“Yeah, I’m not sure I’ll keep him,” I joke.
“Oh, you better,” he says. “Wait...” He looks down at his phone, and next thing you know, there’s a digital cat sitting on his head — it looks ridiculous.
I laugh out loud. “You’re… pretty... silly,” I struggle to say. “Those video chat graphics are hilarious.”
“What?! You like cats, don’t you?!”
I smile. He remembered. “I do. I’m sure you’ve seen my cat, Elsie, on my feed.”
“What do you think of this one?”
I study the tabby cat sleeping cozily on his head. “He’s cute. He’s pretty chill.”
I scroll and tap, and turn myself into a pirate. “Aye, mate,” I cheer.
He chuckles. I love his laugh.
“You make quite the sexy pirate,” he says.
I giggle like a schoolgirl. “I don’t. I look hideous.”
We fall into silence again, but this isn’t a sad and awkward silence, it’s just funny — he still has a cat on his head, and I’m still a pirate, and we’re both grinning like idiots.
“I’m glad I met you, Gabriella,” he finally says.
“Me too,” I say. “Eli…”
Another beat.
“So… where are your kids, your husband?”
Yes, back to reality. Husband. Kids. “My husband is away for work,” I tell him. “And the kids are in the playroom… at least, I hope,” I joke. “I should go check on them.”
He smiles. “Yes, you go do that.”
“Bye,” I say. “It was nice chatting.”
“Yeah,” he agrees. “We should do it again soon.”
I nod. “Yeah, we should.”No, we should not. I’m happily married.
“Bye,” I say one last time, and my finger shakes as I tap on the red icon to end the call.
What the fuck am I doing?
He is real. And I am in so much trouble. Loads of it.
And he might just ruin my life if I’m not careful.
Chapter Ten
I’VE INDULGED IN A LATTE with whipped cream today. Maeve and Kayla are chatting away and I try to pay attention but I just can’t focus. I can’t stop thinking about him, about our conversation, his eyes, his beautiful smile.
How did this happen? How did I go from being a somewhat happy marriednormalmom raising her kids and living her life, to become so confused and tortured, my stomach constantly in knots. A complete mess, really. I’ve lost my appetite and I can’t sleep.
I shake my head. The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous — it was just a few messages, andoneconversation, for crying out loud. Why am I making such a big deal out of it? What I need to do is just ignore him, but it’s too late for that – that would be too hurtful.
“What do you think, Gabs?” Kayla is asking. I have absolutely no clue what she’s talking about.
