Page 67 of Why Not Now?

I park in the back and as I’m getting out of the car, Theresa calls out to me. I send Lacey inside and go over to the fence.

“Hey, Theresa, what’s up?”

“New car?” she asks.

I look over my shoulder at Derek’s car. “Oh. No. Mine died. I’m borrowing a friend’s.”

Friend? Boyfriend? There hadn’t been time during the party to really talk about what exactly I was agreeing to. We’re more than friends-with-benefits, but how much more?

“That’s nice of your friend. So, Derek is back. That’s… great.”

I return my attention to Theresa. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing. How did you guys meet up again?”

I take a breath. “Remember I mentioned the wedding photography I’m doing?”

She nods.

“My boss signed a contract with Blue Vista, a venue downtown. Derek is part owner.”

She stares at me, mouth hanging open. “Heownsa wedding venue?”

“Him and his three friends.”

“Huh. I never would have thought that of him.”

I’m annoyed on Derek’s behalf. “He’s always been very driven, Theresa. I’m not surprised at all that he’s successful.”

“Are you dating him again?”

I shift from foot to foot. This is exactly the question I was just asking myself. Now that Theresa is asking, I’m suddenly sure of the answer.

“Yes. I am.”

She tuts. “Aren’t you the same woman who has said over and over that you don’t have time for relationships? That you’re fine with casual hook ups because they’re fun, but you don’t want to get into anything serious? If you’ll recall, I’ve been hoping you’d find someone you could settle down with, but this guy? He’s already broken your heart once, Ava. What’s stopping him from doing it again? And the work connection is simply dangerous.”

I want to argue with her that the original breakup had been a misunderstanding brought on by grief and us being too young to really know better. Or that he would never do anything to jeopardize my job. But Theresa will simply argue back. In the years I’ve known her, I don’t remember a single time when she’s changed her mind on something.

“I’ll be careful, Theresa. I’ve got to go to bed. I work in the morning.”

“Right. Just remember what I said. If things go bad, he could tell your boss to fire you.”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

She lifts her eyebrows in an expression of disbelief. I don’t say anymore. Inside, I say goodnight to Lacey and toss and turn all night, thinking about Derek and Theresa and what each of them had said.

The next day, I’m practically a zombie while Lacey and I eat breakfast. I apologize to her because it seems like she wants to talk about something.

“Can we talk tonight after work?” I ask her. “I didn’t sleep well and my head’s not all here.”

“Sure,” she says with a smile. “Tonight is fine.”

Before I leave, I text Bethany and ask if she can meet me later at the Starbucks by English Bay, one block up from Blue Vista. She agrees and when I’m finished work, my back aching from scrubbing toilets and vacuuming, my head pounding from the lack of sleep, I sit across from her with a venti caramel brulée latte.

“What’s going on, Ava?” she asks, sipping her own peppermint mocha.

“Derek and I talked last night,” I say. “It turns out, he remembers our breakup a little differently than I do.”

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