Chapter 6 #2
But I’m not used to this. This having nothing to do.
I always have something to do. There was always work.
Always life in between work. Always Tyler.
Always Jess. Always parties and dinners and bars and co-workers and friends of friends.
Being alone was never an option. Being alone with nothing to do was unthinkable.
I don’t even have laundry. Louise did mine the other day because she said she didn’t trust me to do an eco-wash.
I stare down the street, feeling sorry for myself when my phone vibrates against my hip.
I don’t need to look at the screen to know who it is.
Mam’s already messaged me twice since I broke the news this afternoon and no doubt she’s calling to confirm that Aunt Ellen would be more than happy to have me stay with—
“Abby?”
I clutch the phone to my ear, swallowing my automatic greeting. The person on the other end sounds as surprised as I am.
Not my mother.
Tyler.
“I didn’t think you’d pick up.”
The sound of his voice is jarring and I find myself glancing over my shoulder, almost expecting him to appear.
“Are you there?” he continues when I don’t respond. The frustration in his tone snaps me from my surprise.
“I’m here,” I say. “Why are you—”
“Where is here?” Tyler interrupts. “Where are you?”
“I’m in Ireland.”
“Ireland?” The disbelief in his voice makes it clear it’s one of the last places he expected me to be. “You went home?”
“What do you want?”
“To talk to you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you. I’m hanging up now.”
“Wait, Abby. Just… wait.” He sighs down the phone and I close my eyes, picturing him in his suit, standing in his office.
He has his own office. On the ninth floor at the back of the building.
I never had my own office. I worked in a large, open-plan space and that was how I liked it.
When you shut the door to Tyler’s, the room got so silent I sometimes felt like we’d been sealed in. Trapped.
“I want you to stop contacting me,” I say.
“I know you do. But I’m going to Shanghai for a few weeks.”
“So?”
“ So I won’t be in New York. I thought you could stay at the apartment.”
“I don’t want to stay in your apartment. I’m visiting my sister.”
“You can’t stand your sister.”
“And yet she’s my preferred option right now.”
“You’re being ridiculous.” I feel a spark of annoyance at his tone. He sounds like he’s talking to a child. “Come back to New York. I have a friend at First Capital who might have an opening. Do you remember Hunter? He’s—”
“You talked to Hunter about me?”
“Of course I did.”
“What do you mean, ‘of course I did’?”
“Abby—”
“No, don’t Abby me. Don’t talk about me.”
“I’m just to pretend you never existed, is that it?”
“Pretty much,” I say. “You broke up with me. Remember? Remember the whole ‘I don’t want to marry you anymore’ conversation? Because I do.”
“I know you’re hurt—”
“You don’t know anything!” I lower my voice, realizing I’m shouting. “You don’t get a say in what I do anymore. You don’t get to advise and you don’t get to ask. So stop.”
“I just want to help.”
“And I don’t want you to. Goodbye, Tyler.”
I hang up, cutting him off as a surge of adrenaline races through me. Hunter? He called Hunter ? Hunter with his trust fund and his Forbes Thirty under Thirty wife?
I’m so embarrassed I could yell. Or hit something. Or—
“Abby!”
I turn at the shout to see Beth jogging across the street, her hands shoved awkwardly into the pockets of her coat. “I thought that was you!” She comes to a stop in front of me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You going out?”
“Coming back,” I say, trying to calm down. “I just had dinner with my sister.”
“Nice!” She smiles at me, looking hopeful. “You didn’t stop by. I was saving an éclair for you.”
“Oh. Um.” I falter, looking for something to say that’s not I’m avoiding you even though you were nice to me because I’m a giant coward . “I’ve been really busy.”
“Of course. Sure. I just wanted to say sorry about the other day.”
I can only stare at her. “ You wanted to say sorry?”
“Luke’s super stressed with his course but there was no excuse to talk to you like that.”
“But he was right,” I say. “I shouldn’t have said those things. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”
“For what? Telling me the truth?” She smiles ruefully. “You think I don’t know opening a café in the middle of nowhere would be tough? People have said a lot worse to me.”
“Still,” I say. “I’m so—”
“You’re forgiven.” She waggles her fingers in a downward motion. “Cleansed. Forgotten. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. So long as you can forgive Luke for being an idiot. Honestly, that man is like a child sometimes.”
“It’s not his fault,” I say tiredly. It was mine.
Beth hesitates, sensing my mood. “Are you doing anything now? You want to get a drink? You’d be saving me from a night alone in front of the television.”
“Look, this is… you don’t have to—”
“What? Be nice to you?” She shrugs. “I can’t help it. You look super pathetic right now.”
“I would love a drink,” I say truthfully. “A very large, very alcoholic drink.”
“I think we can manage that,” she says, looking thoughtful. “How do you feel about questionable merlot?”