Chapter Twenty Five
DIANE
Every time I thought I’d gotten rid of Chuck, he proved me wrong. On a sunny Wednesday morning, I got a message from him right as I was heading out for a tour.
Chuck: Stop ignoring me. I want that fucking laptop back.
What the heck did he need his ancient Acer back for? Or maybe he just wanted another opportunity to insult me. Whatever.
I stared at the phone. I wanted to ignore it, but it was apparent that he’d keep insisting, and I wanted to get this over with.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I wondered how to organize this. I certainly didn't want to go to his new place. No, if he wanted the laptop so badly, he could come get it for all I cared.
I realized with shock that I wasn't afraid of facing him anymore.
Diane: Here's my new address. You can pick it up tomorrow between twelve and two.
Chuck: I’ll come at two.
Gabe was usually at work around then, so that should be okay. The last thing I wanted was for the two to cross paths.
I didn't want Gabe to have to deal with him, or to see what an asshole he could be.
Hell, I didn't even want to deal with him myself, but he was my ex; there was nothing I could do about that.
And it was his laptop, after all. Besides, I felt much stronger now.
I could face Chuck and not crumble afterward.
I headed straight to my meeting point for the tour. My groups were still rather small, but because I was keeping all the income, I already made more than when I worked for George. I had a great feeling about this, and not even the prospect of seeing Chuck was going to get me down.
The next day I was having second thoughts. I was a basket case, waiting for him to show up.
I didn't actually want him to step inside the house, so at two o'clock, I was waiting for him in the yard, holding the ancient laptop in my arms. He arrived ten minutes later. He was always chronically late.
I looked at him and simply felt nothing. Not even repulsion, let alone pain.
The second he stepped out of the car, he smirked, looking at the house. "Nice lodgings. Got your hands on a rich boyfriend?"
"None of your business," I said. "Why do you even need the laptop? Your fancy company can buy you another one."
"I’m starting my own business, and I don’t want to waste money on buying a new laptop for an employee. This old piece of crap will do," he said. His voice was unusually tight, though he still managed to sneer the words.
“What about your job? You were so proud of it.”
“It didn’t work out.”
“So you’ve been fired,” I concluded.
“Don’t act so superior. The job market is tough. Isn’t that the excuse you always gave me? Have you finally managed to get one?”
I straightened up. "I'm running my own touring company."
He snorted. "So I was right. You clearly have a rich boyfriend to support your hobby."
"Fuck you," I bellowed. “You have never, not once, been supportive of me or anything I ever did even though I helped you through college."
He rolled his eyes. "How many times are you going to throw that in my face? You want me to crawl at your feet for my whole life?"
"No, just treat me with basic human decency," I replied. “Here's your laptop. There's the gate. Leave."
He yanked the laptop from me, inspecting it. "All right, no scratches."
I balled my hands into fists. "What the fuck? You’re checking it for damage?"
"Obviously. I want to see if it still works."
I cocked a brow. "Excuse me?"
"Is there a plug out here?"
"No, there isn't." I didn't bother to check. I just wanted him to go.
"Then let's go inside. I need to know if it's still working."
"You’re not stepping inside the house," I said incredulously. "You wanted your laptop, you've got it. That's it."
"Come on. Don't be like this. What use do I have for a laptop that doesn't work?"
"I haven't even opened it."
"Really? Then why did you take it with you?"
That was a good question.
"Probably because I knew your cheap ass would want it back at some point. Knowing you, you'd make me pay for it if I didn't have it anymore."
He pointed at me. "If this doesn't work, you'll be buying a new one."
"For fuck's sake, what's wrong with you?" I asked. "Just take your laptop and do whatever you want with it. Stop being such an ass."
He jerked his head back. "Now that you've got the rich boyfriend"—he tipped his head toward the house—"you finally have a backbone?"
I drew in a deep breath. I didn't usually raise my voice; not even during our breakup fight. He was the one shouting, whereas I was too busy trying to process what was happening.
“I've always had one. The only problem was, I was looking at you through rose-colored glasses. Now I just see you for the asshole you are. Have a nice life, Chuck. I never want to see you again. You've ceased to mean anything to me. You don't have the power to hurt me anymore."
"Really?" He smirked, then stepped closer. "You don’t have any feelings left for me? You have to miss me, at least in bed."
I burst out laughing. "I really, really don't. You're by far not as good as you think."
