Page 57 of We Met Like This
A fry was halfway to his mouth when a questioning look took over his face. “I said that?”
I leveled him with a stare. “Yes, you said that, earlier. And since nothing can be more embarrassing than that”—I pointed at the sleeping screen of his phone sitting on the table—“you have to tell me what you meant.”
He seemed to struggle with himself for several minutes but eventually said, “The whole thing yesterday reminded me of how I found out my fiancée was cheating on me. We were sitting in a café and her ex came in and her face went pale because apparently he’d given her some sort of ultimatum abouttelling me or he would. He marched up to our table, much like your boss yesterday, and demanded to speak to her. And she asked me to give her just one minute.”
“Like I did yesterday.”
“Yes, like you did. And it…”
“Triggered you?”
“A little. It shouldn’t have… but it did.” He wadded up the wrapper of his finished burger.
“I get it. I’m sorry. Are she and her ex still together?”
He nodded slowly. “It’s not the first time I’ve been cheated on either.”
“Oh yeah? When was the first time?” I reached into the bag, pulled out another burger, and put it on the table in front of him.
“In college. Also, I can’t eat another one.”
“I believe in you.” I nudged the burger closer to him. “Were you two serious?”
“Yes. We were good friends for about six months then dated for about six months.”
“Shit. Sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, but I obviously still have trust issues.”
“What?” I asked in faux shock. “There’s a valid reason why you’re single?”
He gave a breathy laugh. “Yes. I overthink everything. What about you? Do you have a valid reason for being single?”
“Apparently, Iunderthinkeverything, lead with my feelings, and end up in terrible relationships. You met the main one yesterday. My emotionally unavailable and completely wrong-for-me boss, who has been keeping me on the hook for the last several years in more ways than one. And now my lifeis…” I waved my arm around to indicate the mess my life had become.
“Right,” he said.
I picked up a fry that was already half-soggy. “Have you ever cheated on anyone?”
“No. You?” he asked.
“No. But I’ve turned into a liar, I guess.”
“You haven’t told your sister you didn’t really get promoted?”
“No. And now she told my mom. So now I need to tell both of them. A conversation I’m not looking forward to.”
“Maybe you texted her. You seemed to be sending all sorts of messages last night.”
“I hope not. Like I said, drunk Margot is not exactly tactful.” I tapped my phone to life. “By the way, you will delete that voicemail.”
“Never,” he said.
I clicked on my text app and scanned for my sister’s name. Before I could find it, I was stopped cold by Rebecca’s name. She never texted me. We only talked in the office or over the office line when her assistant was out.
Congrats on taking some steps forward, she said.Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.
I had actually answered her with the words:I quit. Rob is an asshat.
