“Why do you always think the worst? This is about work and it can’t be helped. I have a client coming in and he can only meet me tonight for a dinner meeting. If Tim divorces me I’ll definitely need the bonus.”
“Sabrina, I don’t believe you for one minute and if I don’t believe you…you know Tim won’t!” Tasha lowered her voice as if someone could hear her, “Are you meeting with that guy you’ve been seeing?”
“I told you I ended that. Why are you making such a big deal out of this? I’ll be down tomorrow night. It’s not like I’m cancelling the whole trip.”
Tasha rubbed the back of her neck, “Well, maybe you should. Or, why can’t we all just drive down together tomorrow?”
“I explained to you that Tim has been really on edge. It’s not fair to him to have to cut this weekend short because I have to work. Come on…”
This didn’t feel right to Tasha. She knew her friend well and still didn’t believe Sabrina for a second that she couldn’t get out of ‘work’. And, how in the world was she going to be around Tim? She couldn’t. That was the answer…she couldn’t.
“Sabrina, I just can’t do this…I’m sorry but I can’t.”
“Tasha you’re being ridiculous. I really need you to do this favor for me. Not only that, hopefully you two will have some time to repair whatever has happened between you.”
Tasha was starting to feel sick to her stomach. Sabrina had noticed a change, “What? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know what happened but obviously you too had some type of falling out. I’m not blind, I can tell that you’re not as close as you used to be. You used to hang out all the time and now you don’t. I mean I assumed that it was because of Eric but now that you two aren’t together maybe things can go back to how they used to be. Anyway, all I’m asking is that you drive down with Tim. I’ll be down tomorrow. You guys should be able to survive a night together.”
This was worse than any of Tasha’s nightmares. What was she supposed to do? Trying to keep her panic down she did the only thing that would make sense to Sabrina. “Fine. I’ll go.”
“Thank you Tasha! I’ll owe you big time and I’ll make it up to you somehow. I promise. That’s my other line so I’ve got to go but you two have fun and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tasha knew this could potentially be a disaster but maybe she was worried for nothing. It had been a little over a year since everything happened between them. He hadn’t shown the least bit of interest in her.
She was the only fool who couldn’t seem to move on.
*****
Tasha had just finished packing her overnight bag when Tim called. Her stomach filled up with butterflies and her palms started to sweat. She contemplated not answering it. How could she not? They were supposed to be on the road in a couple of hours. She air punched the emptiness in front of her a couple of times before answering her phone.
Tasha tried to sound…normal. “Hey Tim.”
“Hey. I was just calling to find out if I needed to pick you up at your place or if you were going to meet me at the house?”
He sounded calm. As if nothing had ever happened between them. Wasn’t that what she wanted?
“Umm…you can pick me up at my apartment. I’m all packed so just call when you get here and I’ll come down.”
Tim’s voice was too calm. Tasha started to wonder if Sabrina had even told him she wasn’t coming tonight. Did she leave her dirty work up to her? If she did? Tasha was going to choke her! This was just too much.
“Have you talked to Sabrina?”
He hesitated, “Yeah, she told me she was going to drive down tomorrow.”
Tasha held her breath, “And you’re okay with this? Us driving down…together?”
Tim closed his eyes and rubbed his temples attempting to sound normal. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.
“Look Tasha, the past is the past. Things happened but we’ve both moved on. I mean…you have right?”
Those were the words Tasha needed to hear but deep down inside those weren’t the words she wanted to hear. “Of course. And, you know Sabrina’s been working on this account for a while. Otherwise, she would be coming tonight.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to make excuses for her. I get it. Sabrina’s work is important to her. I was just calling to know if I needed to pick you up or if you were driving over. Now that I know…I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
He sounded cold…distant even and that actually affected her more than her break-up with Eric. Everything in Tasha was telling her not to go on this trip. But, there was a small part of her that wondered if he remembered. That was the part that would have to stay hidden deep within the confines of her heart. “Alright, I guess I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
“See you then.”
Tim disconnected the call and so did she.
Chapter 25
There was nothing better than the kind of sex that put you right to sleep after it was over. Well, maybe the heightened excitement of possibly getting caught. That was always a turn-on for Sabrina. But, she didn’t have to worry about that tonight. She smiled inwardly as she thought about all the strings
