“Upset, angry that she let her friends come between our friendship.Ourfamily.”
That word.Our.
I sighed and slumped back into the couch, almost like I was accepting defeat that I was wrong in all of this. That I had made the worst mistake of my life by not indicating to Alexa soon that Greg and I were best friends. But then again, it didn’t feel wrong at all, because I could keep everything Greg and I shared a secret.Oursecret.
“I’m not sorry that I never told Alexa or Erica.” I added to the conversation. “I’ll admit I was selfish in that decision, but you can’t fault me for that.”
“I’m not faulting you for anything doll, I just never wanted our friendship to be a secret.”
“It’s always been a secret Greg.” I pointed out. “You can’t tell me you ever told Chase, Max, or even Jack abouteverythingthat we did. That you would come over here every night after work and we would binge watch TV shows. That on the weekends we would go to Little Five Points and shop through the thrift shops to find the most ridiculous outfits. Yes, they might have known we hung out, but they didn’t know us. We don’t even know us. We just kept going on like it was normal when our relationship was anything but normal, Greg.”
Greg had made his way closer to me, his hand only a few inches from my leg. Tessa wrote down more on her notepad furiously and I took the time to look up at the clock, realizing we only had ten more minutes of our session.
“I would have liked to discuss what happened at work more in depth, but with the change of conversation and how you two look right now, I think we need to focus on something more important. You both clearly have some unresolved issues at hand. Where you’ve made decisions and not considered the other.” Tessa pointed her pen and between us. “That goes forbothof you.”
She wrote a little more down on her pad.
“I have a homework assignment for you both this weekend.”
I sat up now, intrigued that my marriage counselor was giving me homework on a weekend. Greg sat forward as well and when I looked over at him, his position mimicked mine. Both of us on the edge of the couch, elbows propped on our knees and hands folded in front of us. I looked down at my hands and smiled while shaking my head. I know I was trying to push this man away, but every second just made me think how perfect we were together.
“I want you two to go on a date.”
My head shot up to meet Tessa’s eyes. The smile on her face was wicked, like she knew what she was doing. She did though, that’s why we were here. She knew how to mend and put people back together as a couple. I hadn’t been on a date since high school. It wasn’t something I ever considered, not even once I graduated college. I was so busy with work that I just never thought a man would be into a woman who was dedicated to her job.
“Done.” Greg’s answer was firm and confident. I didn’t look over to him because, just as before, I knew the look that I was going to see on his face. Arrogance, like he was getting exactly what he wanted.
“That’s all I need from you two today.” Tessa looked at the clock to see there were a couple of minutes still left. “You both can leave early if you want. I really think we made some great progress here today.”
Her smile was genuine as she showed us out of the office and Greg and I made our way out onto the street. I stood there awkwardly, swaying on both feet with my hands in my pockets.
“So…” I filled the awkward silence with more awkwardness.
“That was a good session.” Greg tucked his hands into his pockets and began to sway just like me. I was beginning to wonder if we both had the same habits, or if we just mimicked each other for a sense of comfort. My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to see a text from Erica.
We are doing dinner at Liquid Courage. Be there in 20 minutes.
I shot back a quick response.
Done.
I looked back up to Greg, who was intently watching me. I tucked my phone into my pocket and readjusted my shirt.
“I’m going to meet the girls for dinner and drinks.”
“Have fun.” He nodded his head toward me in acknowledgment. I waited to see if he was going to leave immediately, but he didn’t. He just stood there. I looked around to see if I could find his car, but nothing.
“Did you not drive?”
He smiled and ducked his head to try to hide it. “Would you believe it if I said I walked here to make sure you made it okay?”
“So, you stalked me?” The question came out with a laugh because he was right, I almost didn’t believe him.
“Not stalked.” His head was raised now and he was looking me dead in the eyes. “I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
The way he saidsafemade me tingle, not just in my body, but in my heart, too. I needed to leave right now.
“Well, I’m headed in the opposite direction of the apartment.” I pointed in the direction of the bar where I was headed to meet the girls. He opened his mouth, but I held up my hand to stop him. “And before you ask, I can get there on my own. No need to follow me.”
