✽✽✽
“So, she just up and left?” Tyler, Tristan's twin, asked after Tristan told him what had happened. “Fuck, that’s why I like being single.”
Tristan looked at his brother and smiled grimly. “Yep. I thought she was my soulmate. We would get married, have a couple of gold-haired kids, live a fantastic life. Sucks to be me, I guess."
“Have you heard from her since?”
“Nope. All her stuff is gone. She quit her job. I spoke to some of her colleagues; they knew nothing. She just walked in that morning, told her boss she was done, cleaned out her desk, and left," Tristan said, leaning against the counter of the staff lounge. “She didn’t even say goodbye to anyone. Including Lisa, her best friend.”
“Awww, Lisa. Now there is a woman. Cute, petite, and shy with a touch of boldness to her," Tyler said, grinning. “Why don’t you go after her?”
“Lisa? Nahhhh. She’s like a sister to me. She knows more about me than I do,” Tristan laughed. “I’m sure Heather shared a few of our secrets in the bedroom with her too. You know the way girls talk.”
Tyler laughed. “You gotta keep things discreet there, bro. Anyways, I’m off to shoot a couple of houses then spend the afternoon in front of the computer. Lucas wants the pics up and out by tomorrow.”
Tristan nodded as he watched his brother walk out the door. Lisa? He could never think of Lisa in that way. She was Lisa, his friend, and confidant. His shoulder to cry on when he needed it. He honestly didn’t even know if Lisa was seeing anyone. Maybe the next time he saw her, he'd ask her. He certainly didn’t want to intrude if she was.
✽✽✽
Lisa smiled across the table at her date. Connor Binden was a manager at the bank she went to, and after months of making small talk whenever she went in, he had finally got up the nerve to ask her out for coffee. She had always found it strange that he came out to talk to her when she went into the bank. His office door had a direct view of the automatic teller she used, and she had made it a habit to look his way to see if he was there. He was an attractive man with golden wavy hair, which he kept short on the sides, and piercing green eyes that twinkled when he smiled.
“Thanks so much for agreeing to have coffee with me,” Connor said after he came back to the table with their lattes. “I don’t know many people in this area even though I’ve lived here for a year.”
“Really? Where were you before?” Lisa asked. She had decided to accept his invitation to keep her mind off Tristan. As much as she liked Tristan, she was tired of his constant talk about Heather. It had been a month now since she had left, and she just felt that it was time for him to try to move on.
“I lived in Vermont,” Connor said. “Born and raised.”
“Wow. I’ve seen pictures of Vermont. It looks wonderful. One year I’ll have to visit.”
“It’s a nice place. Lots of forests and lots of mountains. Have you lived here long?”
Nodding, Lisa took a sip of her coffee, “Yep, born and raised. I like it, although I find that the older I get, the more the travel bug hits me."
"I know what you mean," Connor said, taking a sip of his coffee. “I’m kind of hungry. If I got a piece of pie, would you split it with me?”
“Sure. That would be great.”
“What type of pie do you like?”
“Any flavor is fine by me,” Lisa replied, impressed that he had even asked.
“Okay, how about cherry? It looked really good when I was ordering the coffee.
"Cherry is great," Lisa said, smiling as Connor got up.
"Now, don't find someone else while I'm gone. I'm really enjoying this so far," he said, winking at her and making her feel funny inside. Checking her phone to see if she had gotten a message from Tristan, she sighed, putting the phone back in her purse. It had been a while since she had heard from him. Although part of her wanted to contact him, another part told her she needed to move on. She was not going to be a replacement for Heather. Perhaps over time, Tristan would forget her and be ready for a new relationship, but right now, he was obsessed.
“Here we go. We got the very last piece," Connor said, smiling, sitting down, and handing Lisa a fork.
They spent the next hour talking about their lives, their hobbies, and their dreams, and Lisa found she was really disappointed when Connor said he had to get back to work.
"I've really enjoyed myself," he said, standing up. “Can we do this again? Dinner, maybe?"
Lisa looked at him and smiled. “I’d like that,” she said honestly as they hugged each other and parted ways.
Lisa stood on the sidewalk watching him walk away from her and thought, I think I have found a way to get over you, Tristan Darlington.
Chapter 12
“Tristan. Open up,” Lucas yelled at the front door of Tristan’s house. “Everyone is worried about you.”
Tristan sighed deeply as he got up from the couch and walked to the front door.
“Go away, Lucas. I’m fine!” he yelled. He knew everyone was worried about him from the emails and texts he kept receiving, but right now, he just couldn't face people.
“Come on, man,” Lucas begged. “Open the door. Talk to me.”
Tristan thought for a moment then slowly unlocked the door, moving out of the way as his brother pushed through the door.
“I’ll warn you now, I haven’t showered in a couple of days,” Tristan muttered, walking away from the door and plopping himself back down on the couch.
“So, what’s up?” Lucas asked calmly, walking in and sitting down on a chair.
"What do you mean, what's up?” Tristan said. “The love of my life left me.”
“Yeah. But aren’t you better than this?” Lucas asked, pointing to Tristan. “I know she hurt you but fuck man; this is not how the Darlingtons do things.”
“Screw the Darlington bullshit. I know Dad always told us to stand up and be men. That men don’t cry or show emotion. Fuck that. I’m fucking showing emotion. I’m broken. I’m fucking broken,” Tristan snapped. “I tried not to let it bother me. I even planned a day with Heather’s best friend Lisa, but everything reminded me of her. Everything!”
“Did you talk to Lisa about it too?”
“Yea, we mourned together over too much wine. I made the big mistake of telling her we should do something crazy and drive up the coast. We did, but we went somewhere that Heather and I used to go all the time. I couldn’t escape her. Then Lisa didn’t feel good and asked that I bring her home. I guess I wasn’t thinking about how she was feeling,” Tristan said, shaking his head. “I haven’t heard from her since that day. I can’t even be a friend. I fucked that up too.”
“You don’t know that,” Lucas said. “Look. I’m going to be as sympathetic as I can, but Tristan, you have to pull yourself out of this hole and come back to earth. We have a business to run. Everyone has been filling in for you, and it's not fair to them. I know you are hurt but stop the bullshit.”