Page 25 of Strictly Business

“I’m not laughing,” he says, not even trying to hide the fact that he is indeed laughing. I’m so glad he finds my frustration amusing. “Look, you’re not supposed to be working for him, but with him.”

I scoff, “Hard to work with someone when they won’t even show up. How will he run a successful business if he isn’t there?”

“Pot, meet kettle.”

“Just shut up and agree with me, would you? I didn’t call you for you to be the voice of reason. If I wanted that I would have called Josh or Nina. You know who I should’ve called? Nick. He would agree with me.”

“I’m stating facts here. You’re being childish, Mic. Can’t you suck it up and get along with him long enough to help Nina out?”

“That’s what I’ve been doing.”

He hums in a way that says, Yeah, mhmm, sure.

“Well, if we’re stating facts. How about you start by sharing the facts of your trip to France?” The other end goes silent. “Hello?”

A soft sigh.

Oh no, that can’t be good.

“She said no.”

“What do you mean, she said no?” It comes out a lot louder than I meant for it to. How could Anna possibly say no? They live together! They go on vacations together, they have a dog… They’re basically already married.

“She isn’t ready, doesn’t know if she ever will be.”

Ouch.

“I want to be married, Mic,” he sighs. “I want the house, the dog, the car full of kids… But, I want it with her.”

“It’s only a piece of paper, Alex.”

“Says the girl who has dreamed about being married since she was like five.” Yeah, look how that turned out. “It sucks, but I’d rather know now than in five years.”

“You gonna be okay?”

“Eventually, but right now, I’m just taking everything day by day. She moved out on Sunday. It doesn’t feel right being here without her.”

“I’m so sorry, Alex.”

He changes the subject to me. “Have you and David decided what you’re going to do? I mean, you can’t keep living in two different cities!”

“Sure, we can.”

“Not happily. I’m surprised you haven’t divorced his ass by now, honestly. This is like the opposite of what you wanted.”

I almost tell him. Almost let it all tumble out, but the words get caught in my throat. I can’t do it. Saying it makes it real and I’m not ready for that yet.

“Maybe this is a sign you’re not meant to be in New York.”

Maybe.

Chapter Eleven

MICHAELA

I HATE THAT DAVID and I have reached the point of having to communicate through lawyers. I mean, we were together for almost four years, shouldn’t we be able to handle something as simple as a divorce? I mean, we’re splitting amicably, for the most part. There’s just the matter of the ring…and the condo… “Where’s your ring?” Mom asked when I was home. She continued to glance down at my left hand where the ring finger lay bare.

“Oh, it’s at the jeweler.” The lie came out way too fast. I hated that I had to lie to her, but I couldn’t admit my marriage of less than a year had failed. She and Dad had been married for over forty years! She would never understand. Not to mention, there was still a small amount of hope we could fix things.

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