Chapter Fifty Just Do Better #2
Tommy gave her a look that told her that might be exactly what had to happen.
“Leave it with me for tonight. I might be able to go in through your account and save everything first.” He looked it over carefully.
“This is the Iris 3, it’s like five years old.
” He shook his head, giving her an admonishing look.
“You can walk into the store and take literally any phone you want right off the shelf at any time, and you’re still using the one I gave you for your twentieth birthday? ”
“It still works, or it did, anyway.” She replied defensively as Alex started to laugh, and she kicked his shin lightly. “Hey, you’re part of the reason it stopped working, shut up.”
“Then you’re welcome?” He laughed, reaching down to rub the spot where she had kicked him. His phone beeped; he checked the notification and then gave her an apologetic look. “Since you said I couldn’t stay the night, I made other plans. Do you mind if I take off?”
“No, I need to talk to Tommy about a few things anyway.” She watched him wipe his mouth and stood to walk him out. At the door, he leaned down to kiss her, but she put her hand on his chest to stop him, glancing toward the dining room.
“Listen.” She said seriously. “I’m not going to change. If you can’t accept that I’m not interested in clubs and partying with you, then you need to seriously think about whether you want to be with me or not.”
He frowned, his eyes sweeping her face. “Are you saying you want to break up with me?”
“No,” she shook her head, slightly exasperated. “I’m saying if you want to stay with me, you have to accept that I’m not going to keep going to parties and clubs with you, and if you can’t, then we need to end things.”
“I want to stay together.” He responded instantly. “It’s not even a question.”
“It should be, though.” She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to kiss him. “Please, take a few days to think it over, I mean, really think it over. Can you be happy if I’m staying home or spending time with other people while you go out partying all the time?”
He blew out a long breath and kissed her again. “I will, but I don’t think my answer will change.”
“That’s fine, just be sure.” She opened the door for him and watched as he got on the elevator, then went back to put the plates in the dishwasher. Tommy had vanished, and she figured he was using her computer in her office to log into her account and get her data off her phone.
Picking up the envelopes Fred had given her, she walked down the hall to her office and found Tommy exactly where she expected: sitting at her computer, her phone beside him as he tried to find a workaround.
“Any luck?”
Tommy shook his head, not looking away from the screen as she pulled the armchair from the corner to sit next to him.
“Not yet. Luckily, you had synced your photos and downloads to upload automatically, but it looks like you saved your contacts to the phone, so they’re likely gone, and I won’t be able to transfer your apps or anything like that.
If you’re not logged into accounts on them, you’ll lose whatever you had.
” He rubbed his eyebrow briefly. “Nissa is going to grab you a new phone when she leaves the office for the night and drop it off.”
She watched his fingers fly across the keyboard for a moment, then looked at the time. “It’s almost eight-thirty. Why is she there so late?”
“There was an issue with Aaron’s op.” He responded absently. “He’s okay, but he was supposed to be back today, and he didn’t show up at the airport. Apparently, he got delayed at the border over some paperwork, so she’s straightening that out for him.”
“Ah.” Evie nodded; that sort of thing had happened before, and she knew it wasn’t usually a big deal, just time-consuming.
“I had a meeting with Fred today.” She showed him the envelope containing the information about the house in Winter Harbor.
“Apparently, Della and Oscar purchased a vacation home there for me.”
That got his attention, and he stopped typing, turning to face her and taking the envelope. “Why would they have done that? You’ve never been there.”
“I was hoping you’d be able to explain, because I don’t understand at all.” She watched as he pulled the documents out, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“They bought you this house?” Tommy glanced at her, shaking his head. “I don’t understand either, because Mom and Dad used to rent it for a few weeks in the summer while I was growing up. Della and Oscar joined us sometimes, but to my knowledge, they never went there on their own.”
He flicked through the paperwork, pausing to read something occasionally. “We actually stopped going after they adopted you and started going south. Dad found the damp, chilly nights aggravated his arthritis too much.”
“Well, I’m going up next week to see it and decide what to do with it. Will you come with me?” She took the paperwork back from him and put it into the envelope, laying it on top of her paper organizer.
“Of course, Princess.” He smiled at her. “Are you sure you want me and not Alex?”
“I’d rather you. Alex wouldn’t understand the history and dynamics of everything.” She shifted slightly. She really didn’t know whether she wanted to keep it or if she’d even use it. “It’s just a day trip. Fly up first thing in the morning, look at it, and come back that evening.”
