Page 137 of Love Is an Art
“There, see? Intellectually, he knows. But sometimes what we know intellectually doesn’t always translate into emotions.” She comes over and hugs me.
“What happened with you and Patrick?” I ask.
Iris’s shoulders slump. “He’s touring this summer, so he made me this schedule of where he’ll be every weekend so I can fly out to see him, saying he’d pay half. He even researched flights.” She looks at me, her eyes sad. “But I can’t do that. I often have to work weekends. And then he was upset that I always put my work first.”
“But this is his work. That’s like Wyatt.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to see him for three months. It’s a long time,” Iris says. “But he’s also right that I accepted that he’d be gone for three months. I didn’t even think to research flights home for him in between tour stops.”
I put my arm around Iris. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.”
We hug each other. Iris says that we should get a good night of sleep, and everything will look better in the morning. I make Miranda’s bed for Iris and then retire to my own room.
I feel a bit better about Zeke. I was too abrupt to break it off. But I’m still not sure about someone who doubts me. I understand rationally what Iris said, but emotionally … I’m still upset. I toss and turn. It’s lucky tomorrow is Saturday, even if I do have to snare Jurgen.
I can’t get out of bed. Some more sleep, and then I’ll rally to meet Scammer Guy.
Miranda knocks and opens the sliding door.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I’ll get up soon and get ready to meet Jurgen.”
“You don’t have to meet him. I talked to those two other women Iris found, and he pulled the same scam on one of them so she will look for her copy of the check. But it would be cool to get a video of Jurgen handing you the fraudulent check and to confirm the handwriting matches. If you’re up for it. But no pressure.” Miranda sits on my bed. “Do you want to talk about what happened with Zeke?”
I pull my comforter up to my chin. “No.” But then I sit up. “You can’t begin a relationship based on a lie. It was never going to work.”
“That’s absurd, and you know it,” Miranda says. “Nothing is predetermined. People make mistakes all the time. What matters is what happens next. You admitted you made a mistake and vowed to do better. You’re usually up front, so he should be able to move past this.”
“He can’t. Maybe if his ex hadn’t lied to him. But he actually thought I was cheating with Wyatt.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“But I also made a mistake.” My voice chokes up. “I shouldn’t have said we were done because he had a second of doubt. I had a second of doubt about him with Paisley, also because of Wyatt leaving me.”
Then again, should either of us have even a second of doubt?
Miranda sits on the bed and pulls me into a big hug. “You have to give yourself some leeway too. Yesterday was a rough day for you.”
“It was certainly a lot. But I know love means giving second chances … and third chances. It’s a constant work in progress.” I push back my hair. “In a way, Tom did me a favor. It’s better I told the partnership before the bonus, anyway.”
“But the bonus is for past work.”
“Fundamentally, it’s a retention incentive. And it’s better I leave the law firm on good terms. Especially because I want to keep the door open so I can recruit lawyers to help me on pro bono cases. I can live with my parents. I’ll survive.”
“We’ll figure something out so you don’t have to live with your parents,” Miranda says. “And I don’t have to live with a different roommate. I did look for studio space near William's apartment.”
I hug Miranda. I feel weepy.
“I have to tell Zeke I don’t want to break up. But he left like he accepted it,” I say.
The tears flow. Miranda pats my back.
“I really liked him,” I whisper.
More than that … I love him.
