The phone rang twice before she picked up.
“To what am I owed the honor of a call?” Evie asked through the line.
“Hey,” I answered. By that one word, she knew.
“What’s wrong? What did he do?”
There were muffled sounds on the other end as she spoke to someone else with her.
“You’re not alone, are you? I didn’t even stop to think you’d be with Mitch. I’m sorry. Call me back later.” I was about to hang up when her voice screeched through my phone.
“No! You better not hang up. I just left him in bed and moved to the living room. Talk girlfriend, what’s going on?”
I explained everything. She was quiet on the line as I spoke, no interruptions. I think my attempt at staying neutral while telling both sides was successful.
“I don’t know what to do, Evie. I mean, do I walk away from this job?”
There was silence on the other end. An elongated silence. To the point I got concerned she may have hung up.
“Eve?” I asked.
“I’m here,” she said. I heard her stirring her cup of coffee through the line. “I just need to clarify a few things. You’re saying that Chase, the guy you’ve been hung up on for, oh, I don’t know, over a year now, has asked you to leave with him.To go on a music tour along the East Coast. Months alone with the guy you tell me you’re falling in love with, seeing all kinds of great towns and cities. And you’re concerned about your job? The company he owns?”
Dammit.
She wasn’t on my side. But this was what I needed. I needed to hear the logical part of what my brain couldn’t process. From someone it didn’t directly affect.
“Well, when you put it that way…”
“Maryellen,” she said. “I know you have anxiety about your place in this world. But you’ve made it, hon. You’ve done all the hard work to get where you are. Reap the benefits now. Enjoy life. Go on this great adventure with your sexy guy.”
“I’m scared,” I whispered into the line.
That was the most honest thing I’ve said, and admitted to myself, yet.
I was scared.
Scared of getting hurt. Of not knowing what tomorrow would bring. Of how my life could change.
“Yeah, it’s scary. But if you don’t take the leap, you’ll never know what you might miss,” Evie said.
I let her get back to the rest of her weekend with Mitch. After hanging up, I looked around the room, wondering what was making it so hard for me to make this move.
My fingers scrolled to Harper’s number.
“Hey, Maryellen. What’s going on? Did I miss an appointment we had for something today?”
“No, nothing like that,” I said. “Do you have a minute?”
I brought her up to speed with the changes in Chase’s life, making sure she knew to keep them to herself and not say anything to Gage. Chase needed to do that for himself.
“Wow, I’m so happy for him,” she said. “This is something that should make him really happy.”
She understood Chase almost as well as I did.
“So, you’re probably going to be just like Evie and wonder why I’m even questioning going with him. She brought up some good points, but I’m still so confused.”
There was a silence, but not for long.
