Page 175 of The Infiniteness of Yesterday
“It’s the truth,” I say. “Someone halfway decent wouldn’t have cheated on their fiancé a day after he proposed.”
He flinches. “There’s a lot that’s complicated about our relationship.”
“That’s true,” I agree.
“I better head in, but I just wanted to say hi since I saw you.”
I look at the clock and groan. “I have to get to work.”
He nods in understanding. “I’ll see you tomorrow to pick up Roe.”
“Yep. See you then.”
He walks away and I roll up the window. After laying all my emotions out there with Dr. Michaels, work is the last place I want to be, but I need money, so I have to suck it up.
Luckily for me, my shift goes by quickly and after picking up Monroe we stop off at the grocery store to pick up supplies for a movie night.
I let Monroe pick things out which means we end up with dinosaur chicken nuggets, barbeque chips, and cupcakes for our snacks.
“What movie are we going to watch?” she asks, bursting inside the apartment when I’ve barely unlocked the door. “I was thinkingCoco.”
“Sounds like an excellent choice to me.”
I set the groceries down on the counter and go to work unpacking everything.
“We both need to shower first,” I tell her. “And get in our pajamas.”
“I hate showers,” she whines, letting out a dramatic groan.
“A bath then,” I reason, sticking the milk in the fridge.
“I hate that more.”
“Shower it is. Hop in and get it done. And I will check your hair so don’t even think about only getting it wet and calling it a day. Shampoo and then conditioner. You hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she sasses, holding one hand up and flapping it like a mouth. “I hear you.”
I should probably scold her for being sassy, but I like her to feel safe to say how she’s feeling—even if she’s being a bit naughty. I don’t want her to grow up and think she has to censor certain thoughts and feelings from me.
The shower turns on just as I’m pulling out the pan for the dinosaur nuggets.
Popping them in the oven, I finish putting the rest of the groceries away before I go to check on Roe and make sure she washes her hair like she’s supposed to and gets all the shampoo and conditioner rinsed out.
When she finishes, I help her brush out her hair and then she runs off to pick out her pajamas.
After my own quick shower, I take the dinosaur nuggets out of the oven and plate some up for each of us with the barbeque chips. Is it the healthiest dinner? No. But this is a movie night treat, and these are the things she wanted to eat.
We settle on the couch with our food and drinks, and I start the movie.
The opening credits are almost done when she asks, “Does Jameson not like me anymore?”
That question absolutely guts me. I explained to her after it happened that Jameson and I had decided not to be together anymore and that meant she wouldn’t see him, but she’s young and I didn’t expect her to fully understand. As curious as she is, I’m a little surprised it’s taken her this long to ask.
“Of course, he still likes you.”
She dips a nugget in ketchup. “I didn’t break up with him. I still want to be friends with him. I miss him.”
Fuck.
