“Any time.”
“See you at the Rose party tomorrow night?” she asks by the door.
I nod. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Nora waves. “Bye.”
“Bye, Nor.”
“Oh, hey!” She spins back around and walks up to me again. “Speaking of par-tay, what are you doing on December 23rd?”
“Nora, I don’t know what I’m doing two days from now, let alone two days before Christmas.”
She narrows her little eyes, disappointed. “Well, I know who’s getting a daily planner from me in his stocking this year.” She reaches into her handbag and pulls out a bright pink flier. “I am holding an event to help promote my new app. You should go. That way I know that at least… one person will be there.”
I take the flier. “Instantly Fall in Love this Christmas! Little Black Book presents Love in Sixty Seconds,” I read aloud. Then I cringe. “You’re hosting a speed-dating night?”
She points a stiff finger. “There are no bad ideas when it comes to marketing to horny people.”
“Hey, you’re the expert.”
“It was Clive’s idea, actually,” she says with a smile. “Not sure how he came up with it.”
I smirk. “He’s a man of mystery, that one.” I scan the rest of the flier and groan. “In the Botsford Plaza ballroom?”
“What’s wrong with the Plaza?”
“I’m going to smell like Cognac and body glitter all night.”
She rolls her eyes. “Anyway, I’m having a celebratory end of the year office party with my staff afterward. You can come to that, too. Trix and Lance will be there. Melanie, too! But don’t tell her I invited you or she’ll kill me.”
I chuckle. “Oh, I won’t.”
“So…” She bats those damn baby blue eyes. “You’ll go? Yes? Please?”
I place the flier on the counter. “I’ll have to check my planner,” I tease.
“Thanks, Robbie!” She slaps my arm as she turns on her heel. “I really appreciate it.”
“That wasn’t a yes!”
“Love you, byeeee!”
She leaves and I discreetly lock the door behind her to keep her from busting back inside.
When I turn around, I find Melanie standing in the bedroom doorway, still clinging to the blanket wrapped around her.She looks at me, her eyes dark and heavy, but she doesn’t seem angry at me for digging up our past.
“Thanks for lying,” she says.
“It wasn’t a lie,” I say.
She doubts. “I was the one who called the lawyer…”
I walk toward her and she goes quiet as I stop in front of her. “How about you let me have this one?” I say.
I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her in close enough to kiss, but I wait until she tilts her head up. I wait until she closes the gap between us, wanting it as badly as I do.
I kiss her, and she lets the blanket fall.
Seventeen
Melanie
I tiptoe through Robbie’s apartment, searching for a pair of panties I haven’t seen in two days and wondering what the fuck I was thinking.
Sex good.
That’s it. That’s all I was thinking.
I didn’t even allow myself to finish thinking about the second part.
Sex good. Robbie bad.
Sex with Robbie good.
But Robbie bad.
I knew this. I’ve always known this, and yet, here I am on my hands and knees in search of my underwear because I apparently don’t have a modicum of self fucking control.
But it’s fine.
This is fine.
This is just a little temporary insanity, just like we said before. Just two crazy people whose bodies do crazy things when interlocked together, and the rest is history.
I swipe something cotton and I pull it out from beneath the sofa. “Finally,” I say to my panties.
I stand up and slide them on.
Now, jeans.
I had jeans.
Kitchen! I had jeans last in the kitchen.
Or was it the hallway?
I shuffle across the room, eyes squinting to find them in the dark. The sun is barely up, but I can already see that the sky and streets are clear. We’re not snowed-in anymore. It was a fun excuse while it lasted.
But it’s time for sanity to reign again.
A loud pop song breaks the silence.
My phone!
Shit…
At least I know where my jeans are now.
I lunge for them on the hallway floor, reaching for the phone in the pocket to shut it up. A photo of me and Nora illuminates the screen and I quickly answer it.
“Hi, Nora,” I whisper. “What’s up?”
“Hey,” she says. “Why are we whispering?”
I back away from the bedroom doorway. “Whispering? I’m not whispering.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I just… have a cold,” I lie, clearing my throat. “Winter always plays hell on my tonsils.”
“Are you too sick to do lunch today?” she asks. “I’m stuck in the office for the third Saturday in a row getting PK launch-ready, but mostly I miss you and I could use some therapeutic Melanie time.”
“And the free food that usually comes along with it?”
“You saw right through that, huh?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, we can do lunch. I’ll be there…” I glance around for a clock. “Wait, what time it is?”
“Ten-thirty,” she answers, laughing. “Were you up all night writing?”
“… Yeah,” I lie.
“Good! I love me some groggy workaholic Melanie.”
“You do?” I ask.
“You always seem happier when you’re getting shit done. What can I say? I like my friends as happy as me!”
I glance toward the bedroom behind me. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“So, I’ll see you at noon?” she asks.
I nod. “I can do noon.”
“Sharp.”
“I can do noon-ish.”
She scoffs, amused. “See you then.”
“Bye.”
I hang up, quickly glancing toward the bedroom again. The lump in the bed hasn’t moved, thankfully. I could probably slip out without waking him, and part of me would love to do just that, but the other part knows how much of a dick move that would be. The last few nights were... not insignificant.
Closure, that’s the word.
We finally have some closure. Me and Robbie and all our baggage. We opened it up, laid it all out on the bed, folded it up, and put it away for good. It feels… as good as closure can feel and I want to keep
