"He's the boss. He would do it for anyone."
"Then where's mine?"
I roll my eyes. "You didn't break yours, and?—"
"I'd blow Enzo for a new iPhone. Actually, scratch that, I'd blow him for free, but that's not the point."
"No, because the point is he didn't buy me a phone as a gift. He got me a replacement that I have to pay for."
"What? Well, I would still?—"
"And he's so stupidly rich, he didn't let me get my own that I could afford, he got top of the range."
"So he could reach you, day or night. Do you think he likes filthy, dirty, hot phone sex? I could do it in person without the phone."
I bite down on a laugh. "Probably, he got it so he could call me at lunch to yell at me for not being back three minutes early. Or so he could yell at me from his office without leaving it."
"He could do that now."
"What if Enzo's at lunch? Anyway, enough of that boring brute in a suit, what about my real crisis?"
"You have a crisis that isn't about sexy times with the boss?"
"Stop that. And yes. Alex."
"What about him? He's one step from being imaginary."
"What if there's a chance for something? And I ruined it by missing his texts? What if he thinks I don't want to talk to him?"
"Good lord, you'd think you don't date."
I don't say a word.
"You do, don't you, Lola?"
I twist a finger in my hair, my skin radiating heat. "Not for a very long time."
"That's criminal." She sounds scandalized.
"Things have been...complicated."
Ruby mutters something I don't catch, but when she speaks, her voice is softer. "If a man's interested, a little silence won't deter him. So, relax. It hasn't been very long. Okay, I'm running late to my Pilates class. I will see you tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow." I disconnect the call.
I'm sure she is right. Alex will contact me eventually.
I hope.
The first box tires me out. It is just full of junk and some old receipts, an old stuffed toy I think might have been my first, but it is so beaten up.
I know Mom probably slipped it in here, as Dad wasn't sentimental like her.
At least, that is what he said. My memories are mostly vague, but some are so clear.
I was six when she died.
But the bear is junk.
