Page 43 of Happily Ever Laughter

I buy us both a hot chocolate, then we grab a table in the corner as far away from the other patrons as possible. I’m so relieved that she was free tonight. After working until eight, I’m both burnt out as well as freaked out. Thank goodness Kevin gave me tomorrow off to recover.

“Early relationship weirdness,” Diana says with a wry smile. “Tell me everything.”

I quickly share the condensed version of the past week, up until last night.

“It sounds like he absolutely adores you,” Diana says. “But not putting your name on a project seems – odd.”

“Sketchy, right?” I drink the last of the hot chocolate, hoping that the sugar will speed up my mental processes. “Felix is so detailed. He doesn’t make mistakes. He has a whole system in place for this kind of thing. A checklist. So I can’t help but think that he’s sort of swept my work under his company’s name, as if I was just working for him.”

“Would that be so bad?” Diana asks. Then she holds up her hands. “I mean, it’s strange, but I have to ask.”

Nodding to myself, I consider it. Diana has always been the best at seeing things from all angles.

“If he told me about it in advance, I would have been able to wrap my head around it. But not mentioning it at all doesn’t feel right.”

“I think it’s amplified because you’re still nervous about your relationship,” she says gently. “Tanis, you are completely head over heels in love with him already. That part is clear as a bell. Is there any chance that you were hoping that everything would be absolutely perfect? And that now something has gone wrong, it’s bothering you more because deep down you’re scared as hell?”

Even hearing that slight curse coming from Diana’s lips was a bit jarring.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Okay, tell me this: when you pictured yourself with your dream man someday, did you picture someone like Felix?”

I shake my head, then tuck my messy hair back behind my ears. “No. I mean, I’ve always hoped that I would meet a great guy someday, but I didn’t really put a lot of faith in it actually happening. I sort of always assumed I’d end up alone.”

“Oh, sweetheart, why?”

“Because people have always left me alone.” Staring down into my empty mug, I feel strangely hollow. “I guess because I don’t feel like I have an identity yet,” I say, hoping that I’m making sense. “I’ve always wanted to be an artist, and create things for other people to enjoy. Since I’ve never really been able to do that with any success, I’m not an artist, so…”

“You’re not a real person yet.” Diane nods. “You’re wrong, and it’s completely illogical, but I can follow that train of thought. You’re still waiting for something.”

“Something that I wasn’t sure would ever happen,” I admit.

She nods, tapping her mug with her finger as she thinks. “I think your name attached to that show was the symbol that your new life is beginning,” she says carefully. “It’s not just a credit. It’s an emotional beacon. Is the sign that your life has turned a corner, and everything is going to be better now.”

I roll my eyes with a loud exhale. “That sounds like the truth but it’s also so silly.”

Diane laughs lightly, patting my arm. “Look, emotions

are childish. They really are. Especially when you’re juggling a bunch of brand new things at once.”

She looks at me very closely. “Like love. I saw how you two look at each other. You’re already a done deal.”

“But it’s too fast.”

Diana laughs so loudly it makes me jump. “Tanis, I fell in love in a flash. It was ridiculous and crazy and messed up. The left and right side of my brain were at war. But when it comes to love, emotion beats logic. Like it or not.”

“So you don’t think I should be angry with him?”

Her nose crinkles as her head tilts from side to side. “I don’t know. I guess you’ll need to find out what happened. Whether he just made assumptions, or he just wanted everything to be easy to get the job done. Or maybe he thought you were so shy that you didn’t want your name on it.”

I pin her with a look, raising my eyebrow.

She shrugs with a giggle. “Hey, who knows what he might have been thinking. He could have just plain forgotten. You’re going to have to talk to him about it.”

My shoulders slump as my body practically turns in on itself.

“You don’t have to do it immediately,” Diana says quickly. “You can always tell him that you need a couple of days of space. Take a little time, chill out and shake off the stress of this week. Read next Wednesday’s book.”

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