“Nope,” I said out loud erasing the text before I could hit send.
Alicia: Sorry, that was inappropriate or something.
Alicia: Anyway, it’s no big deal that it’s not done, yet.I’m working late tonight.
Alicia: I’d say let yourself in, but you really don’t need encouragement.
Me: *eyeroll emoji* You break down one door.
Alicia: *GIF of Kool-Aid Man running through a wall* I’m only sending you this because, unfortunately, there isn’t a gif of someone humping a door.Which seems unrealistic.
Me: I’m not mad, Internet, I’m just disappointed.
It was the quiet that I noticed first.Nora’s typing had stopped, and I had the unnerving feeling of being watched.I looked up to find my coworkers staring at me.“What?”
They exchanged a silent conversation, a raised eyebrow from Hazel and a smirk from Nora.It didn’t sit well.I slid my phone back where it was, as if that would hide away whatever they were reading into.
“Who’re you texting?”Nora asked, a gleam in her eyes.
“It’s nothing, I just need to do some work on my neighbor’s place and we’re coordinating.”It was true, although not the whole truth, and even I found it suspicious that I chose to minimize the details.
“Your neighbor?”Hazel asked, at the same time Nora said, “Your ex-wife?”
Hazel’s eyes widened.“Alicia’s yourneighbor?!”
I opened my mouth, but Nora spoke before me.“You didn’t know?”
“Youdid?”
“Brooks told me.”
Hazel glowered at me.“Apparently, I’m the last to find out you’re co-habiting with your ex—”
I rolled my eyes.“We don’tlivetogether.”
“You might as well!That wall is so thin.”She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.“Why did you tell him and not me?”
I opened my mouth to explain, but Nora spoke first.“Is it that big of a deal?”
“You weren’t there,” Hazel exclaimed, and I struggled between compassion for my friend who was clearly feeling protective and irritation that she was making a big deal of everything.“She treated him like shit—”
“I wasn’t exactly innocent,” I pointed out, not that Hazel paid any attention.
“And when she finally served him divorce papers, out.Of.Nowhere—”
“There were warnings if I’d been willing to see them.”
“He barely passed our senior finals and then fled the state.”
“You make it sound like I was a fugitive.”
“No, you just couldn’t continue living your life.You had to run to the other side of the country, and fuck and drink your way through the state of Arizona.”A flash of uncertainty lit across Hazel’s features; I could practically hear her wondering if she’d gone too far.
I didn’t know if she had either.
Suddenly the vaguely flirty texts didn’t seem as fun as they had been just a moment ago.
I swallowed with my jaw set.
