Ana had been excited about the elaborate dinner and thought it was a special birthday surprise for her. Which was what it should have been if Domi had thought of it.
“Hey, stop it.” Rae poked her in the side, hard.
“Ow! I wasn’t doing anything!”
“Yes, you were. You had your ‘guilt’ face on, which means you’re thinking about something you think you did wrong. Probably something that wasn’t your fault, or the only person who thinks it would be a big deal is you.”
Domi rubbed her side, scowling. “I was just thinking tonight should have been a special dinner for Ana and wishing it hadn’t been a wallowing dinner.”
“And feeling guilty you hadn’t thought about making her a special birthday dinner, even though we took her out last night, right?” Rae asked dryly. Dammit. They really did know each other too well sometimes.
“Shut up. What are you doing?” she asked, leaning over. Rae had been scrolling through something on her laptop for the past few minutes, but now that Domi actually looked at it, she could tell it wasn’t social media. When Rae immediately tried to shift the screen away so Domi couldn’t see, it made her even more curious. “What is that?”
“Nothing.” Rae’s shoulders hunched defensively. “I mean… it’s a website. A blog.”
“Yeah, what’s the blog about?” Domi reached for the laptop again. “Does that say self-publishing?”
“Maybe. Yes.”
“You’re finally going to do it?” Domi squealed, clapping her hands together.
“I’m thinking about it. Maybe. I’m looking at what’s involved if I decide to do it.”
That was more than she’d been willing to do in the past. Domi knew Rae would eventually end up giving in. She was going to make sure of it. Rae was a great accountant, but it wasn’t her passion. At the very least, she could do both things. She was always afraid of putting her work out there, afraid of failing, but Domi believed in her.
“Do it, do it, do it,” she whisper-chanted, making Rae giggle. They both froze when Domi’s phone went off with the unique text message sound she’d assigned to Mitch. Slowly turning her head, Domi looked where her phone lay on the coffee table as if it was a snake about to strike. It laid there, quiet and still, totally innocent looking.
“Are you going to pick it up?” Rae asked. “I can read it first if you want.”
No. That was the coward’s way out. Which was probably why part of her wanted to ask Rae to do it, but she should look.
“We can do it together.” Picking up the phone, she leaned back against the couch, Rae setting the laptop aside so she could move right next to Domi and see the phone’s screen. Domi’s stomach twisted with a nauseating combination of hope and anxiety, but with Rae’s comforting presence snuggled up against her, she made herself turn on the phone and check the text.
Hey, Domi, I’m sorry about last night. It was a bad night and a bad time, and I took it out on you when I shouldn’t have. Can we get together and talk?
“Oooh… that’s a pretty good apology,” Rae murmured. “Do you think he wants to get together, so he can try to get back together?”
“I don’t know.” Domi chewed her lower lip, conflicted. Part of her was jumping for joy, he’d finally reached out, but another part of her worried he wanted to get together to apologize, then explain more about why he’d dumped her… and she’d remained dumped. “I hate it when someone says they want to ‘talk.’”
“Kind of hard to have an in-depth conversation over text message,” Rae pointed out, turning over to reach for her own phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Avery. She should get the latest update.” Rae pressed the screen and put it on speaker, so Domi could hear the phone ringing.
Shaking her head, Domi stared back at her own phone, trying to interpret the few words on the screen. Why hadn’t he called? Did he not want to hear her voice? Was he trying to respect, she might not want to hear his? Was he trying to manipulate her into actually seeing him if she wanted to talk?
“Hello?” Avery whispered into the phone. “What’s up? It’s almost the end of my shift, but it’s still busy, so I only have a few minutes. Is Domi okay?”
“I’m here, I’m okay,” Domi said. “Mitch sent me a text message.” She repeated it for Avery.
“That’s a pretty good apology.” Like Rae, Avery sounded fairly impressed. “Are you going to meet him?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Rae told her. Turning to Domi, she lifted her eyebrows, holding the phone between them, so Avery would be able to hear them both. “Do you want to meet him?”
Shit. Yeah. She did.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “If only to find out what was going on that he acted like that.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Avery said, but the warning in her tone was playful.
“And satisfaction brought it back.” Rae grinned, finishing the saying. It was one she often corrected people on, probably because she’d heard it so often. Rae was always curious. “Do you want to get back together with him?”
Yes! That was the part of her brain that got her into this in the first place, but this time, Domi wasn’t jumping ahead to listen to that part of her brain so quickly.
“I guess it depends on what he has to say.” She pressed her lips together. “I can’t meet him till this weekend at the earliest. Ana doesn’t go over to Marcus’ till Saturday morning.”
“Oooh, come to Marquis for brunch,” Avery said immediately. “I can make sure you’re seated near the back hall, and Rae and I can listen in. You know, in case you need moral support. He won’t even know we’re there.”
“Yes.” Rae nodded decisively, making Domi snort. Of