“Sure, we can take the jet.”
“I was going to anyway.” She gave him a small smile when he chuckled and took a deep breath. “Your parents also left me a trust with three point three million and change in it, and this letter.”
Tommy took it quietly and read it. When he was done, he was smiling sadly at it.
“They really loved you, Evie.” He handed the letter back to her. “I know the letter and the trust give you an idea of how much, but really, it doesn’t even come close. They always wanted more kids, especially a little girl, and I think they lived a little vicariously through you.”
**********
A few days later, Alex called and asked if he could come over so they could talk. She agreed, and he showed up at her apartment with sandwiches and a box of doughnuts from her favourite bakery. After they ate, he guided her over to the couch and sat down, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“I did as you asked and really thought about what you asked me to, and I came to different conclusions. The first is that I definitely want to stay together. I know our relationship has had its ups and downs, but we’ve both stuck it out, worked through the issues, and come out stronger every time.
We’ve reached a point where we’ve got a good dynamic in with our sex life, we talk things out when we fight, and when we’re good, we’re really fucking good. ”
Evie had to agree. Part of the reason she stayed despite the issues they had, which she clearly thought were bigger problems than Alex did, was that, besides those issues, things were really good between them, and he was a great boyfriend ninety percent of the time.
He still tended to push her boundaries with the BDSM stuff, but with Dr. Monroe’s help, Evie was much more assertive about stopping him before it went too far.
He had also become more concerned with her pleasure, integrating her kinks into things and making sure she was enjoying what they were doing.
She kind of felt like it was so she would be more accepting when it was his turn to do what he liked, but she didn’t know if that feeling came from lingering resentment.
She told him about the house in Winter Harbour and that she and Tommy were going down to check it out. At first, he was upset that she didn’t ask him, but when she explained her reasons, he understood and let it go.
“Besides, are you willing to take a full day off work to go to Maine with me?” If Evie had to choose one thing about Alex she admired most, it would be his work ethic.
He took his job seriously, usually working ten to twelve-hour days, and had to be practically dying to call off sick, generally working from home if he was contagious or too ill to get to work.
“I would, but I would also go in on Saturday or Sunday to make it up,” he admitted.
“Exactly, and you were planning that two-day hike that weekend. So you would have to choose work or your hike, and I would never want to be the reason you have to pick between them.” She teased him, giggling.
“True.” He nodded thoughtfully. “But that does segue nicely into the other thing I wanted to tell you. I’m going to start cutting back on the amount of partying I do.
I mean, I’m the Chief of Security Operations for the biggest security company in the state, I shouldn’t still be out partying like a frat boy every weekend. ”
“That’s true.” Evie nodded, impressed with his decision. It was something she had thought often, but hadn’t wanted to be the one to bring it up to him. “I think that’s a great idea.”
He grinned, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You should come on my hike with me.”
Evie felt her stomach turn over. She was not a hiker, and he knew it, so now she was wondering whether he would start trying to change her mind about hiking.
“Yeah, that’s not my thing. I’d just slow you down.” She laughed, trying to keep the mood light, but when she saw his face fall, she instantly felt guilty for shutting it down so hard. “If you want me to get into that, we’d have to build it up slowly.”
“Hmm.” He gave her his lopsided smile and leaned in, trailing kisses along her neck. “Does that mean you’ll start doing morning or afternoon hikes with me?”
“We can try.” Evie mentally facepalmed. He was constantly pushing. If she gave him an inch, he had to take a mile. She wasn’t sure they would survive him pushing her to do something else she actively disliked. “If you promise not to be disappointed when I hate it.”
“I’m just trying to find something we both enjoy that we can do together.” He sat back, pouting, and Evie wondered whether it was more of an unconscious, childish reaction or whether he did it because he thought it was cute and helped him get his way.
“You’re not into clubbing and crowds, you don’t like hiking, and while I appreciate that you’re happy to let me do these things without you, I’d just like something that we can do together.” He continued.
“Maybe you just haven’t had the right hiking experience. Let me plan a short hike, no more than an hour each way. If you don’t enjoy it, I’ll drop it.”
“I said I was open to trying.” Evie reminded him, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. “But I mean it, no more than an hour and a beginner trail.”
“I promise.” His eyes lit up, and he kissed her again. “Cross my heart.”