Chapter 3
“Good friends are like the wind at your back—silent support that you need in your life.”
—It’s science
Iris
After Hector and Christine insisted I get checked out by the EMTs—both of whom said I had a swollen tailbone and recommended X-rays—I began what felt like ninety-five hours of interviews.
Both Ranger Ann Diden and Agent Heather Andrews, as they introduced themselves, had offered to send someone to the hospital to do the interviews if I’d wanted to go, but nothing felt broken—just sore.
I’d just wanted to get the interviews over with and go back to work.
Work was always a good distraction, and that was what I needed most.
When Christine, Ben, and I finally all returned to work, it was to find two other coworkers, Calvin and Leah, all deep in a very intense conversation. That stopped abruptly as we walked in, and I realized everyone already knew what had happened.
“Holy shit. So you, like, really touched a dead body?” Calvin asked with shock and awe written all over his face.
I sighed, not really wanting to talk about it since it had been all I’d talked about and thought about the last few hours. But I also knew that in situations like this, it was better to answer the questions than let their imaginations run wild and start coming up with rumors.
“It was very decomposed, so it wasn’t really a body per se,” I replied.
“I already told him that in a text, but clearly he didn’t believe me,” Christine answered.
“You tend to embellish the truth sometimes, so I needed to hear it from Iris,” Calvin shot back.
“I don’t embellish stuff, and I told you the same thing,” Leah said with a grin on her face, meaning someone had filled everyone in.
Calvin sighed, throwing up his hands dramatically.
“Ugh. Okay, fine. I just wanted to hear Iris say it so she could give me more details since you two were too damn vague. Plus, Christine said there were two very hot men there to help you with what happened, and I’d like to know if either of them are single and might be willing to help me through my emotional trauma too. ”
I snorted. Calvin was a shameless flirt and didn’t care who knew it.
“I’m not a hundred percent, but I’m pretty sure they’re both single,” I said, but quickly held up my hand to stop him from saying anything else. “But I’m also pretty sure neither of them bat for your team.”
Calvin let out a deep, defeated exhale. “Ugh. All the good ones are taken or prefer girl parts.”
“Even if they were interested, why would you have emotional trauma from Iris finding the skull?” Christine asked.
“I don’t, but I would pretend to if I thought one of them would help me through it,” he replied with a mischievous grin.
Ben and Leah laughed, and Christine and I just rolled our eyes.
“In all seriousness, how are you holding up?” Leah asked. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m available if you need to.”
I appreciated her offer and told her as much.
Christine had already offered on the car ride back to the office for me to sleep over at her place in case being alone freaked me out.
I was definitely freaked out, and sleep would not come easy that night, but I needed to work through this on my own. Just like I always had.
You’d think after you’d discovered a dead body that dating would be the furthest thing from your mind. Instead, it just made me more aware of how short life really was, and I wanted to experience life, travel the world, get married, and have kids.
After I got home last night, I’d reached out to a guy I had been chatting with to see if he wanted to grab some drinks the next day. His response was short but simple, saying he was “no longer interested.” This was my third strike in just as many weeks.
Welp, I guess this was the last straw.
I was officially done with men.
Period. Forever. Full stop.
I didn’t think I could hack it as a lesbian since I would always be comparing my body to any romantic partner, so I guess that meant I was destined to be an old maid.
So be it.
At least I wouldn’t be with a creepy man-child or sleazy bastard. And that’s what all the men I had found lately were. At least the ones who were in my dating pool.
With that thought, I walked into work the next morning, and was quickly met with greetings and hellos, though I could hear Leah shouting from the hallway.
“Why does the printer in the hallway never effing work?”
“I never use that one,” Ben commented.
“Normally I don’t either, but it’s the big color printer, and I’m trying to print these flyers for our booth at the Boy Scouts event next week,” Leah explained, pouting.
“You have to treat that printer a little differently,” Calvin told her. “It only works when you push the blue button on top three times, shake it delicately, and then pray to the demon witch who lives inside.”
I chuckled.
“Hey, how did the conversation go with that guy last night?” Christine said to me as she walked into the room. “You guys going out tonight?”
Now I regretted telling her my plan.
My grumbled sigh and overly dramatic eye roll must have been clear enough.
“That bad, huh?” she said, grimacing.
“Why can’t the guys in romance books be real?” Leah questioned, practically swooning in her desk chair, likely thinking about her latest romance novel.
“Hey, finding a good gay man isn’t any easier than a straight man, so I get it,” Calvin chimed in, shaking his head. “Plus, our pool to pick from is much smaller than yours.”
“I don’t feel like I’m asking for much,” I pointed out. “Just a man who likes me as I am, can carry on a witty conversation, makes me laugh, and isn’t an asshole.”
“I know romance novels aren’t really high on many straight men’s book lists, but they really should be,” Leah said. “You can learn a lot from them about what women like and how to win a girl over.”
“You are so right,” Christine agreed.
“I know,” Leah said back. “I get all my relationship advice from the queen—Taylor Swift.”
“Amen, sister,” Calvin added, putting his hand up in the air as an affirmation. “Though I’m always here for any advice you may need, too.”
Calvin and Leah were the best. They were the most supportive coworkers and always there to lift our spirits.
Calvin was the first one to swap shifts with anyone who needed it.
Leah would drop everything to help mentor any new team member so they transitioned smoothly and felt supported.
And both of them were always trying to organize team-building activities or potluck meals at work.
I chuckled at their back-and-forth banter. “I think I’m just going to get a dog.”
I’d always wanted one, but the hours at my previous job hadn’t really been conducive to owning a pet. Now that my hours here were more stable, I really didn’t have an excuse.
“We could do playdates with Oscar,” Calvin said, referring to his Corgi.
Oscar, whose full name was Oscar de la Renta after the famous designer, would occasionally come to work with Calvin.
We didn’t get thunderstorms very often, but when we did, Oscar panicked, so Calvin brought him to work. I loved those days and realized maybe that was my sign to just get a dog.
“I’ll go with you to pick one out from the shelter,” Christine offered. “I think we both have a Wednesday off in two weeks. I’ll look some places up, and we can go.”
I nodded in return. Yeah, that was what I needed. A companion. One that didn’t care what I looked like or complained that I resembled a starfish when I slept and took up the whole bed.
Did I want a man? Sure. But not just any man. I had standards—clearly low ones, but standards, nonetheless.
What I wanted was a man like Hector. When I’d first met him last year, I remember thinking he was one of the most attractive men I had ever seen.
A few months later, he had been at my sister’s wedding since he knew her and her now husband, Archer. I had tried to approach him—because who wouldn’t if there was a hot man in front of you—but he shot me down quicker than your Wi-Fi drops out in a storm.
It was more than that, though. I also knew he had helped my sister and Archer out, and he was big on family and protecting the people he knew and loved. That was the kind of man I wanted.
Oh well. I guess I’d just have to settle for a dog named Hector instead.