“That sounds like a bad word to most people, but I’m relishing routine now. I love my class schedule, knowing how much money I’m making, having family dinners on Sundays.” She noticed he looked distressed. “Are you alright?”
“Janine, we need to talk,” he said. Denitra set their drinks on the table, gave Janine a worried look and walked away. Even she knew that “we need to talk” was never a good thing.
“Okay. You’re scaring me a little bit.”
“You know I adore you, right?”
“If you were going to break up with me, could you have not done it in public? Or were you afraid I’d punch you, so you figured it was safer in public?” Her face turned red, evidence of her Irish heritage betraying her.
“Janine, relax. I’m not breaking up with you,” he said in a loud whisper. She took in his words, trying to will her blood pressure to go back down to a normal level.
“You’re not?”
“No, and I never will now that I know you plan to punch me,” he said, chuckling.
She took in a deep breath and blew it out. Part of her was really bothered by how quickly she became upset at the idea of him breaking up. She didn’t want to depend on a man for her happiness, but that’s exactly how it felt in that moment. She would have to work on that about herself.
“So, what do we need to talk about then?”
He cleared his throat and took a long sip of his tea. “I, um…”
“Here ya go. Enjoy!” Denitra said, putting both of their sandwich baskets on the table. She glanced at Janine, obviously wondering if everything was okay. Janine smiled and nodded.
“Thanks,” William said as Denitra walked back inside.
She stared down at her food, dying of hunger but also too anxious to take a bite. “Will, come on. Don’t keep me in suspense.”
He sighed. “I had a meeting with my boss today. We’re opening a new office, and he wants me to head the whole thing up. I’ll hire the new employees, get the office space designed and built out, and I’ll be responsible for getting it up and running. There will be a VP there to help me get everything up and running, but then I’ll be on my own.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, William!” she said, smiling, as she finally picked up her sandwich and took a bite.
“Yeah, I mean it’s a great opportunity. I’ll get a thirty percent raise and a company car. They’re even offering me quarterly bonuses if I meet certain goals.”
She looked at him. He still wasn’t eating and was staring through her rather than at her. “Then why do you look like someone just stole your puppy?”
He put his face in his hands and groaned before looking up. “Because the new office is in Austin, Texas.”
Janine froze, her pita falling from her hands and back into the basket, a glop of chicken salad falling out. “What?”
“He said he’s been impressed with my work and the growth I’ve brought to the office. And even though it’s my choice, I got the feeling that if I say no, I won’t get any opportunities in the future.”
“But, it’s Texas. I mean, that’s so far away…”
“I know. He said that he also picked me because I’m not married, and I don’t have kids, so it would be easier for me to leave.”
Janine swallowed hard. “Is that true? Would it be easier?”
His face softened. “Of course not, Janine. Are you serious? I feel like I want to throw up. I had no idea this was happening.”
“When would you have to be there?”
“Next week.”
“Next week? That’s awfully quick!”
“I know. They’ve already rented an apartment near the new office out there.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say. How long would you be there?”
He let out a long breath. “At least a year.”
She sat with that information for a few moments. “So, are you… leaving?” She couldn’t help but ask him. Her heart had been broken so many times over the years that she just didn’t know if she could take it again.
Janine wanted him to say no, of course he wasn’t leaving her and his mother and all of his friends and their cool new relationship. She wanted him to laugh, shake his head, pull her into his arms and assure her he wasn’t going anywhere. But that wasn’t what happened at all.
“I don’t know yet.”
He didn’t know? What? Their whole relationship started flashing through her mind. Had she just been a fun hobby for him while he waited for his real life to start? Did she care more about him than he did about her? She suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.
“Okay,” was all she could think to say, and even that barely came out of her mouth. Right now, she wanted to go home, crawl into her bed and wait for Julie to come home later and feed her bowls of ice cream. Probably not the healthiest reaction.
The other part of her wanted to be proud of William, that he was doing so well at work that they were giving him this huge promotion. Maybe she just wasn’t that big of a person because she couldn’t summon the words to say that and actually mean it.
“This opportunity is what I’ve been working my whole career for. The clients we can sign in Austin would put the company in a great position, and maybe even give me a chance at becoming an owner.”
She reeled in her emotions as best she could. “That’s great, William. I’m very happy for you.”
He looked at her. “I didn’t say I was going.”
“You didn’t say you weren’t.” She crumpled up her napkin and tossed it on top of her food. “I’m not very hungry anymore, so I think I’m going to go.” She stood up and draped her messenger bag over her shoulder.
William stood up. “Janine, please don’t go…”
She smiled sadly. “I have to. Please.”
He sighed and nodded. “I never wanted to hurt you, Janine.”
She looked at him without saying anything and then turned toward her yoga studio.
Julie ran around her kitchen like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to finish the dinner she was cooking for Meg and Christian. She’d also bought some extra diapers and baby wipes at the store so she could help out as much as possible with little Vivi’s needs.
She adored her granddaughter. Now that she was gaining some weight, her cheeks were starting to fatten up a bit, just enough for Julie to give her a big, wet kiss every time she saw her.
As she pulled the meatloaf out of the oven, she tried not to fixate on her worries about Meg. Since she hadn’t experienced any kind of depression when her daughters were born, she hadn’t really been looking out for it. If that’s what Meg was going through, it made her feel like a terrible mother for not noticing sooner.
“Hey. What smells so good in here?” Colleen asked as she came home from work and trotted into the kitchen, her nose in the air like a bloodhound.
“I’m making dinner for Meg and Christian,” she said, covering the hot casserole dish with aluminum foil.
Colleen laughed. “So I get nothing unless I have a baby?”
Julie looked at her, not smiling. “First of all, not funny. And second of all, Christian asked me to.”