Tristan narrowed his eyes at his brother. “You sound like Dad.”
"Well, maybe I do, but it's true. You are better than this. Look at this place. It’s filthy. You’re filthy,” Lucas said, pointing to the stained T-shirt Tristan was wearing and the dirty dishes lying around the room.
Tristan could feel the anger building up inside of him but soon calmed it. His brother was right. He couldn’t go on missing Heather like this any longer.
“Okay, give me one more day. I’ll be back in the office tomorrow. I have to make a phone call,” Tristan said, smiling at Lucas. "Thanks, bro. I think I needed this pep talk."
After Lucas left, Tristan sat back down and ran his fingers through his hair. His brother was right. He needed to shake this mood off and get over it. He was better than this, and he shouldn't let Heather's leaving destroy him.
First thing he needed to do is apologize to Lisa. He knew that he had used her, and that was the reason he hadn’t heard from her. He needed to make things right. But apologizing to Lisa would be the second priority because the first thing he needed to do was shower.
✽✽✽
Lisa had just settled down on her couch with a cold glass of wine and her crossword book when her phone buzzed.
“Shit, who’s that?” she moaned out loud as she got up and got her phone off of the kitchen counter. “Damn. Tristan. What does he want?”
"Hello, Tristan,” she answered curtly.
“Don’t hang up. Please! I want to apologize. You didn’t deserve what I did to you,” Tristan said hurriedly. “Please forgive me.”
"What did you do, Tristan?” she asked, wanting to hear it from his own mouth.
“I convinced you to spend a day out with me, making you think it was all about you and me, when in fact, I was reminiscing all the places Heather and I used to go to,” Tristan said. "I know that hurt you, and I used you."
“Well, Tristan, to be completely honest, yes, you did hurt me. I really thought what we were doing that day was a way for both of us to forget about Heather, and I was hurt.”
“I’m sorry. Can we go out for supper tonight? My treat,” Tristan pleaded. “No talk of Heather, I promise.”
“I can’t tonight. I have a date,” Lisa said hesitantly. Her first instinct was to cancel her date with Connor, but she told herself to be sensible. Play it cool, Lisa, she said to herself. “I can tomorrow night.”
"Tomorrow night, it is. There is a new little bistro that opened up downtown. I've never been there, so let's go there. There are no memories, no ghosts, no past. Just two friends making their own memories.”
"I'd like that, Tristan," she said, smiling to herself. Despite everything, she still, deep down inside, loved Tristan. Whether their friendship would ever amount to anything more, she didn’t know, but for now, she didn’t want to lose him.
“You seem preoccupied,” Fay said to her when she came home later that afternoon. “Something up?” Fay had been out of town on business for the past month and had missed all of the drama that had unfolded. Lisa hadn’t had a chance to fill her in yet.
Lisa sighed. “Yes and no. I don’t know what to do.”
“About what?”
“Well, you remember I told you how I felt about Tristan even though he was seeing Heather?”
“Yeah. Has something happened?”
“Heather left him. Just up and left with someone else. Her personal trainer of all people.”
“Holy shit, really?”
“Yep, he’s devastated obviously. She called me to say she was leaving, and like a fool, I immediately went running to Tristan to make sure he was okay.”
“Wow, what a bitch – that’s so cold. I didn’t like her the few times I met her if I’m honest but didn’t think she would do that. What happened when you went to Tristan?”
“Well, we got into the wine and spent an evening drowning our sorrows. She was my best friend, and she just up and left me too, so I felt really hurt.”
"Oh, my God. Don’t tell me something happened between you two,” Fay said, covering her face with her hands.
“No, no, nothing happened. I fell asleep on the couch, and he slept in his own bed. But the next day, he wanted to do this crazy road trip. Claimed he wanted to do something silly, drive up the coast, stop at a beach. Just do something completely out of the ordinary," Lisa said, sighing. “I had called in sick, so the day was ours. I really thought he wanted to spend it with me.”
“He didn’t?”
“No, turned out he was tracing all the places Heather loved to go with him. I was just along for the ride," Lisa said, shaking her head. “When I realized it, I was upset and told him I wanted to go home. I'm not someone's leftovers, and that's exactly how I felt at that moment."
“I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose,” Fay said soothingly.
"I know, but I have to move on. I can’t sit and cry over someone I can’t have. He loves Heather despite what she did to him,” Lisa said resignedly.
“Okay, so move on. What’s the problem?" Fay said, tucking her feet underneath her on the couch
"He just called, and like a fool, I agreed to go out for dinner with him,” Lisa said, looking at her friend. “My mind is saying fuck off, but my mouth is saying sure, I’ll go out with you.”
“So, you’re going out with him tonight?”
“No, tomorrow night. I actually have a date tonight,” Lisa said. “My bank manager of all people. We went out for lunch and had a really good time, and he asked me out again. I figure it’s one way to get over Tristan. Who knows, maybe there is a future for Connor and me. He's really nice, and we share a lot in common, so we will see.”
✽✽✽
“This is a nice place," Lisa said, looking around the restaurant that Connor had picked. “Have you been here before?”
“No, one of my colleagues recommended it. They said it’s a good place to celebrate.”
“Oh, what are we celebrating?” Lisa asked, taking a sip of water.
“Well, I got a job offer I can’t refuse,” Connor said. “I’m actually really excited about it.”
“Connor, that’s wonderful! Is it with the bank?”
“Actually, yes and no. It’s with a bank, just not this one. It’s a bank in Switzerland,” Connor said. “I applied a while ago and just got word that I got the job.”
Lisa let the words sink in for a bit, then looked at him. “Switzerland. Does that mean you’ll be moving?”
“Yes, which brings me to another subject,” Connor said, reaching out to take Lisa’s hand. “Come with me.”
Lisa looked at him in surprise. “Connor … I hardly know you.”
"I know, but we get along so well. I have a good feeling about this,” He said, pointing to both of them. “Come with me and let’s see where it goes.”
Shaking her head slightly, Lisa looked down. “I can’t, Connor. I’m sorry. I have my life here, my friends, family, job. I can’t just up and leave everything on a whim. I appreciate the invite, though."