Page 51 of Hard To Love

She rolled her eyes “Of course you do.” She set her coffee down to stir in more cream. “Do you think you can be on your best behavior tonight and not walk around with an ‘I fucking told you so’ look all night?”

I laughed, then immediately stopped. “Wait. What’s tonight?”

She arched an eyebrow at me “The Newman Labor Day gathering. Liam asked me to go with him.”

My stomach dropped and the feelings of doubt seeped into every corner of my brain.

She set her cup down; the look on my face must have given me away. “You’re going, aren’t you?” We stared at each other with thickening silence stretching between us.

I forced myself to sound unaffected when I replied, “Nope. I’m not going.”

She crinkled her forehead, “I don’t understand, why wouldn’t you go?”

“I wasn’t invited.”

Her eyes searched for an explanation, “I don’t understand. Is Chase not going?”

I inhaled a deep breath, “No, he’s going. He just didn’t ask me to go. He said it was more like a business event.” My attempts to hide my disappointment were ineffective and based on how fast she was pacing, I could tell that Cassie was about ready to hunt Chase down and tear him a new one for upsetting me.

“I’m sorry. I just assumed you were going. This doesn’t make sense.” In an attempt to make me feel better she said, “Maybe he thinks you’ll be bored and he’s trying to spare you? Call him and tell him I’m going, see what he says?”

I forced my feet to move towards my bedroom so I could get ready for work. I ignored Cassie as she stood in my doorway with her arms crossed. After a couple minutes of silently being watched, as I shifted through my closet I finally gave in.

“I’m not going to say anything to him. If he wanted me there, he would have invited me.” I threw my dress on my bed, then walked over to my dresser and dropped my head in my hands and sighed. I could see Cassie approaching me out of the corner of my eye. I held up my hand, “Please, I need to get ready for work. I would appreciate you not saying anything to Liam. I’ll deal with Chase tomorrow.”

Nodding her head in understanding, she walked over placing her chin on my shoulder. She gave my arms a tight squeeze. “If you change your mind, let me know. I would rather stay here with you. The only reason I said I would go with Liam, is because I thought you would be there.”

I clenched my jaw and pulled away. “Of course, you did. I mean after all, why wouldn’t my ‘supposed’ boyfriend want me to go with him to his father’s party?”

I knew that if I asked her to not go she wouldn’t, but Liam obviously wanted her there. I could care less about a party, but it really hurt knowing that he didn’t want me there.

Cassie tried to reassure me, “Talk to him. I’m sure there is a good explanation.” When I didn’t respond she just sighed, “I’ll let you get ready for work. See you later.”

Quietly, she closed the door and left me alone with my thoughts. I had so many conflicting scenarios racing through my mind I could barely process them all. Why would Liam invite Cassie if the party were a dud? I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but I still had red flags waving around in my head. What I really needed was to get past all this nonsense and have a productive day at work.

I arrived at my office and slumped down in my chair, feeling sweat run down the back of my neck. This hot weather was unbearable, although the feeling matched my mood. I started up my computer and began to sort through the pile of paperwork that had accumulated on my desk. I felt my cell phone vibrate in my purse, and pulled it out to see Chase’s name light up the screen. I automatically hit decline and slammed it down on my desk. I started scrolling through my emails when the phone indicated a new text message.

Good morning beautiful. Thought I would catch you before my meeting. Just wanted to wish you a good day. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

I leaned back and closed my eyes, and tried to keep my composure. I picked up my phone and put it on silent. After a quick walk to the water cooler to refill my glass, I spotted Jonathan at his desk. I walked over as he lifted his head and gave me a smile.

“Hey, can I ask you a favor?”

He looked me over cautiously. I’d been out of sorts the last two days over this whole party-shunning thing. The emotional roller coaster I’d been on for the past twenty-four hours was staring to affect my work.

“What’s up?”

“I have some time-sensitive projects due this morning and I was hoping you could screen my calls for a while. Only interrupt me if it’s an emergency.”

He could tell that I was in a mood and being the friend that he was, he silently nodded in agreement “Yes, of course I will.”

“Thank you,” I sighed with relief as I made my way back to my desk.

Around noon, I reflexively reached for my phone. As I scrolled through my text messages, there had to be at least a dozen from Chase, all pretty much saying the same things.

Are you ok? Why haven’t you returned my calls? I’m getting worried.

I cursed myself and headed to the break room to grab a cup of coffee.

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