After greeting each other, I point to the chair across from me. He takes a seat, unbuttoning his suit jacket. I fall back into my chair.
“She retired. She and her husband moved down to Florida last year.”
He chuckles. “Damn, I thought she’d never leave this place.”
We both laughed briefly, allowing that old camaraderie to seep back between us. There was a time when having him here would’ve been the highlight of my day. That time has long passed.
“So, what brings you by?”
I know why I needed to talk to him, but I was curious why he showed up at my job when he hadn’t been here in two years.
He leans forward in his seat. “Well, I wanted to apologize about how I came at you yesterday. I was upset, and I wasn’t acting like myself. My apologies.”
I shrug. “It’s cool. I understand.”
He shifts his weight in his seat, leaning toward the right. “You know you really stepped in with the boys during this hard time. They needed you.”
I wave my hand through the air. “No need to thank me.”
“No, seriously. You went above and beyond for them. Honestly, the divorce was hard on them, and Ella didn’t make it any better the way she kept trying to cling on.”
“She wasn’t clinging on to you, fuckface. Shewas trying to fight for the marriage shehad helddown for fifteen years.”
Although those words come to my head, I don’t say them. Tilting my head to the side, I grind my back molars together. The urge to react is strong, but I’m trying to hear him out. I’ll give him this pass.
“But,” he continues. “You took your role as godfather to heart and truly made a difference. So, thank you.”
“Again, you don’t have to thank me for that.”
He nods his head up and down before leaning back in his seat.
“Well, with that said, I think it’s time you stepped back a little.”
Clearly, I must've misheard him. This time, I sit up in my seat, placing my arms down on my desk and clasping my hands together.
“Come again?”
He chuckles, pulling at his goatee. “Look, not because of the boys, but I think you’re giving Ella the wrong impression. She’s getting a little hung up on you. A bit too reliant on you. And you showing up there all the time isn’t a good look.”
“A good look for whom?”
He grins. “Come on, Mitch. Let’s not act like there isn’t history between you and Ella.”
With each word he spoke, I felt my temper rising higher and fucking higher. What the hell is he suggesting?
“What the fuck are you talking about, history? There has never been anything inappropriate between EL and I.”
He waves away my comment with a laugh. “Of course I know that shit. Ella would’ve never stepped out on me.”
The cockiness in his tone makes me wish I had a story to tell that could burst his bubble. But we both know she's too loyal for that.
“I’m saying I know you had a crush on her first,” he goes on to say.
“Yeah, I did. Didn’t stop you from going after her.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re still mad about that? It’s not my fault you were too scared to make your move. Besides, I did you a favor. Let’s face it, Ella is a far cry from the fifteen-year-old hottie we both fell for—”
“Don’t. Fucking do that.”
