Page 26 of Beyond our Forever

Some say that one should look at what people do, not just what comes out of their mouth.

Acta, non verba. Facts and not words.

But the question still remains, who sent them?

“I should go,” he announces. “My children must be wondering where I went.”

“You didn’t tell me how old they are. Mine are almost teenagers.”

“Ian, the oldest just turned seventeen and the youngest will be fifteen in December.”

“They’re both older than mine, but hopefully soon they’ll make friends.”

“I hope so too.”

We have reached the door, and as I open it, I extend my hand, hoping to say goodbye in a cordial way while keeping an appropriate distance. However, Mikel surprises me by kissing me on the hand before leaving.

Barely five minutes have passed, and I’m in the kitchen washing the cups we just used, when my phone rings and guess whose name appears on the screen.

“Well,” I say. “I’m surprised it took you so long.”

“Who was just at your house?” Emilia demands to know. “It couldn’t have been Bruce unless he traded his car. The one I saw parked was a brand new Lexus. And it seemed like the most expensive model, just so you know.”

Well, what does that matter to me?

“Tell me who it was, Thia, you can’t leave me in suspense like this.”

“It wasn’t Bruce.” Don’t even think I’m going to let her know everything just like that, she deserves to suffer a little, for being such a gossip.

“Don’t make me beg,” she cries. “Tell me, was he someone handsome?”

“You could say that,” I admit, knowing that that’s an understatement. Mikel is extremely handsome, and knowing my friend, when she finds out that he is also available, she will devise a strategy.

“Ilythia Leighton,” she squeaks. “Tell me who was in your house and the reason for the visit.”

“Mikel Kroph, the new neighbor, who just moved…”

“To the Trubber house,” she ends at the same time as me. “Everyone was talking about it at the club today. It’s public knowledge, so I don’t know why you hadn’t heard about it before.”

“Because I haven’t been to the club in years, and gossip is a waste of time. I have more than enough on my plate right now.”

My friend makes a noise that lets me know she finds my comment exasperating, I can almost see her rolling her eyes from here.

“You’re boring.”

“You already got the scoop, so call someone else to share it with. I need to start fixing dinner, I have to get the kids in a while and with the visit I’m already behind.”

“Noooooooooo!” she shrieks. “Don’t you dare hang up on me, Ilythia, you have to tell me everything! What was he like? Does he live with his wife? Does he have children? What does he do for a living?”

I decide I might as well tell her what just happened, otherwise knowing her as well as I do, it won’t take more than ten minutes for her to arrive on my doorstep determined to drag the information out of me.

“I definitely have to go to La Pastisserie,” she concludes. “If you admit the man is handsome then he must be a fucking Adonis. Your ex is very good-looking, but something tells me that this Mikel is sex on a stick. Do you think he’s well-endowed?”

“How the hell would I know about that, Emilia?” This is too much, I’ve reached my limit. “I’m going to hang up, we’ll talk later.”

I don’t give her a chance to answer. I end the call with the excuse of dinner, which is what I would normally do, but now all I want is to sit down and process everything that has happened so far today with a cool head, if that’s possible.

???

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