the lists. By the time I settle on reruns ofThe Office, I have eaten my entire bowl of popcorn.
Hell. I shake my head. At this rate, I will gain twenty pounds by next week and my uniform definitely won’t fit.
I run to the kitchen to dump the extra kernels that didn’t pop in the trash and grab a water bottle instead of a soda, because I have to start making healthy choices sometime. I hear an unexpected knock on the front door.
I freeze. No one visits us except the delivery man and Lauren. I know Lauren is with Tommy and unless I have had a major breakdown, I don’t remember ordering any takeout.
My fingers wrap around the wooden handle of the bat we keep on top of the fridge to use as protection against potential intruders. I tip-toe to the door, ready to swing on anyone who might try to break the door down and rob or murder me.
Hell. I roll my eyes and look Heavenward. Eve and those stupid serial killer shows.
I peek through the peephole, avoiding the yellowFriendspicture frame, and shoot back from the door as if it stung me. I must be imagining things. I pinch my forearm and wince.
