I huff out a laugh before I can stop myself. “No. It really doesn’t.”
She hesitates, then tips her head slightly. “Can I give you a bit of advice? Even though we don’t really know each other?”
I shrug. “At this point you could read me my horoscope and I’d listen.”
She smiles. “I might be wrong,” she says. “So feel free to ignore me completely.”
“Duly noted.”
“I just wonder,” she continues, choosing her words carefully, “whether now might not be the right time for you to be dating.”
That lands. Not sharply. More like something being set down on the table between us.
I don’t bristle. That’s how I know she’s onto something.
“Because of the baby,” I say.
“And everything around it,” she replies. “The living arrangements. The co-parenting. The fact that you’re clearly doing a lot of internal housekeeping.”
I huff a quiet laugh. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“I don’t mean it as criticism,” she adds quickly. “You’re doing the work. It shows. But maybe this is a season for getting your feet under you, not auditioning potential partners. You seem to be very close with Christa and that is a lot to take for anyone at the beginning of a relationship.”
I nod slowly. I think about Christa in the kitchen. Pea-Lime kicking. My mum and her emotional Jenga tower. Pee-Pee and her irritatingly sensible questions.
“That’s… fair,” I say.
She smiles, relieved. “I don’t want to make you feel worse. It’s just some friendly advice.”
“Thanks for being so… understanding, I guess. What was I thinking bringing someone into this chaos?” I shake my head.
She laughs. “Well, at least you tried to make it work.”
There’s a beat of quiet, not awkward, just honest.
“For what it’s worth,” she adds, “I think you’re a good man. Just maybe… in a holding pattern.”
I nod. “That sounds about right.”
She steps back, giving me space. “I’m glad we matched.”
“Me too,” I say. And I really am.
She smiles once more, then turns and walks away, no drama, no sting. Just clarity.
I stand there for a moment longer than necessary, then head back inside, already knowing Pee-Pee is going to be unbearably pleased.
22
Squirty Cream
Christa
The door opens again.
Not dramatically. Just enough to let him back in.
Geoff steps inside and pulls it shut behind him, slower this time. Like the flat might object if he moves too quickly. He hasn’t been gone long enough for the air to change, but it feels different anyway. Tighter. Like it’s waiting to see what happens next.
