She laughed thickly, shaking her head. “No kidding. She did the same to me. Patience of a saint. Or maybe masochism.” She spun her chair with a sigh, looking out the window as she fiddled with the frame. “I actually don’t know if Charlie and I are all that… happy. Together.”
I stopped, looking at her. She shrugged, sounding frustrated now.
“It’s some shit Alyssa and I had been talking through. I feel like we rushed in together because of how things were good in the beginning and it felt right but we didn’t actually take long enough to feel out whether we were compatible. But it’s nothing to do with her being older than me, and I feel like I’ve been on the defensive ever since, sticking up for a relationship I don’t know if I even want.”
I swallowed. My natural reaction, every part of me wanted to push back, to argue that I’d been in my own bad spot and I’d been worried about her since the beginning, that I’d already been thinking they were rushing it and that even if the age gap itself wasn’t a problem then Charlie being older and wealthier and more established made a power imbalance that would make it hard for Linda to leave if she felt like she needed to, which, wasn’t that exactly what happened?—but, no. What would be the point of that? Even if I were right, what would be the point?
“I’m sorry for making you feel that way,” I said. “I was worried about you, and I should have shown that by being a friend and offering you help if you ever needed it, instead of fighting with you and Charlie.”
She softened, giving me a tired smile. I wondered how long she’d been waiting to have this conversation, wondering if she ever even would. And we almost didn’t, too. “Thanks,” she said. “Sorry for being a little bitch about you too. Should have just come and said something to you instead of whining about it to other people.” She sank back in her chair. “So… Alyssa’s gone. And you’re leaving too. Shit.”
“I just hope to god she doesn’t wind up back with that Sawyer asshole.”
She smiled wryly, doing Cat’s name sign for Sawyer. I let out a laugh of surprise.
“Been hanging out with Cat, huh?”
“She’s a good one. Bit unhinged. It’s been nice reconnecting. Being friends again, I guess.”
“And Charlie?” I said, sitting forwards. “Charlie’s the one who had the grudge against her in the first place, the one who went around telling everyone about Cat the little bitch. How are you navigating that whole thing?”
“Navigating it pretty well, actually. Had Cat over for dinner the other night, everyone chatted, made friends. Cat and Charlie had never really had a proper discussion, Cat shared her side of the story, Charlie apologized for joining in the pile-on. So… still a bit loaded, I guess, but hey. Isn’t everything?”
I gave her a pert frown. “That’s… nice to hear, but it rings a bit hollow when she’s turning around saying shit about Alyssa five minutes later.”
“About Alyssa?” She scrunched up her brow, looking at me intently. “When did she say anything about Alyssa?”
“From what I hear, she and Drew had been making the rounds telling everyone who would listen about how Alyssa isn’t welcome, doesn’t know how to mind her business. It’s a big catalyst for why she left.”
She looked horrified at me. “Charlie was? That can’t be right. She loves Alyssa. Despite her best efforts not to.”
I scoffed, standing up, leaning against the window with an antsy feeling making my body itch. “Alyssa wasn’t imagining things.”
“I’m not saying shewas.” She stood up with me. “Look, I know you and Charlie have your differences, and—Christ, I know Charlie and I have our differences, but—she wanted Alyssa here as much as anyone. We talked about it all the time. She wouldn’t have done something like that.”
“Then who’s lying?” I snapped, and she shrugged.
“I don’t know. Drew?”
I scoffed again, shaking my head, but then I stopped, my thoughts scattered. Alyssa had said it had been a conversation with him. And she said it had been clear he didn’t want her around. Given the situation already, would Alyssa have even doubted it for a second if he’d just made it up that people were talking about her like that?
Hell, it had already happened once. How much had Charlie even been ganging up on Cat before? And how much was it just Drew being pissed off that somebody challenged his authority and started telling people that other people had already taken his side?
Linda dropped her scowl, arms by her sides, as the same thing hit her too. “Shit, it was Drew, wasn’t it?”
I rubbed my forehead. “Can you tell Charlie I’m sorry for bitching about her?”
“I can’t believe Drew would…”
“Can you not?”
She stared at me a while before, slowly, she dropped her gaze to the floor. She was quiet a long time before, finally, she said, “I guess you were right, huh?”
“Let’s be honest, we’re all being stupid about something.”
“What are you going to do now?”
I pushed off from the wall, the superheated resolution from this morning bubbling up in my chest again. “I’ve got some more people to talk to. Things to make right. Maybe I’ll kick Drew’s ass.”
