“I’ll have you know I wasn’t crying over a man.”
“Could have fooled me.” I’d wager my favorite bike that she was, and it wouldn’t even be a gamble.
“Not directly over a man. More like the situation he put me in.”
“Did he put you in it, or was it you?” Looking for the easy way out…
Yelling at her won’t help.
“My friends told me he was scummy, but I believed that he loved me. I believed that I was his whole world, and that they were wrong.”
A man doesn’t send a woman who’s his whole world to hide in this small town while he lives in the city. “Your friends, your real friends, usually tell you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it.”
“They always have, but I didn’t want to believe it. Not about him. I wanted everything he promised to be true. Now—” She flops back in her chair, pulling the massive blanket she’s wrapped around herself even tighter. “—I don’t know what to do with my life. Everything that used to feel right, feels wrong.”
“You’re crying because you don’t know how to move on?”
“Exactly. How do I live now? Everything in my life has changed, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know how to take out the trash properly. How did that happen? It’s not like I’m stupid. I have a degree from a prestigious school. But I don’t know how to live without a man? Is there something wrong with me?” She turns to stare at me. “Like you’re the one to ask. You already think I’m stupid. Maybe I am. Maybe my mother was right to want to control every aspect of my life.”
Well, that was a spiral…that I helped create. “Are you really going to keep wallowing over a man not worth your time? You aren’t exactly old, gray, and feeble.” Like she needs me to tell her that she’s fine. “You’ve got time to figure out who you are and who you want to be with or without a man.”
Greer stares at me for a long moment. “You almost sounded like a person that doesn’t hate me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll remember just how much I dislike you in the morning.”
She chuckles. “Good to know.”
“But you shouldn’t dislike yourself.”
A New Day
Greer
Yesterday was another one of those days that I’d prefer to forget, yet somehow changed the course of my life.
It also left me questioning everything in my fridge. The meal plan from the nutritionist has to go, but what do I do to replace it? I’ve never made a meal plan, let alone shopped for myself.
Where do I even start? Creed is going to love the crepes I’m making stuffed with roasted vegetables and herb cheese.
Creed’s father probably shops all the time. He’d know where to start. Would he actually help me or was him being pleasant a one-night kind of thing? Creed loves good food. Maybe his father does too.
The worst he can do is yell at me again and toss me out of his house.
With a plateful of warm crepes in hand, I knock on his door and hope for the best.
Creed opens it, smiling. “Hey, Greer. What’s up?”
This was a bad idea.
“What are those?”
I glance down at the plate like it changed in the last five minutes. “Crepes. Um, is your father busy? I wanted to talk to him for a minute.”
“Sure, come on in.” Creed opens the door wide and takes the plate. “These smell amazing.”
The layout of his house is similar to mine, but the vibe is very different. Hardwood floors, leather couches, and metal accents scream bachelor.
“Dad, guess what. The hot neighbor came over for breakfast.”
