By the end of the day I’m exhausted. Hayley and I have taken loads of stuff over to the booth, but we haven’t set up yet, because we aren’t officially opening until early next week. Clearing out the shop has been therapeutic, though—especially after my visit from Mark today. If I’d had any doubts about whether or not I’m making the right move getting out of there, I don’t anymore.
There’s still a bunch of stuff to pack, but with each leftover vintage item I box up to list on eBay later, I feel more and more relieved. Things might be scary and uncertain going forward, but that also means that they’re open, and anything is possible.
If only I felt the same about my love life. But you can’t have everything, can you?
I pull the door to the shop closed with a deep sigh, ready to schlep myself home. But I nearly leap out of my skin when I’m ambushed by Geoff and Alex.
“Okay, so youarealive,” Geoff says theatrically.
“Yes.” I shove my keys in my purse. “I’ve been busy.”
Alex arches a brow. “And that’s why you’ve been avoiding us?”
“What?”
“I knocked on your door last night and you didn’t answer. I know you were home.”
I press my lips together, glancing up and down the street. “I, well—” I turn back to my friends, both regarding me with suspicion, and annoyance washes over me. “What? I have to check in with you guys twenty-four seven?”
Geoff’s forehead creases. “No, hon, but come on. If we don’t hear back from you for a week, we start to worry.”
“Well don’t, because everything is fine. No, more than fine—it’s brilliant.” I send them a tight-lipped smile and they exchange a look. “What?”
“Nothing.” Alex links her arm through mine. I stiffen but she gives me a squeeze. “Let’s get a drink. Bounce?”
“NotBounce,” I mutter. They share another look so I add, “I’m just… sick of it there.”
“Okay,” Geoff says. “Grim’s?”
I give a reluctant nod and we wander toward St. Mark’s Place. I’m not sure I’m in the mood for the Spanish Inquisition from these two, but I’m also not in the mood to go home and try and distract myself from thinking about everything until bed. A drink or ten certainly won’t hurt.
“I meant to tell you, by the way, you were right about Daniel.” Geoff smiles. “It wasn’t a romantic thing with that other guy. It was his nephew!”
“Oh,” I murmur. I’d completely forgotten about that whole thing with Geoff after everything that happened. And yet here these two are, going out of their way to check in with me. “Sorry, Geoff. I should have been in touch.”
“It’s okay. I know you’ve had a lot going on with the shop, and everything…” He lets the sentence hang, clearly waiting for me to jump. I’m not going to.
“That’s great about Daniel.”
“Yeah. I think I was just looking for problems, to be honest. It felt like things with him were too good to be true, so as soon as I saw something that confirmed that, I just blew it out of proportion.”
“Mm,” I say distractedly as we wander into Grim’s Bar. Geoff and I used to come here years ago, but lately we’ve spent most of our time at Bounce. This place isn’t nearly as… I don’t know, but it’s not the same.
We settle at a table and Alex and Geoff turn to me with concerned faces. Right, I’m going to have to nip this in the bud.
“I’ll get us a round.” I leap to my feet and stride to the bar before they can say anything more. I know they’re going to ask me all sorts of questions and I’m not up to it. I’m not up to anything, really.
It’s pathetic, I know, but I’m feeling a bit crappy after thinking about Bounce. I know Myles lied to me and let me down, but ever since I let myself believe that something real could happen between us, I feel like I’ve been ripped open, turned inside out and sewn back together. It feels like the only thing keeping me in one piece is my anger about the whole damn thing, and if I let Geoff and Alex push too hard that could unravel. And then… I don’t know what will happen.
Maybe what I should do is get super wasted, drown my sorrows and just forget I ever met Myles. That could work, right?
I eye the bartender as he gets our drinks, feeling unreasonably disappointed that he isn’t cute, he isn’t flirting with me, and he isn’t forcing his way into my life and my heart.
When I get back to the table, Alex is talking wedding planning and I sink down into my seat with relief. Perfect; they’ve moved on from me.
“So we’re not going to have wedding parties,” she says, taking her sauvignon blanc from me with an appreciative smile. “You guys are my absolute best friends here, and if we did then you’d be in them. But we’re not.”
Geoff holds a hand to his chest, aghast, and I shrug absently.
