“Yeah.” Best moment ever. And Justine had Xavier to thank for it.
“Your father told you he loves you at the wedding. That right there is miraculous.”
“I know. But my mom and Angela weren’t overly sentimental, so they made up for my dad’s weirdness.”
“Right.” Katie grinned, a dimple showing. “But the end-all to this miracle event, beside you catching the groom doing the right thing by his new bride, is that you finally came clean with Xavier about dating for real. This after marathon nookie in a dream hotel room.” Katie sighed. “It’s like a Disney movie married a porn flick and gave you a weekend you’ll never forget.”
“Not exactly how I would have put it. You have a unique view of the world, don’t you?”
“You have no idea.” Katie munched on her salad. “So now that the wedding is taken care of and your studly neighbor is servicing you, what’s left?”
“Katie.”
“Of course. Frank. How’s work going?”
“And…you had to bring up work.”
“Sorry. But we had to catch up on your daily misery at some point.”
Justine groaned. “I’m spending so much time trying to get up to speed on Laura’s job—I’m sorry, I meanmynew job—that I’m behind on the one I had. Have.” Justine frowned. “I actually swallowed my pride and asked Frank for a helper, at least to get me caught up with her projects. He said no. So now I’m behind on the new tasks, the old tasks, and I have a ton of emails and phone calls to return. By the time I get home, I’m so exhausted I eat then go to bed. Or I just go to bed. Alone,” she said before Katie could say something about Xavier…which she did anyway.
“That sucks. No more happy fun time with Xavier.”
“I know.” Justine sighed. “Work sucks. But Katie, he and I— I can’t describe it. We’re so great together. Being with him is so natural. I don’t have to work hard and he still likes me.”
“Another miracle.”
“Ass.”
Katie snickered. “I’m kidding. I’m happy for you. He’s a great guy. And he survived the wedding with you. That’s something. But if you can’t have an argument with him and stay together, you’re doomed for failure. No one’s happy all the time.”
“You make a good point.”
Katie studied Justine. “What about Ted? What did you decide to do about him?”
“Nothing. I overheard something I wasn’t meant to hear, but he was ending things. I want to let my sister have a clean slate with her husband. Now, if I catch him cheating, I’ll definitelynarc him out. But I can’t see what telling her now will do but make her upset. She deserves to have a honeymoon period.”
“I agree. Besides, she knows Ted better than you do. For all you know, he and she had a cheating pass. You know, that bucket list nookie. Maybe Mallory had her own affair.”
“I can’t see it.”
“Well, neither can I. I was just trying to spin something positive. It’s what I do for a living, you know.”
“Ha ha.” Justine poked at her noodle salad. “Speaking of your living, how’s your job going?”
Katie shrugged. “It’s much better with my new boss. But I’m like you, unsatisfied and feeling overwhelmed. I actually took some contract work from Kenzie this past weekend.”
“Oh? I haven’t gotten a chance to contact the person for the job she offered me. I plan to do that after lunch.”
“For shame! On company time?” Katie smirked.
“You bet. I’m so done killing myself with overtime. Today I’m going home at a regular time. And I’m giving myself an extra ten minutes for lunch. Considering I’ve been working hours I won’t be paid for, I figure they owe me that much.”
“You go, rebel girl.”
But that night, Justine stayed an extra hour trying to slog through the emails she hadn’t gone through from last week.
She felt guilty all night and into Tuesday, only texts with Xavier during her lunches made her smile. Wednesday proved just as busy with no time for anything but her job.
