Again with the flat-out denials. When he got like this, she couldn’t even argue with him. Although her pulse began to race in anger, she choked back her rebuttal.
“Come on. Let’s stay in. We could probably use some quality time.”
“At the expense of me seeing my family?”
“Don’t be melodramatic.” His lip curled, the same look he might reserve for asous-chefwho dared to suggest one of Trent’s dishes might need a bit more salt. “You see them all the time.”
“It’s been weeks, Trent. You probably don’t remember because you’ve been too busy wallowing…”
“Wallowing?”
“You’ve allowed yourself to get bogged down instead of planning for the future. We need to get through this.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re the one planning a future, Em, and from what I can see, it doesn’t involve me.”
“How dare you? I’ve tried to involve you every step of the way. You’ve made it clear my dreams aren’t grandiose enough for you. They’relittle. Boring. Completely uninteresting.”
He paled and his jaw clenched. “Care to add a few more adjectives while you’re at it? It’s all about melodrama with you. It’s all aboutyou, period.” He turned and headed for the bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower and then I’m going out.”
“Where?”
“Another inquisition.”
“It’s an innocent question. A second ago, you wanted quality time at home. With me.”
“Yeah, well, it turns out I don’t want that right now after all. So feel free to see your brother. Go out with your girlfriends. Tell the world what a loser I am.”
“Trent, don’t. We need to talk. We can’t leave things like this.”
He didn’t respond and walked down the hallway, disappearing into the bathroom. Within seconds, he’d turned on the taps.
Emily stared after him, dumbstruck. As she listened to the bathroom water, convinced it was the sound of her relationship going down the drain, she realized she’d have to tread carefully. She could almost envision it, two full years swirling and disappearing down the drainpipe.
He’s not the same man. I didn’t sign up for this.
Discouraged, she retrieved her cell phone from her purse so she could text Chris, but she left out the part about her latest argument with Trent. No sooner had she scribbled a note to her brother, a text popped up from Michael Zorn.
Hi Emily. It was great meeting you today. I look forward to working with you. Any concerns along the way, please let me know. I realize this is TV, but every guest is a customer to me. I want to ensure you’re happy. Oh, and please put in a good word with Nonna Olivia for me.
Emily smiled, wanting to cry. She’d forgotten what it was like for a man to show consideration. And a man like Michael Zorn…
She knew he was just being professional. After all, he was a respected contractor before he was a TV star. To someone like him, the words ‘customer service’ meant something.
Although, a couple of times today, she swore she caught him checking her out.
Don’t be silly. She was simply starved for attention. She loved Trent, she did. It was wrong for her to entertain fantasies of Michael seducing her. She and Trent were just experiencing a bad patch. They’d get over it. They were stronger than this.
She owed it to their history to give their relationship another chance. One day, they’d wonder what all the grief was about.
Wouldn’t they?
After a few minutes, Trent turned off the water. Her spine stiffened and she held her breath. She heard a bump from the bathroom and a muffled curse. Maybe he stubbed his toe. At least the curse wasn’t directed at her.
She quickly texted a note back to Michael.
Thank you, Michael. I look forward to working with you too. Have a good evening.
There. Short, succinct and professional. Not sexy or flirty or encouraging in any way.
Worried her message might appear unnecessarily cold, she added another line.
And Nonna Olivia says ‘Ciao.’
Feeling silly, Emily tucked her phone into her pocket. She waited near the entrance to the hallway, hoping when Trent emerged, he’d see sense and apologize.
However, he strode out of the bathroom wearing fresh clothes, surrounded by the scent of cologne. He walked past her toward the door. He didn’t look at her or offer her a conciliatory kiss, opting instead to walk out the door, shutting it behind him.
Emily stood alone, a ghost. Disregarded, if not forgotten.
