“Thank you.” Is it bad I’m wondering if it’s poisoned? “Yes, it’s my favorite.”
She takes a sip of whatever is in her cup, and eyes me over the rim. Dread churns in my stomach while I blow on the hot liquid in my hand and wait for her to tell me why she wanted to talk today. When I responded and asked what was up, she vaguely said it was “something important,” so I have no idea if this is a confrontation or a plea for me to help her get Austin back.
Neither option is appealing.
The fact that I’m sitting across from her golden shoulders is a testament to my growth. In the past I would have rather done a hundred burpees than face her, but I guess I am growing up. Getting up at the crack of dawn while Austin still slept and sneaking out to meet her seemed like the right thing to do. Well. It did until I thought of it like that.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” I prod when she doesn’t divulge the reason we’re here.
“Oh, yes. Well, I just wanted to do this face-to-face.” She sets her cup down, still a master at prolonging the agony. “I could’ve done this over the phone, but I felt we needed to do this in person.”
Dear God, is she about to tell me we need to see other people?
“You’re killing me here,” I say. “Put me out of my misery?”
She laughs and rests her elbows on the table. “Okay, so…I need your help.”
Oh, no. She wants Austin back, and this is about to get really awkward. “With what?”
“You’re never going to believe this. Never in a million years.”
“Just tell me.”
“So, you know when I said I had a date the day I picked up the box?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Well, it was with Finn.”
My head snaps back. “What? I saw him last fall, and I thought he was engaged?”
She rolls her eyes. “He was, but it didn’t last long. I guess she broke it off with him, because she couldn’t handle the healthy lifestyle.”
“Ah. And what do you need my help with?”
“I just wanted some insider information. I’m meeting the parents next weekend, and I like to be prepared.” She trails a nail around the rim of her cup. “I know you met them before your breakup. Austin didn’t really tell me what happened other than you broke up, but I figured it must’ve not gone well and I want to avoid the same mistakes.”
This is a lot to digest, and so not what I expected. “So you two are serious?”
She shrugs. “We’ve just really clicked with all the time we spent together working on the PR for SuperFit. And we have great workouts together, and now we’re both bonding over our breakups.”
“I won’t lie and say I’m not shocked. But it makes a certain amount of sense.” A large amount, actually. “I’m glad you’re happy.”
She studies me for a moment. “I know Austin has a thing for you. He told me.”
“Oh.”
“It’s okay. I’m not the type to dwell on those sorts of things. I’m a forward-facing woman, and honestly, I think Finn better suits me and my goals. Isn’t it funny how things work out for the better?”
She goes on to tell me the long version of the story about how she tried to fight her feelings for Finn while she was away all that time doing SuperFit things, trying desperately to convince herself that moving in was what would fix things, but when Austin broke up with her after catching the bouquet at Charlotte’s wedding, she felt it was a sign straight from the heavens. I can’t do anything but listen with fascination that she’s so enamored with someone I found to be so self-centered. Different strokes, I guess?
“So help a girl out? Share your secrets.”
Lucy may have been my nemesis, but she also attempted to help me in her own way, so now it’s my turn to return the favor. “Do you bowl?”
She tilts her head. “No, why?”
“Did he tell you about his family?”
“Not a lot. Just that he thinks his dad will love me but his stepmom is a tougher sell.”
Well, at least he forewarned her about Stepmommy Dearest. As my final atonement, I gift her my knowledge about Finn and his family. Her mouth falls open when I get to the breakup.
“He’s the heir to the SuperFit gyms?”
I nod. “Yep.”
“I can understand why they have to protect their fortune. Must be so hard to weed out the gold diggers.” I guess that’s one way to look at it. “Not to brag, but I’m athletically inclined so I don’t think there will be any issues there.”
“It’s been a year since I bowled myself into a breakup with him, so who knows, maybe they’ve moved onto a new test.”
Instead of being horrified, she’s intrigued and starry-eyed. “I love challenges. I can’t thank you enough for the tip-off.” She picks up her purse. “Sorry to run off, but I’m meeting Finn to look at properties. He’s in this godawful tiny house, and I just can’t handle it.”
She gives me a half-hug and flounces away, and on the drive home, my shoulders feel a bit lighter that I got that closure with my guilt over her. And that she had her own closure, whether with the weird one-sided friendship with me or with her sign from the universe about Austin. Regardless, I think her insular kind of affection may have found it’s own tiny—er, giant home in Finn’s life.
When I arrive home, the house is filled with the scrumptious scent of blueberries. I find Austin in the kitchen, whisking something in a stainless steel bowl.
“Hope you’re hungry,” he says. “I made pancakes with homemade whipped cream.”
“Starved,” I say. Interesting choice of flavors, too.
He runs his finger along the whisk, collecting the yummy goodness from the metal, and holds it out to me. “Tell me how it tastes.”
Not one to turn down his offering, I move closer and suck his finger into my mouth.
“Oops,” he says, watching me. “That was probably a mistake on my part, because now I want to feed you the whole bowl with my fingers.”
The truth is, I’d let him, but I step away. “It’s delicious.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him adjust himself before he dollops the cream on top of pancakes drizzled with blueberry compote.
We move to the table with our plates, and once we’re seated he says, “I’ve been thinking, and there’s one thing we didn’t discuss yesterday—your career.”
“Yeah.” I push my fork through the blueberries.
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know anymore. It’s a dream job, something I’d given up any hope of ever achieving. And then it’s handed to me, at the worst possible time.”
“Do you see yourself in that job? I can’t imagine not being a chef.”
“I guess I’ve seen myself in that job for so long, I’d stopped thinking it could be anything more than a dream. If I took it, I would earn so much more money. I might even be able to buy a house. Put money away in savings. Finally be an adult like the kind in normal Life and not the Crisis Edition.”
He cuts into his pancakes and takes a bite, chewing for a very long time. “It’s a nice city,” he finally says. “You’d like it there, I think. I’d miss you, obviously, but I think you’d like it.”