Page 68 of Is This for Real?
He looks up, and I smile affectionately at him.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about what you said last year,” he says.
I freeze. I don’t want to rehash this. He runs his hand through his curly hair. That signature move of his used to keep me awake at nights when we were in high school.
“I made a mistake,” he says. “I feel more for you than I thought. I keep thinking back to you saying so frankly, ‘I love you.’ And—”
I put my hand out to stop him. “I’m happy with Rory.”
And as I say that, I know it’s true, even if, at the moment I said it, I thought I was in a relationship with Rory. It’s just a very complicated relationship.
He looks down. “Yes, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”
“It’s the big gesture of romance novels,” I say. “There’s a reason why they work. Because even when they don’t work, there’s something about the laying it all bare that lasts. And creates a certain fondness.” Not that Jamie was even willing to lay it all bare here. “I feel more for you than I thought” isn’t much. Lame, really. I shake my head.
He nods. “I spoke out of turn. I’ll get back to widgets.”
I don’t want it to be awkward between us. “Why do they use the term widget?” I ask. “They have to know that that brings back painful memories of math exams. If Penelope buys ten widgets and four plug-ins, and Jamie adds ten plug-ins, how many updates will Penelope have to monitor?”
“I’m thinking that for coders, those memories are not painful.” Jamie smiles. “Regardless, I’ve put it all on automatic updates.”
“Brilliant.”
“Don’t forget to check the Yoast SEO of your content before you post. Here, click it. It’s ready.”
I hit publish. “A Yoast to me. My website is live.”
He laughs. It feels like old times, and I’m happy about that.
The doorbell buzzes.
“That’s Rory.” I run to buzz him in.
I jog down to meet Rory on the stairs.
“Trilby just sent me comments onFake Dating Follyand it’s mind-blowing!” I say.
“She liked it?” He hugs me hello. He smells of cold autumn air.
“No, she wrote that the first two sentences were lovely and then I lost the reader. But she showed me what I’m doing wrong. I finally understand what I need to do to make it right.” I do a little dance at the top of the stairs around him. “I get it now.”
He laughs and holds up the bag of takeout burritos. “So, we can celebrate tonight, and I can feel less guilty about taking you away from writing to see this ghost tour?”
“Yes, definitely. And my website is done. Jamie just finished it. We just pushed it live.”
We enter the living room and cross over to my bedroom.
“Hey, Rory, good to see you.” Jamie stands and grabs his bag from the floor. “I’ll be going, then. I’m having dinner with my mom. Who, by the way, is super impressed with your miniatures business. How did you accomplish that?”
“I sent her my sales/expenses statement for October,” I say. “Zelda suggested that idea.”
Jamie nods. “It worked.”
“She didn’t say anything to me,” I say.
Jamie moves back as Rory admires my website sufficiently. I cross off “build website” on the to-do list on my bulletin board. It feels so good.
Jamie leaves the room, and I follow him, Rory behind me.
