Chapter 11
ONE MONTH LATER
Charlie
I was sitting behind my desk, staring out the window, when my office door opened, and Chase walked in.
“Are you ready to play?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I sighed, turning my chair around.
We walked over to the couch, turned on the TV, and tested one of our new games.
“Have you talked to Marley?” Chase asked.
“No. Why?”
“I don’t know. I just thought you might have called her. It has been a month since your last date.”
“It wasn’t a date. It was dinner and sex. Nothing else.”
“You bought out Salvatore’s for an entire night. That classifies as a date. Besides, Lila wants the four of us to get together.”
“Then tell Lila to call Marley and do lunch or something. Why do I need to be involved?”
“Did someone take their pissy mood pills this morning?”
“Shit. Did you see that glitch?” I asked.
“No. What glitch?”
“Exactly. You’re too busy grilling me about Marley and not paying attention to the game. Focus, Chase. You know how I operate.”
“I’m sure she’s missing your charm,” he said.
“I made it very clear that I wasn’t looking for anything, and so did she. She’s not missing anything.”
“Women lie. I’m sure she said that because of what you said.”
“Drop it, Chase, and I mean it,” my authoritative voice spoke.
“Whatever, Charlie. It’s your life.”
“Damn right, it is.”
I left my office and walked a couple of blocks to pick up a sandwich for lunch. I could have had my assistant pick it up, but I needed some fresh air. My phone dinged with a text, so I looked down at it and suddenly bumped into someone.
“Excuse—Marley?” Our eyes locked.
“Charlie.”
“How are you?” I asked.
“I’m really good. How are you? Sorry about slamming into you. I was looking down at my phone.”
“Please, don’t apologize. I wasn’t paying attention either,” I said.
“Well, it was nice to see you again.” She smiled.
As she began to walk away, I turned and lightly took hold of her arm. She stopped and looked at me.
“I’m sorry I haven’t called. I’ve been really busy with work.”
“Don’t apologize. I never expected you to. I really have to go, or I’m going to be late. Enjoy the rest of your day.” A smile crossed her lips.
“Thanks. You too.”
I sighed as I placed my phone in my pocket and continued walking to the deli. I knew I’d eventually run into her at some point. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to call her after that night and see her again; I couldn’t. I had my reasons, and they were too personal to share with anyone, especially Chase.
Marley
I couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Of all the men I’d semi-dated and had sex with over the years, no one had left a mark on me like Charlie Stone had. It took me almost three weeks to forget about him, and just when I thought I had, I ran smack dab into him because I was distracted by my phone.
“Thanks, Universe.” I looked up at the sky. “Thanks a hell of a lot for that. I know you think you’re really funny. Do me a favor. Next time, if I collide with someone on the street, make sure it’s not him. Can you do that? Pretty please with sugar on top. Ugh.”
I stepped into the Manhattan Diner and saw my dad sitting at a table, holding the menu.
“Hey, Dad.” I smiled, kissing his cheek before taking the seat across from him.
“Hi, sweetheart. It’s been a while.”
“I know. I’ve been really busy.” I picked up my glass of water and took a sip.
“Another event to plan?” He smiled.
“Yes. How are you?”
“I’m good. You look like you’ve lost some weight. Are you okay?”
“Dad, I haven’t lost any weight, and I’m good. Stop being silly.”
A waitress walked over and asked if we were ready to order.
“I’ll have the tuna melt with a side of French fries.” I closed my menu.
“I’ll have the same,” my dad spoke. “So, Marley. I ran into your mother last week at the market.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
He sighed and folded his hands on the table. “She said she hasn’t seen you in months and barely speaks to you on the phone.”
“I’m just a twenty-seven-year-old woman living her best life as an event planner and very busy.”
“That may be, but you can’t forget about your parents.”
“I haven’t forgotten about you or Mom. You’re being dramatic, Dad.”
“What’s been going on with you? Is there a special man you’re keeping a secret in your life?”
“Nope. No special man.” I smiled as our waitress walked over and set our food down.
“Maybe a special woman?” He picked up his tuna melt.
“DAD!” I cocked my head.
“What? How am I supposed to know when you don’t tell me anything about your life? All I want is for my baby girl to find someone special, get married, and have children. I’m ready to be a grandpa, you know.”
I breathed out a laugh. “Well, you can forget about that. You and Mom both showed me how destructive love can be, and I’m not signing up for any of that shit. No way.” I bit into my sandwich.
“Marley, I know it was rough for you growing up and being shuffled back and forth every other week between houses. What did you want me to do? Stay with your mother and pretend she wasn’t fucking, Peter?”
“No. Of course not.”
“I did the best I could with you under the circumstances. You need to let what happened between your mother and me go. It wasn’t entirely your mother’s fault, Marley. I let my work consume me to provide a better life for both of you than I had growing up. I wasn’t around as much as I should have been.”
“That’s no excuse to run into the arms of our next-door neighbor, Dad. Besides, you hate her too for what she did.”
“I’ve come to realize that your mother and I were meant to be together for a season in order for you to be born. The world is much better with you in it, sweetheart.” He smiled.
“I see Miranda’s been in your ear.”
“My wife and I are very much in love. Everything happens for a reason. One day, you’ll understand that.”
After we finished lunch, I kissed my dad goodbye and headed to Love At First Sip.
“Look what the cat dragged in.” Olivia grinned. “Shouldn’t you be out shopping for décor?” She hooked her arm around me as I stepped behind the counter.
“What’s wrong? You have that look,” Penelope said.
“I ran into Charlie.”
“What was his piss poor excuse for not calling you in over a month?” Olivia’s brow arched.
“Same old, same old. He’s been super busy with work.” I rolled my eyes.
“No excuse.” Olivia’s grip around me tightened.
“It’s not like I care.”
“Yeah, you do.” A smirk crossed Penelope’s lips.
“No. I don’t.” I grabbed a cup and handed it to her. “Make me a latte with almond milk.”
“I hate to break this party up, but I have to run to the store,” Olivia said, grabbing her purse.
“For?” I asked.
“Tampons. I started my period and only had one tampon in my purse.”
My phone rang, and when I pulled it from my purse, I saw my gynecological office was calling.
“Hello.”
“Is this Marley?”
“Yes. This is she.”
“Marley, it’s Margo from Dr. Gregario’s office. Our records indicate that you never showed up for your appointment last month. We were reaching out to see if you wanted to schedule something.
“What do you mean? I have an appointment next week for my Depo shot. I have it on my calendar.”
“No. That appointment was last month, and you didn’t show.”
“I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken. It’s next week.”
“Perhaps you accidentally put it in the wrong month. I’ve done that myself. Let me see what we have available next week. We had a cancellation for next Tuesday at noon. May I put you in?”
“Yeah. I guess. Thanks for calling, Margo. I’ll be there.”
“Girl, you’re turning fifty shades of green. What happened?” Olivia asked.
I scrolled back through my calendar until I reached the last time I had the shot.
“Fuck! I fucked up.” I stared at my friends.
“Fucked up, how?” Penelope asked.
“I put my Depo shot appointment in the wrong month. I totally missed it last month. Oh my God! I missed a full month of birth control!” I panicked.
“Relax,” Olivia said. “You haven’t had unprotected sex or sex at all since Charlie. You specifically said you were back on your sex hiatus.”
“Yeah, Mar. You’re fine.” Penelope smiled.
“I know I am. It’s just how could I have been so stupid?”
“It happens to the best of us. Forget about it. You’ll go next week, get your shot, and be back in the land of the protected,” Olivia said.