Page 81 of The Lessons

My mouth bobbed open a little “Cathy likes me?” Cathy was so hard to read that I had a tough time believing him.

“Heck, yeah. Everyone does.”

I felt marginally better, although I was still in shock. Maybe this female friend thing was overrated. “I can’t believe Paulina would do something like that.”

“Welcome to the real world, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Well, anyway, look, Nat, I owe you an apology. I’m really sorry I weirded out on you. I guess—I mean, I guess I’m just used to being the man-whore in a relationship. Seeing those photos, and then what Ryan told me…it was information overload, and I freaked out. Listen, I’m sorry I doubted you.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it over the phone.

“Natalie, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

His tone was apologetic, and I wondered what possible other blow I was about to suffer.

“I’ve been offered a position at MM Social in Los Angeles, and I accepted. They just announced it this morning. I know you weren’t at work, and I wanted to make sure you heard it from me.”

I went quiet. I knew I should have been disappointed or something, but I wasn’t. In fact, I was totally okay, which made me feel like a terrible person. Brad wasn’t the one. He’d never be the one. Even worse, my mind skipped right to the opposite: Brad was leaving, so now he wouldn’t be living with Ryan anymore. I was such an asshole, going right to that, but…it was the truth.

When I failed to reply, Brad cut in. “So, I’ll be moving in two weeks.”

I found my words. “Wow. That’s really fast.”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“Natalie?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really sorry things didn’t work out between the two of us. It’s too bad. We could have been good.”

I exhaled, feeling relief. “Thanks, Brad. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

“If you ever find yourself in L.A.—”

“I’m going to see you at work soon, though, right?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so. Cathy wants you back ASAP. Something about a presentation?”

I groaned. “Back to the grind. Well, I’ll call her back later. I’m kind of enjoying this administrative leave, you know, now that you’ve valiantly restored my reputation and all.”

“Ha, good. Make her wait for it. You practically own that department anyway. Enjoy the rest of your day off. Do something nice and girlie for yourself.”

“Like buy a strawberry frappe?” I quipped. My sense of humor was back, now that I knew my life was no longer over. I heard the front door open, and I immediately stiffened.

“Ha ha. I was thinking more like a massage or a pillow fight.”

“Pillow fight?” I asked, distracted.

“With Jessica from Finance. Give me a call if that happens, though. I’d like to watch.”

I groaned again. “Pig.” I heard footsteps come down the hall toward the bedroom. I was on the phone with Brad, so that meant it could only be one person.

“Pig? So cruel, Natalie.” I could tell he was smiling over the phone, “Well, this pig’s got to get back to saving the world, one IP address at a time. I’ll see you tomorrow?” There was a soft knock at the door, and then Ryan poked his head in.

---