Page 111 of The Unhinged Christmas of a Cat Lady
I grin into my glass. “Solid philosophical inquiry, that.”
Theo reappears with two mugs in hand. “Ivy took one look and told me to go babysit my idiot brothers before one of them ends up in A&E and the other forgets he has a flight.”
Geoff looks vaguely offended. “I’d never forget a flight.”
“You literally just thought it was my flight. And can I remind you of the one time when you booked a city break to Vienna and went to Venice by accident.”
“Different vibes, same vowel sounds,” Geoff mutters.
I take the coffee Theo hands me. It smells like salvation and regret. “Cheers. Always good to be guilt-tripped into caffeination.”
“You’re welcome.” He slumps down on the arm of the sofa. “I left a hot woman in my bed for this, by the way.”
Geoff raises his mug. “A moment of silence for Theo’s sex life, sacrificed on the altar of family dysfunction.”
Theo rolls his eyes and mutters into his coffee, “Two drunken sods. Absolutely pathetic.”
“Love you too,” I say.
He takes another sip, looks at me over the rim of the mug like a disapproving therapist. “Right. When one of you is sober enough to string a sentence together, you can tell me what brought on the pity party.”
Geoff points at me. “Him. He’s the one with the tragic love life. I’m just here for the chips.”
I groan and rub my hand over my face. “Fine. Short version.”
Theo raises his eyebrows. “Is there a short version?”
“I’m attempting emotional brevity,” I say, then nod toward the whisky bottle. “That was the warm-up act.”
He waits, expression unreadable.
“She’s gone to Cornwall,” I say, slower now. “With her ex. For Christmas. To see if there’s anything left worth salvaging, for SJ’s sake. She told me she didn’t want to keep seeing me while she was still figuring it out.”
Theo’s quiet for a moment before recapping my misery, “So… she ended things.”
I nod. “Just for now, apparently. Though what that even means, I’ve no idea. Could be a month. Could be forever. I just—”
I stop, shrug.
“I didn’t expect to care this much. Not this soon. But I do.”
Geoff lets out a soft, sympathetic noise and mumbles, “He’s a goner.”
Theo leans back, exhales. “Alright. Now it makes sense why you were quoting whisky monks.”
“I thought it was poetic,” I mutter.
“It wasn’t. It was deeply concerning.”
I lift the coffee mug and take a long sip. It’s hot and bitter and nowhere near strong enough to fix this.
Theo watches me for a moment longer. “And do you want her to come back?”
I look up. “Of course I do… but only if she wants to. Properly. Not just because it’s easy or I’m nearby. I don’t want to be the consolation prize.”
Theo raises an eyebrow. “Did you tell her that?”
I nod, slowly. “Yeah. I told her to take her time. That I get it. Even if it’s killing me. Said I’d rather she work it out properly than end up with me and always wonder what if.”
