Page 20 of Not Your Basic Love Story

It seemed everyone at brunch was feeling similarly hungover, easing their discomfort with Bloody Mary’s. I sat with Hannah and Charlotte, who could not stop gushing about how wonderful Dev was. I smiled and nodded, explaining he had something to do this morning and wouldn’t be joining us.

I’d hoped to catch Miranda before leaving for my flight, but it seemed she was still hiding in her newlywed glow with Derek. I sent her a text instead. ‘Off to the airport! Love you so much. So happy for you. Let’s meet up for coffee soon. xoxo’

I didn’t have the energy for emojis.

Everything was stuffed back into my ridiculous suitcase, which would now forever remind me of Dev and our short-lived vacation romance. I shoved my unused rabbit somewhere in the middle, having learned my lesson from last time. The cardstock withhisname on it sat semi-folded on the dresser. I tossed it into the trash. I should have thought to check the table for something like that. It hadn’t even occurred to me.

At the front desk, I left my bridesmaid's dress and sandals, not wanting to take them with me, as I hadn’t paid for them and didn’t want to clog up my already overflowing closet with them either. I turned to leave, but the man behind the counter caught me.

“Wait! Your cleaning, miss!” He held up my airplane clothes, freshly cleaned and pressed. I took them with a lump in my throat, another reminder of Dev’s kindness and my asshole behaviour. I shoved them into my bag, fighting the pressure of tears threatening to spill out once again.

In the cab, I checked my phone. No texts from Miranda. No texts from Dev. Maybe I should message him. But what would I say? He was right. I had behaved selfishly. I should have told him right away, or at least the night we’d gone out on a date. Everything had been so perfect, though, I didn’t want to spend the night telling him about my break-up.

Re-living it was the last thing I wanted to do.

CHAPTER SIX

Back home in Vancouver, life returned to normal. Work Monday to Friday. Running along the seawall Monday and Wednesday. Yoga Saturday morning. Grocery shopping and meal prep Sunday. Evenings spent watching Netflix. Try not to binge ice cream and cry. Fail.

What little tan I’d managed to get faded within the week, but my memories of Dev and our short-lived romance hadn’t faded in the slightest. Thankfully, a coffee date with Miranda broke up the monotony of my rigidly scheduled life and would offer a bit of a distraction from my relentless thoughts of Dev.

“Call him, damnit!” she urged, setting her cup down with a frustrated clink.

So much for a distraction. I stared dejectedly at the foam in my vanilla latte. “It was just a fling.”

“It’s two weeks later, and you’re still thinking about him. That’s not a fling, Becky. If you don’t do something about it, then you will regret it forever. What’s the worst that could happen? He ignores your call?”

“I don’t want to be rejected again.”

“What Graham did, that was awful, okay? Not all guys are like that. I only met Dev once, but he didn’t seem like that.”

I smiled a bit. No, Dev had been the perfect gentleman.

Miranda reached across the table for my hand. “Look. I know when something is real when I see it. The spark between you two, it was there! You can either chicken out and let the spark fizzle, or you can blow on it and see what happens.”

I laughed. “Miranda, ‘blow on it’ is always the advice you give.”

“Number one relationship advice: when in doubt, blow on it.”

The ladies next to us glared when our laughing spiralled out of control.

“Enough about me and my failed romances. How’s married life?” I asked spirit elevated with her sitting across the table, finally getting some time with her after the chaos of her wedding.

“Honestly? Not any different.”

“Really?"

“Yeah. I thought something would feel different, you know? More permanent, at least. But it’s pretty much the same as before, only now instead of people asking us when we’re getting married, they’re asking us when we’re having babies.”

“So, when is that?” I smiled, giddy at the idea of mini Mirandas running around.

She shrugged. “I’m so happy with how everything is, you know? I love my job, I love my freedom, but it would be nice to get started right away while we’re still young. It would suck to be retiring and putting kids through college at the same time.”

My stomach sank, doing the mental math in my head to determine when I’d need to meet someone, date the appropriate length of time, get engaged, marry, and then have babies, if I wanted not to be retiring when they were going to college. It didn’t look promising.

Miranda continued. “Derek’s ready to be a dad. He’s been ready for a while. He wants four kids. Four!”

“How are you going to manage four kids and work?”

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