Page 58 of New Girl in the City
Chapter Fourteen
“What the hell,” Aurora’s voice stopped and then started again, “okay, start again at the part where you have a husband?”
I pulled a face and shifted the phone to my other ear. I was barefoot in my kitchen and it was a Sunday morning. I was footloose and fancy free, making a mess of pancakes and drinking coffee on a slow morning. After the whirlwind of a week it was well and truly needed. I’d called her after my second cup of coffee and third pancake, because I knew I was in for an earful when I finally dropped the big news to Aurora.
I’d kept her in the dark long enough. It was time to share. That’s what best friends did. It was time.
“Ex-husband,” I corrected, taking a sip from my coffee cup.
Aurora made an annoyed sound. “What the fuck, Mel? You got married and didn’t tell me? What else don’t I know?”
“That I secretly hate that turkey meatloaf recipe you make me eat when it's Friendsgiving,” I replied without missing a beat.
She gasped in outrage. “You take that back! You love that recipe!”
“I do not,” I told her with a shrug. “And that’s the bulk of deep dark secrets that I have kept from you.”
“So it’s the sacred turkey meatloaf and a secret ex-husband then.”
“Yeah, basically. I am a woman who has to retain some mystery.”
“I’m actually more upset about the meatloaf. You went back for seconds every holiday.”
“The things we do for love.”
She laughed then and sighed. “I love you, Mel.”
“I love you too, Aurora.”
“So what’s the deal on this Martin? Why--” she broke off and then sighed, “what’s his deal? How did you meet?”
“We met just after college when you were making the move to New York with Dylan,” I told her. “It was a weird time. He swept me off my feet. I thought--I thought I never had to speak to him again, not after the divorce, but then there he was at Liam’s fight.”
She whistled and then said, “Yeah, and let’s talk about the cage fighter boyfriend in a minute but---”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I cut in, but my best friend was on a roll and not to be deterred.
“First, I just gotta talk about this asshole Martin,” she continued on as if I hadn’t spoken. “He’s stalking you.”
“He was stalking me,” I said and then added, “I mean, I think. I don’t really know. He’s a lot of talk, but you should have seen him after Liam got a hold of him.”
“I haven’t seen either of these men, but I’d pay good money for that.”
I cracked a smile. “It was pretty great.”
She was silent for a second and I heard her shuffling around on her end before she sighed and said. “I love you. I wish I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my bullshit. I can’t believe I wasn’t there when you needed someone.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and put my coffee mug down on the counter. “Hey, don’t talk like that. It was a weird time. We were all so young and wrapped up in our own bullshit. That’s what your early twenties is for, Aurora. Don’t feel that way. I made a choice when I felt lost and I chose Martin. It was,” I stopped, swallowing hard before rushing on when I heard her begin to speak again. I couldn’t have her blaming herself, not over this. Not over something so stupid and as shitty as Martin.
“I didn’t tell you so that you’d blame yourself for what I chose to do as a 23 year old. Let’s be honest, 23 year olds do some dumb things. Martin was my dumbest thing, but that’s how it is. I can’t change that, but what I can change is you thinking this is on you. Because it isn’t, Aurora. Are you with me?”
She was silent and I knew she was processing what I said, but I had time. It was Sunday morning, after all. So I gave it to her. When she finally spoke it was through a thick voice, and I knew she was also trying not to cry. That made me want to cry.
“Okay,” she said, voice hoarse, “I’m with you.”
I smiled. “Good.”
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t hate that it happened to you.”
