Page 90 of Falling Madly
“You can say it looks boring,” she shot back. “And before you ask, it feels exactly as narrow on the inside. You’d bruise your shoulders.”
Was this her way of saying I wasn’t invited?
“I better drop ye off here, then. Don’t think I can take any more bruising.”
She turned to look at me, holding still, her teeth skating along her bottom lip, her eyes conflicted. “I need time, Trevor. I need to clear my head.”
“Okay,” I replied. What else could I say?
“Thank you. For everything,” she finally uttered, opening the car door. “I’ll talk to you later.”
And then she was gone, leaving behind an empty seat that mocked me. I’d freaked her out. I’d driven her away. And I still wasn’t over her.
Would I ever be?
“Meet me for a beer,” I said as soon as Charlie picked up.
I’d arrived home to my stale and dusty apartment with one wilted house plant, but I couldn’t be alone with my thoughts.
“Hang on a sec,” Charlie said. “I’ll check with Bess.”
I dodged a pile of moving boxes to throw myself on the brick-like couch. Next week, I’d have to give up this place and move to my cabin in Cozy Creek. I would either work remotely, or the company would move closer. Either option didn’t worry me. I’d taken this gamble for a reason. I couldn’t keep living in the same town, two streets over, hoping to run into her at the deli. It was probably best I put some distance between us and start over. Besides, with my current income, I couldn’t keep both places.
I waited for a moment, listening to the muffled conversation between Charlie and Bess, with Celia’s young voice in the mix. She must have missed her parents during their little getaway. I heard Bess say something about me needing a friend, and Charlie agreed. I did, too.
“O’Malley’s in half an hour?” Charlie finally replied.
“Perfect.”
It was the Irish pub around the corner that had at least two happy hours every night, possibly more. We’d never been able to avoid one.
Ten minutes later, I pushed open the door, taking in the sticky floors, cracked vinyl seats and bowls of beer nuts you usually ate, by accident, after a couple of beers, and ended up ordering vodka after to disinfect your mouth. Not that I was planning on getting wasted.
Charlie appeared thirty minutes later, his jacket hanging open and cheeks red from the cold. I’d already ordered for us, snatching a private booth at the back.
“Sorry if it’s gone flat.” I nodded at his beer. “I got here a bit early.”
“All good.” Charlie took a sip and winced. “So, what’s going on?”
Normally, we would have wasted a good half hour with idle chitchat, talking about work or sports or movies. But today, it seemed pointless.
“So, I’m not over Teresa,” I said.
“No, you’re not,” he confirmed.
“But she… I don’t know if she feels anything for me. What should I do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I think, in general, you’ve done… enough. More than any man should ever do. I mean, you make the rest of us look lazy.” Charlie took a sip of beer and grimaced.
“And sane.”
“That, too. But also, a bit lame. Bess asked me yesterday if I was obsessed with her before we got together. I mean, I had a crush on her, but I didn’t know her last name. I didn’t know where she lived. I didn’t know what she did outside of work.”
“We work pretty closely together,” I argued. “We have a private chat, and we talk every day. It’s different.”