He set his mouth in a straight line and help up the laptop. "If this isn't working, you're paying for it."
I snorted and pointed at the gate. "Get the fuck out."
Damn it, why did I meet him here? I should have suggested someplace downtown.
"Fine," he sneered.
As I stood here, I realized he meant absolutely nothing to me. There was a time when I didn't even think I could look at him and not crumble. Now the only thing I really felt was intense annoyance and dislike.
I didn't move until I saw him close the gate behind him, and then I went back inside the house. I was in a foul mood for the rest of the afternoon. I wasn't even sure why; giving him that crappy laptop was cathartic in a way, but still, the annoyance of talking to Chuck persisted.
Needing to get my mind off it, I decided to put something together for dinner. While I cooked, I called Mom, as I hadn't checked on her in a while.
"Hey, honey," she answered right away. "What are you doing?"
"I’m whipping up a casserole," I replied, putting her on speakerphone while I moved about the kitchen.
"Ah, I'm starting to salivate through the phone."
"Anytime you want me to come cook for you, just say so. I'm loaded right now."
Obviously I wasn't loaded, but things were going well. As soon as she gave me the green light to visit her, I would splurge.
"No, don't you worry about me. We can FaceTime."
I sighed. Yeah, that was my mom to a T; she didn't want me to spend a dollar on her even though I’d gladly do it.
We talked a bit more about everything, and then she was ready to go.
"All right, honey. Get back to cooking."
"Sure, Mom. Love you."
"Love you too."
After hanging up, I noticed I had a message from Gabe.
Gabe: Got the final date from the team. The house will be ready in one month.
I couldn't postpone my search for an apartment much longer. I was going to start later today—right now, I wanted to finish the dish.
My casserole came out exquisite. I'd added some Parmesan on top as well. That wasn't part of the recipe, but honestly, Parmesan was life. No other cheese topped it, in my opinion.
At six thirty, I heard the door open and smiled.
Gabe was home. God, I was going to miss having dinner with him every evening.
We should probably talk at some point about how we were going to handle things if we didn't live together anymore, but today had been hard enough already. I didn’t want to tackle that too.
Gabe stepped into the kitchen and immediately came over to me. He turned me around and kissed me hard. I melted against him, returning the kiss with fervor. This was pure bliss.
He pulled back and cupped my face with both hands, pressing his thumbs on my lower lip.
"Tough day?" I asked.
"No, but I missed you." He looked down at the casserole. "This looks delicious."
"It is, but it still needs to cool a bit."
He nodded but didn't say anything.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “You seem a bit tense.”
He cleared his throat. “Leo found out Dad wants to buy a property in Essex to build a hotel. Maddox and I decided to buy it instead. The new distillery and the hotel will be there.”
My eyes bulged. “Holy shit! No one messes with you Whitleys, huh?”
“No. We’re going to see the property next week on Tuesday, and if everything looks right, we’ll make an offer.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
I decided on the spot to schedule apartment viewings on the same day. Then hopefully we could sort everything out that evening, after he’d put the debacle with his dad behind him.
"How was your day?" he asked, grabbing a fork. The man was impatient, as always.
"It was… okay."
"Don't sound too enthusiastic." He took a mouthful of casserole and then sucked in air to cool it as he chewed.
"Everything was fine until Chuck showed up to get his laptop. That put me in a sour mood."
Gabe put the fork back down, straightening up. "Chuck, your ex?"
I nodded. "Yes. He'd been bugging me about giving back his laptop for a while, and I kept postponing it. I told him to come get it today."
"When was he here?" Gabe asked. He had a strange look in his eyes, and his voice was a bit tight.
"Two o'clock. I wanted him to come when you weren't home. I figured middle of the day is best for that."
He stared at me. "You purposely asked him to come when I wasn't around?"
I shrugged. "He's got a penchant for annoying anyone he comes in contact with."
"Is that the only reason you didn't want me to be here?"
The hair at the back of my neck stood on end. "What other reason would I have?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
"I don't like what you're implying."
"I don't like that you asked him here at the house when you were alone."
"What exactly do you think? That I had a quickie with him before returning his shitty laptop?"
Gabe didn't say anything.
"Oh my God. You really think that?" My heart rate accelerated. "You can’t be serious."
"I can't believe you wanted to meet him alone."
"So I could spare you from having to face him," I repeated slowly.