I can’t fire him without consulting Logan, who seems to like him enough to promote the fucker. And now with the way we left things, I can’t exactly text him about a boy being mean to me
I was going to have Mackie quietly look into it, but she called in sick today, making an already bad day even more stressful.
And then Simone had her baby.
And I found out from a text from my husband.
Simone was in the room when Myles and River were born. We’d planned for me to be there for her. I know that I’m not entitled to be in the room and I’m trying very hard to be understanding. But nowI’mangry that she’s angry. She’s never iced me out like this before. I can only hope it’s the West DNA flaring up.
“Oh, you’re the best,” Darren says, taking the bags from me and kissing my cheek.
I lightly smack his arm. “Congrats, Dad.”
“Oh, she’s amazing,” he says, and his entire face changes. There’s a softness there I’ve never seen before.
“Can we see her? Can we see her?” the boys chant.
“Hi,” Logan says when he sees me. Then to the boys: “Eat first, then you can see your little cousin.”
“Hi,” I reply for the sake of the boys. “Where are your parents”? I ask looking around.
“They left,” he says, with visible relief.
“That bad?”
Darren grimaces. “Could’ve been better.”
I wince in sympathy. Logan and I avoided that entire circus by telling no one but Simone and Darren when I went into labor.We gave separate visiting windows. It felt clinical at the time, but it was efficient.
“How is she?” I ask Darren as he demolishes his second burger.
“She was very brave,” he says proudly. “Me? I could’ve been better.”
I laugh, biting my lip, debating whether I should risk asking permission to see Simone.
Once we finish eating, Logan takes the boys to wash their hands. Darren lingers awkwardly holding the bag meant for Simone.
“I’ll ask her if you can go in,” he offers.
“No,” I say quickly, raising my palm. “No. She just had a baby. Don’t.”
“Jess… she’s just-”
“I know,” I say, even though I don’t.
Logan comes back with the boys, and I make an excuse about a work call in front of them before waving them toward the room. Logan gives me a worried look, but I brush it off and step outside into the cool air.
I guess I should start looking for apartments now.
I’m hoping the look in Logan’s eyes when I offered to move out was hesitation. Not relief.
I heard what he said. And while I can’t erase the images in his mind, I can at least tell him the truth behind them.
I didn’t have a passionate affair with someone I cared about.
I got drunk and slept with the first guy who showed interest. It was fast. Clumsy. Over before I really processed what I was doing.
There was no romance. No connection.
