Chapter 16 Rosie
ROSIE
It had been three weeks since Wesley stood in my kitchen and accused me of being a hypocrite. I hadn’t reached out, because I honestly didn’t know what I would say.
I love you.
I’ve been in love with you for years.
Watching you with someone else makes me want to stab myself in the eye.
None seemed like good options, and I kept reminding myself that the truth would only hurt me more.
It was better this way, and while I had originally planned a fade to black departure, letting Caitlin take over my place without a fuss, it worked also.
It was more of a blunt severing after weeks of distance, but the result was the same—the end.
My phone pinged at the reminder of Megan’s soft opening for her expansion.
I debated ad nauseam with myself about going.
In fact, I had decided absolutely not. That was, until Megan called me and told me she needed me there, that she wanted me there.
When I had tried to use the excuse that I was busy—because I was, with a shift at Orla’s—she took it upon herself to visit me and make her case with Orla.
I’d been working the previous Friday when she showed up.
“Is that…is that…Rosie? I forgot what you looked like.” Megan’s snark rolled over me as I faced the open kitchen window, grabbing plates. My nose twitched as I tried to keep myself from smiling.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” I shouted, but didn’t bother looking back.
Daniel’s eyebrows were raised as he took in my response, but I winked at him, letting him know it was all in good jest. I spun around to face my maker after he put the plates of mac and cheese and an open roast beef sandwich in the window I had been waiting for.
“Not only are you ghosting me, but you’re cheating on me with the competition,” Megan accused but there was humor in her words.
“No competition, dear. We are the best.” Orla appeared out of nowhere and took the plates out of my hands, giving me a few seconds to catch up with Megan.
“You heard her.”
“How dare you.” Megan threw her hands on her hips, but then smiled brightly at me before she uncharacteristically pulled me into a hug, squeezing tightly.
“Oomph.” She all but knocked the wind out of me. “It’s good to see you too.”
My friend gave me one final squeeze before she let me go and backed up. “You know, I tried really hard to be annoyed with you, but I just missed you. I’ve had to resort to stalking you to see you.” She pouted.
“Sorry, things have been…busy.” I felt the way my cheeks burned.
I felt guilty. I hadn’t stopped to think about how me distancing myself would make Megan feel.
I had assumed she was friends with me because of Wesley, but I suddenly realized that our friendship was separate, and guilt spread through me.
I was unsure how to explain myself without spilling my secrets, so I half panicked and pulled her toward me in another hug.
It was her time to let out a huff of surprise.
“Are you guys going to kiss?” Matt said from behind me, and I shot him a death glare as Megan peeled herself away from me and turned to look at him.
“What are you, five?”
“I’m almost eighteen,” he shot back, and I swore he puffed his chest out a bit. Megan must have caught it, too, because she started laughing.
“Okay, kid,” she told him, and he grumbled something about just giving him ten years, and I heard the last laugh in there somewhere.
“It’s good to see you,” I said.
“Well, you would have seen me sooner if it weren’t for you dodging my calls.”
“That’s not true.”
Megan raised her eyebrows at me, and gave me a don’t bullshit me look. “It’s not what you think.” I shrugged lamely at her.
“Okay, what is it I think?” she asked.
“Uh…”
She squinted at me. “Listen, I didn’t come here to argue.
Maybe give you a bit of a hard time. But I miss you.
Lake misses you. Wes misses you.” I couldn’t help the way my body flinched away from her when she said his name.
He obviously hadn’t told them about our falling out.
But Megan didn’t miss the movement, and her raised eyebrows hit her hairline before she nodded at me in understanding.
I didn’t even have to mutter a single word.
“Right, then. My soft opening is in a week, and that’s what you get, chick. One more week of this.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she cut me off. “One week.” Megan held up her pointer finger.
“I work,” I said, like that would be all the explanation needed.
“We’ll be fine.” Orla once again appeared out of nowhere. I was going to get her a bell to wear around her neck.
“See? They’ll be fine. Next week, Rosie.” She shot me a look that honestly was a bit terrifying, and I knew that I would indeed be going to her soft opening in a week, because now I feared for my life.
“Next week,” I muttered, not at all happy about it.
A knock at my door had my heart in my throat. I wasn’t expecting anyone. In fact, I was already supposed to be on my way to Megan’s. The knock sounded again, this time jolting me into action. I went over to the door and pulled it open.
“What are you doing here?”