It turns out their kids go to the same after-school club and they’ve started to bond.
After lunch, my phone suddenly ignites with messages in the girls’ group chat as Phoebe wants to organize a Christmas night out. Hannah and Gemma reply immediately, excited, and I’m about to agree until my stomach cramps.
Alcohol and a baby?
Not a good mix.
I could go and not drink, but that’s never gone down well in the past. I stare at the chat until my eyes blur, willing one of them to reply to one of my old messages or even for Hannah to remember that I badly needed to talk to her when I called.
None of that happens.
So, like always, I express my excitement and mute the chat while they work out the dates that work for them.
Maybe I can stop by for one non-alcoholic drink. Talking face-to-face might be ideal, but the more I contemplate it as I work, the more I’m not so sure.
We’ve been friends for years and I’ve helped them through illness, breakups, apartment changes and more, but when it really comes down to it… none of them were there for me.
They disliked Caleb so much that there wasn’t even any real sympathy for my loss.
Sure, I hated him but even Xander could see how much it hurt me.
Are we really friends?
Or have we just existed in the same space for long enough that it feels like there are no other options?
In the end, I unmute the chat and decline the invite.
Hannah reacts with a sad face and that’s it.
No one else notices.
Just as my mood starts to spiral, June appears with chocolate cookies from a patient and a cup of coffee.
While we’ve never spent much time together outside of the hospital, she’s somehow more caring than the people I’ve known for years.
My priorities are shifting and I like it, but deep down, I know it’s dangerous.
I can’t rely onanyof this with a time bomb growing inside me poised to ruin everything.
One last amazing Christmas wouldn’t be a waste, though.
I cling to that hope until the end of my shift and find a note slipped inside my locker from Xander.
His last surgery was canceled so he went home to tend to his cats and help his neighbor to a doctor’s appointment, but he’s eager for me to come home.
He doesn’t sign the note but years of working together makes his handwriting instantly recognizable.
And it’s romantic.
A note in my locker?
It’s so old school and sweet that by the time I take a taxi to his place, I can’t keep the smile off my face.
Despite the key in my pocket with its cute new keychain, I still knock on his door just in case there’s a surprise guest inside.
I don’t want to face Thea ever again.
Xander answers with a smile and doesn’t even question my knocking as he grasps my wrist and whisks me inside.
