Page 103 of Desserts for Stressed People

My brows furrow. “RadaR is the dating app you’ve been using to pick up girls.One-time-only hookups. I know about it, Alex. I made a profile there to catch you cheating. I’m Nevaeh.”

After another short pause, he stutters, “One-time...RadaR? Why would I join a dating app, Heaven? You know how I feel about privacy. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to join those websites? I’m not making my data available for the government to...”

My eyes roll as his voice becomes a background noise. I can’t hear yet another rant about how everyone’s out to get hisdata. What data? And who’s everyone anyway?

But something else gets my attention—the honesty in his voice. The confusion etched into his tone. The fact that it really seems like he has no idea what I’m talking about.

“Listen, let me—let’s talk,” he pleads with urgency.

“No. I don’t want to, and besides...I’m going on a date soon. You need to leave.” More silence. Maybe knowing I’m with someone else will help him understand we’re done.

“Is it with that guy?”

“Shane.”

“Is it with him?”

I lean with my back against the door. “Yes.” A loud thump blasts through the intercom, and my forehead creases. “Alex, you have to go. This is getting scary.”

“You know I’d never hurt you, Heaven, please.”

“You already have,” I say, looking down at the wooden floors and spotting a tiny chocolate stain on the baseboard. My entire apartment still smells like chocolate, and I hope the scent of it never leaves.

“Heaven, please...”

I rub my finger over the chocolaty spot, balancing myself on one foot to keep my other hand on the intercom. “No, Alex. It’s over. I’m—I’m with Shane.”

There’s more silence, and when I call his name, he doesn’t answer. Hopefully, he left.

Once I’m back to my makeup, I’m holding my belly as a huge weight settles on it, but I finish with the last touch-ups, and by the time I’m done, I’ve pictured a hundred different scenarios involving tonight and I’m back in my good mood.

Peering into the bedroom, I bite the inside of my cheek as I stare at the pillow on the right side. I walk to it and nudge my nose closer to get a little whiff of Shane. It’d be amazing if I could shove my face into it—I won’t admit nor deny I’ve done it multiple times—but I just finished doing my makeup.

Then, opening the wardrobe, I choose a light blue dress I bought a couple months back. It’s cute, sexy—it should be fine for whatever we’re doing, unless it involves climbing walls or sliding through mud.

Once I’m done getting ready, I’m half an hour early. I water the plants, then notice another spot of chocolate and clean it up. I wait until the seconds stretch into minutes, and my stomach is in knots. By the time I sit again, it’s five minutes past the time Shane should have been here. And he isn’t one to be late—ever. But he wouldn’t blow me off, right?

My mind hops from one fear to the other, and when my phone finally rings, I jump at it. It’s Shane. “Hello?”

“Hi...”

My brows bend into a steep curve. Shane’s tone isn’t...Shane’s tone. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t make the date tonight. There’s been a problem with—Yeah. No. I don’t fucking know, Marina. Sort it out.” He sighs. “Heaven?”

“Yes?”

“I’m stuck at the office. I’m sorry. I would have called before, but I thought we’d be done by now. Turns out we’re not even close.”

I clear my throat. I don’t want him to hear how upset I am, but there’s a lump the size of an orange blocking my airways. “Oh, that’s okay. Is everything under control?”

“Yeah, sort of. I’ll have to stay a few more hours. We were supposed to send all these boxes by today so that they can get to the clients next week, for the anniversary of the company. But someoneforgot. Marina scheduled a new pickup for tomorrow, and there are hundreds of boxes that need to be put together by then.”

“Can I help?” I ask as I slump down on the couch. The disappointment of knowing we won’t go on our date tonight isn’t nearly as wrenching as the awareness that I won’t see him until later tonight, when I’m half-asleep.

“No, no. Enjoy your night. And I’ll bring you on that date tomorrow. I...I had it all planned out.” He sounds just as upset as I am, which cheers me up a little. At least he misses me too.

Before I can answer, he’s screaming something at Marina again. Finally, he apologizes and hangs up.

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