“No. I’m actually here to see you. Can I come in?”
Rick is uncharacteristically quiet and subdued. And now I’m even more confused.
“Sure. Come in, I guess.”
I open the door wider and he walks past, walking straight for the kitchen. He takes a seat at the table.
“Can you sit?” He motions to an empty seat across from him. I try not to feel resentful that he is controlling the situation in my own house. Instead, I draw my robe more tightly closed and sit down.
“What’s going on?” I ask him, eyeing him suspiciously. “What do you want?”
He rolls his eyes.
“I don’t want anything, Allison,” he sighs. “Isn’t it possible that I just want to have a conversation with you? We used to talk all the time.”
I stare at him.
“Yes, we did,” I acknowledge. “Before I found out that you had cheated on me for years. That sort of burns the bridges of communication.”
He almost scowls before he quickly hides it. And this makes me even more suspicious. He’s trying very hard to be nice, which means he wants to ask me for something.
“What do you want?” I ask again. “I haven’t had any coffee yet, so I’m afraid I’m a little impatient.”
As if on cue, my coffee maker beeps to signal that it is done. Rick stands up and walks to it, pulling down a cup from the cupboard. He pours in coffee, cream and sugar and hands it back to me.
“See?” he says with a smile. “I know how you like things, Alli.”
And now I’m on edge. His tone is strange, almost flirty. My eyes narrow.
“Allison, I’ve made a mistake. I think it’s because I was going through a mid-life crisis. But I miss being home with you and Sophie. I think we should get back together and give it another try.”
He just throws it out there like he’s talking about a football game, like it’s even in the realm of possibility. Which it isn’t.
I’m left with my mouth open.
“Wha—what?” I ask stupidly.
Rick smiles. “I’d like to get back together.”
“What about Vanessa?” I ask, because in my haze, it’s the only thing I can think of to say.
Rick shrugs. “She’s a nice girl, but she’s too immature. I miss you, Allison. I miss the way you took care of me.”
And that’s it right there. He misses being taken care of. His little Vanessa needs someone to take care of her so there’s no way she can take care of him. This isn’t about me at all, it’s about him. Of course. Just like always. My blood instantly boils, so I count to ten before I speak.
“I don’t think so, Rick.”
And now he’s the one who is astonished. “What?”
“You cheated on me,” I bite out through clenched teeth. “You humiliated me in front of everyone we know by cheating on me with girls who are barely older than teenagers. And now you are engaged to one. I wish you the best, but that certainly won’t be with me.”
“Now, Alli,” he says soothingly, putting a hand on my arm. I pull it away and glare at him. “Think of Sophie,” he adds. “She can have her family back.”
I glare at him harder. “I can’t believe you’re even saying these words. You are the reason this family isn’t together right now. You. You cheated. You tore us apart. And now I’ve moved on. Get out.”
He looks at me. “Alli, come on—“ But I interrupt him.
“Get. Out.”
He scowls as he shoves his chair back, scraping the tiled floor. “If I walk out right now, Alli, I’m not coming back. I won’t offer again.”
I am dumbfounded as I stand up.
“You coming back is not an offer, you ass. It’s a threat. Please leave. And don’t come back here unless it is to pick up Sophie. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
He stalks out and I lock the door after him before sliding to the ground, shaking like a leaf. How in the hell would he ever think that I would take him back…ever? What a pompous, self-absorbed ass.
I text Sara from the floor in a foul-mouthed text that leaves me feeling better. I tuck my phone back into my robe pocket as I continue back into the kitchen and drink my coffee. What a way to kick off my weekend. But between my text conversation with Sara and Sophie coming home, I am distracted.
Sophie and I go shopping, get take-out and basically, just have a girl’s weekend again. And my thoughts are deflected from thinking about Alex, which is exactly what I wanted to happen.
That is, until that night when I am getting ready for bed and I get a text from him.
Even though I shouldn’t be, I’m thinking about you.
My insides melt and I fall into bed, yanking the covers up and over my head. What the hell am I going to do?
********
Monday comes all too soon and I don’t have any answers by then, either. I do take extra care getting ready for work. I dress in a pale gray pencil skirt, a pale pink silk blouse and dark gray heels. The skirt makes my ass look fabulous and the silk shirt clings to my girls. I know that I look good as I stride into my office.
Taylor looks up and smiles.
“Morning, boss!” She hands me a stack of messages. “There’s fresh coffee on your desk.”
Oh, how I love that girl.
But when I reach my desk, I see the local coffee house cup and I know that it wasn’t Taylor. It was Alex. He’s been bringing me this coffee because he knows I like it. My insides melt again as I drop into my chair.
It feels good to be taken care of, even in this small way.
I open up my email and sift through them, answering a few and deleting a few others. And then Taylor knocks softly on my office door.
“Hey, boss. Your new intern is here.”
Her face looks strange and I raise my eyebrow.
“What?” I ask her. She takes a step into my office and lowers her voice.
“He’s freaking hot,” she whispers. “He’s going to be quite the distraction in the workplace. You can expect productivity to decrease ten-fold with him here.”
I roll my eyes. Taylor is in her twenties, so a twenty-three year old intern probably will be a distraction for her.