Page 45 of About that Fling
Was this what closure felt like?
“Here you go,” Shawn said, dropping into the chair next to her and handing her a glass of red wine. “Pizza will be up in a few. So how have you been, Jenna?”
“Good,” she said, taking a tentative sip. “Aunt Gertie is healthy and happy. Work’s going great.”
“Work,” he said, nodding as he pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and set it on the table beside his own glass. “That’s great. You’re still at the hospital?”
“Yes. Did I hear you changed jobs?”
“Yeah, I’m with the same group as Allison Ross. You still work with Allie, right?”
“On occasion. She’s hosting an event at Belmont next month.” Both Allie and Shawn worked as Certified Association Executives, which is how they’d all met in the first place. Their jobs involved lobbying and developing public health policy, which was what had put Shawn in Jenna’s orbit in the first place. “How’s Allie doing?”
“Great, great.” Shawn sounded distracted, and she watched his gaze wander back to his phone. He jerked it right back, making an effort to look at her as he spoke. “Can’t complain about the new office. It’s really nice—right on the river.”
“That’s great.” She struggled for something to say. “Tell Allie hi when you see her.”
“Mmmhmm.”
She watched as his fingers slid over the power button on his phone. His eyes were still on hers, but she could tell his brain was already wandering through his in-box.
“Must be nice working that close to home,” she said.
“Actually, I moved. I’m over in Lake Oswego now. The commute is a bitch, but I love the new house. The views are great.”
“Great,” she said, doing a mental head-slap at the fact that two educated people couldn’t seem to come up with a better adjective than great. “I’m very happy for you.”
His phone vibrated, and she watched his gaze flick away to read the message. He moved his eyes back to hers an instant later, doing a perfect impression of a man connected to the conversation. “You still living in the old place and walking to work all the time?”
“Yes.” Amazing how an eye-rolling urge came rushing right back as he peered at his phone again. “I love having the fresh air and exercise at the beginning and end of each day.”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes flicked back to the screen, though he left the phone flat on the table, tucked behind his wineglass. At least he was trying to be discreet about it. At least she no longer cared, no longer felt the urge to reach across the table and grab his phone so she could beat him over the head with it. His inability to carry on a conversation without checking his goddamn messages every ten seconds was no longer her concern.
Was it someone else’s? She tried to decide if she cared. She didn’t, at least not in the sense that it bothered her if some other woman was now sharing his bed, his life, his dreams.
He tapped out something on his screen, and Jenna bit back a flare of frustration. She took a deep breath, remembering the tip Adam had offered in mediation about breathing before speaking. She did it a few more times for good measure.
“So you like the new job?”
“What’s that?” He looked up at her, his hand still poised on the phone.
“Your job. You like the new place you’re working?”
“Yes, definitely. Much more challenging. The pay’s better, too.”
His phone buzzed with the sound of an incoming text message, and Shawn looked down at it. He nodded absently, then reached for the device and began typing quickly with his thumbs.
Jenna took another sip of wine and glanced around the restaurant. Was it only a couple years ago this had been their old stomping ground? Funny how much her life had changed since she’d been Shawn’s fiancée, since they’d been planning a future together and?—
“Will you excuse me a sec?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts. “I just need to check on the pizza.”
He needed to make a phone call, she guessed, but Jenna just nodded and watched him walk away. She looked at her watch and wondered how long she had to make polite conversation with him before she could safely go home and put on her pajamas and watch trashy TV. An hour? Forty-five minutes?
She slid off her chair, catching Shawn’s eye and gesturing to the far corner of the restaurant to let him know she was going to the bathroom. He barely glanced up from his phone as she moved through the crowd, picking her way past bistro tables strewn with beer mugs and half-eaten pizzas.
As she neared the restrooms, she took one last glance at Shawn. He had his phone pressed to his ear, and was making a hurry-up gesture with his hand. Jenna sighed, shaking her head as she pivoted fast and marched around the corner.
“Ooof!”
