Page 31 of Rumor Has It

There aren’t many occasions for which I need to dress up. I own maybe two or three pairs of pants that don’t have grease on them. And of those, only one isn’t jeans. So when I look in the mirror at my dress slacks, crisp button-up, and fancy shoes, I’m surprised and proud of myself. I even threw on the vintage gold watch my dad gave me for graduation. His father had given it to him, and he insisted I give it to my son one day. When I asked him what would happen if I don’t have a son, he just stared at me like I was asking a stupid question. I still don’t know the answer to that.

I stop into the flower shop on my way to pick up Ellie, opting to get her a bouquet composed of some kind of yellow flower I don’t know the name of, daisies, and marigolds. I know she’s not the biggest fan of roses, so hopefully she likes these.

Five minutes later, I pull up to her place and for once, I’m not overly early. I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.

I place a hand on the front knob, ready to walk in like always, but something stops me. Maybe it’s silly but I’m compelled to act like we have a few more boundaries than we actually do. So I knock instead, likely surprising the hell out of Ellie.

After only a few seconds, she pulls the door open and stares at me. The smile on her face is enough to let me know I don’t look as ridiculous as I feared. But the moment I lay eyes on her, all that becomes irrelevant anyway.

She’s wearing a tight black dress with delicate straps, and I’m quite sure I’ve never seen it before. I’d remember a dress that hugged her curves like that, friend or not.

“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you,” she says, stepping back to wave me inside. “I’ve been saving this dress for a special occasion, and I wanted to wear something you’ve never seen me in before, so it felt like the right time.”

“Lucky me,” I say, kissing her cheek as I pass by. “These are for you.” I hold the flowers up toward her.

“Thank you,” she says with a smile.

She takes them from me and puts them close to her face, inhaling. She looks so content just smelling flowers. It’s adorable.

“Are you ready to go?” I ask after she puts the flowers in water.

“Yes. Just need to grab my purse.”

She strings a small bag on a gold chain over her shoulder and walks toward me at the door.

And we’re off. Unlike any other time, I open the car door for her and watch her body as it slides in. Damn, that’s a nice body.

When we arrive at the restaurant, the only place to park is a block away. It gets pretty busy in the downtown area on the weekends, so I’m not surprised.

I take Ellie by the hand, lacing my fingers between hers as I lead her toward Tapas. Given the volume of foot traffic—people crossing the road and headed here and there—I’m sure someone has spotted us. Probably more than one. And they’re probably already texting various people. That’s what happens in a town this size.

But when I said I don’t care, I meant that I truly don’t give an absolute fuck who sees us. I’m proud to have Ellie on my arm. That has not and will never change, even if our relationship to each other does.

“Uh-oh,” Ellie says, drawing my attention in front of us.

I’d been too distracted in my thoughts and in capturing little eyefuls of Ellie to notice the potential disaster in front of us. Like some sort of gauntlet thrown down on the sidewalk, Lindy is standing between us and our destination. Her arms are crossed tightly over her chest, eyes on us. Bewildered is the word for her expression. And I’m sure she is.

Ellie’s hand tightens around mine as we stop short, leaving plenty of space between us and where Lindy is standing.

I hold a finger up to my ex, gesturing for her to give me a minute. I know she wants to talk; she’s been desperate to do so all week. My guess is she heard about me and Ellie the same time everyone else did. Apparently, hunting me down in person was the next logical step when I quit responding to messages.

I lean in close to Ellie and whisper, “She’s been trying to talk to me all week and I ignored her. Clearly, this isn’t going away. Will you step inside and give me a moment to sort this out?”

Ellie nods, smiling in that nervous way she does when she’s not sure what else to do. I give her hand one last squeeze before she departs from my side. For a moment, I’m nervous to even have them walk past each other, thinking one of them is sure to take a swing. Man, they really don’t like each other. And this recent development is like water on a grease fire.

Once she’s inside, Lindy steps closer to me. I can’t read her demeanor, but that’s been true of our whole relationship, if I’m being honest. I could never quite tell what she was thinking.

“Hey,” she says. “I know you stopped answering me and you probably don’t want to talk to me, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“What is it, Lindy?” I ask. I’m not heartless. She seems genuinely upset, and not in a bratty way.

“I see you’ve moved on,” she says. “And with her.”

I nod, though I’d argue we were already well into “moving on” when this happened.

“I feel like you need to know something,” she says. “Before the door between us is all the way closed.”

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