Page 38 of D.I.E.T. (Did I Eat That?)

My family loved him. How did I tell her that we kind of had to cool things off until he finished the merger?

Me:Busy with work. Can’t be disturbed. That’s why I need your opinion.

That answer seemed to appease her. I’d have loved to invite her over for soup, but she knew I spent my nights with Sinjin. Me cooking at home—total red flag. One I didn’t want to get into with her at the moment.

Then because I could, I stopped off at the animal shelter and found out they had a four-year-old black longhaired kitty with a squishy face and blue eyes and a big white patch on her chest who practically had the noose around her neck when I walked in. Not that kill shelters used nooses in real life, more a hypothetical noose. The staff called her “Billie Jean” and it fit, so I asked Billie Jean if she wanted to come home with me and to my joy, she did. She’d already gotten her shots and had been spayed. I paid the fees along with buying a travel carrier, then we made a special trip to the pet store. Miss Billie Jean picked out a cat tree, a comfy bed, and a rather expensive pink stone drinking and food bowl set. She preferred the pink, diamond-studded collar and not surprisingly, the Fancy Feast cat food. She also preferred the expensive auto-cleaning litter box. Miss Billie Jean had expensive tastes.

Then we headed back to the apartment so I could introduce her to her new home. I left her in the carrier until I moved all my bags inside. Since nobody ever used the second bedroom, that became Billie’s room. I laid a puppy pad under her new litterbox and set that up for her. Then I set up the cat tree and her new bed. Lastly, I set out food and water for my new roommate before making my own dinner.

My night went pretty well. I binged on healthy soup and old episodes ofChoppedwith a fluffy kitty in my lap for at least half of the night. A girl could do worse. At 11:00, I went to bed. It was hard to find a comfy spot after sleeping in Sinjin’s bed. His bed seriously rocked. Eventually, I dozed off.

Out of the blue, my phone rang. As the sound ripped me from a dead sleep, blurry-eyed, I answered it, thinking that there might’ve been an emergency. Maybe something with Grams.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Where are you?” he snapped into the line.

“Sinjin?”

“Uh, yeah—who else’s bed have you been sleeping in? Of course, it’s me.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked and I pushed to sit up, wiping my face with the palm of my hand.

“No, everything’s not okay. You ran out of bootcamp this morning crying and I get home from work and your stuff’s gone. Mind explaining that?”

“I left you a note on the island explaining.”

“Saw that. You left your key. What the hell, Geet?”

“You’ve been under a lot of stress with this merger. I was getting in the way, so I decided to come home. I left the key because I didn’t need it anymore.”

“So that’s it? You’re breaking up with me? I don’t need this.”

“Ho—wait, I’m not breaking up with you. I’m giving you some space back.”

“Did I ask for space back?” he barked and an ugly shudder worked its way down my spine making me wonder if I’d made a mistake. No. I’d done the right thing.

“Yeah, you kind of did. Not in words, but definitely in actions. I told you I’m not needy. I get the long days at work. I get the dinners at the office. But I was sleeping in the house of a man I hardly ever saw and when I did, he acted short with me. You haven’t kissed me since that pathetic cheek kiss you gave me at the Golden Dragon a week ago.”

“This is to punish me because I haven’t kissed you?”

“Punish? Nobody’s being punished, Sin. I pay rent for an apartment it felt like I should go back to until you’re ready to have me around again. You probably recognize Vanessa’s voice better than mine right now.”

“That’s what this is about, Geet, Vanessa? Real mature. She works for Communicant.”

“It’s not about anything. I figured she worked for you or them. All I meant is that you’re working so hard, having to spend so much time talking to and texting with Vanessa, you’d probably recognize her voice before mine. There’s no reason to be mean; I’m not trying to be. I just went home. This apartment is my home. You get a chance to call me when you’re at lunch or dinner, I look forward to hearing from you. You know my Tuesday schedule.”

“Yeah. Fine. ’Night, Geet.”

I didn’t get the chance to saygoodnightback. He hung up on me. How was I the bad guy here? Miss Billie Jean must have heard me arguing with Sinjin because she peeked her head inside my room, then when I invited her to come in, she leapt onto my bed. I held her and cried until I fell asleep. I never thought Sinjin would take such offense to me going home. He’d stopped acting like he wanted me around a week ago. His mind needed to be on Communicant. I got that. This was why I’d stayed single for so long after numbnut broke my heart. Who needed this?

Love sucked.

Thirteen:

That morning I left the television on for Billie with a DVD of cats playing that I’d bought at the pet store so she wouldn’t feel alone when I had to leave for work. A steady stream of clients kept my mind off missing my boyfriend, or the man I hoped was still my boyfriend.

He never called at lunch. I told myself that he probably had back to back meetings. Lu called, though; she wanted to get together for dinner before my trip. I told her about Miss Billie Jean and asked if I could bring her over to Lu’s place to meet her. It hit me that I needed kitty care for her while I was in Chile. As predicted, Lu squealed, and then she told me that I better bring my purr baby to meet her Auntie Lu.

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