“Yikes,” she said as she followed me to my office, “did something happen?”
I rolled my eyes. “I guess you could say that, but it’s not like there’s a story to tell. I’m sort of still trying to uncover it.”
“Well, what’s it about? Can I help?”
I unlocked my office and shoved the door open. “Nope. It’s about a car accident my sister was in when we were teenagers.”
“Oh. Why do you want to know about that?”
I walked over to my desk and pulled my sunglasses off, tossing them on top of a mound of paperwork I already had on my keyboard. “Just curious.”
“Ah.”
“Can you close the door?”
She reached for the knob. “Sure, what’s up?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just want the door closed. I feel exposed with it open.”
She furrowed her brow as the door closed behind her. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
I perched on the edge of my desk and downed the rest of my coffee. “Michael called this morning.”
Her eyes bulged. “He didn’t.”
“Yep, he did.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Let me guess: second chance?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Only thirty minutes of your time?”
I blinked. “Yeah, actually. Then, he took it down to--.”
“Twenty minutes?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you tapping my phone or something?”
She giggled profusely. “No, you idiot. I just know guys. When they know they’ve fucked up, they barter. That’s how they try to recover themselves.”
“So, you think he really does believe he fucked up.”
She shrugged. “I think you won’t know unless you give him another shot.”
“So, you think I should give him another shot.”
“I think I’ve never seen you happier than when you were looking forward to the dates you had with him. And I know he fucked up. What he did was shitty. But, if he wants to make it up to you, who’s to say you have to keep dating him after he’s made it up to you? Catch my drift?”
I pointed at her. “You’re a genius.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Just dated a lot of dicks. Let me know how it goes, okay?”
I set my empty coffee cup down. “If I decide to take him up on his offer, I’ll definitely fill you in.”
She opened my office door. “And good luck with your car accident research, even though I have no idea why you’d be interested in such a thing.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
