Dinner was almost surreal, as everything just seemed immensely normal. They didn’t say a word to me about Caleb. In fact, they didn’t talk about work at all. I’m sure Mindy told him what happened in front of the coffee shop, but they gave me space. The conversation was about their kids, Emily’s silly antics as she tried to take care of them, and their plans for their upcoming family vacation. It was wonderful to see, and I couldn’t help but crack a little smile at how wonderful their lives seem.
Mindy left first thing in the morning, needing to get to the shop to open for the early morning coffee drinkers. Now I see Oliver adjusting his tie. “Hey,” I mutter sleepily, getting up. “Sorry, I’ll head for my place, get changed, and head to work.”
“Chill out,” Oliver says, giving me a smile. “You stay as long as you need, and I don’t expect you in the office today. Martha and I can handle everything.”
I lie back, smiling softly. “Mindy’s lucky she’s got you. And you're the best boss ever.”
“I’ll remember that when I don’t give you a Christmas bonus or a raise next year,” he joked before patting me on the shoulder. “Relax, hang out with Emily today, maybe binge-watch something on Netflix.”
After Oli left, I tried to sleep a little more but just tossed and turned on the sofa. I thought I’d get up, but apparently, I dropped back off, because I open my eyes to see Emily sitting on the floor, reading something on a Kindle.
“Hey,” I reply, stretching. “How long have you been here?”
Emily, who, as normal, is dressed in jeans and an anime t-shirt, chuckles. “About twenty minutes. Zach’s sleeping still, while Leah is coloring and Trent’s picking up his room.”
I stretch again and sit up, ruffling my hair. “Good deal. So what’s on your mind for today?”
“Just a normal day,” Emily says. “I’ll get Trent working on his pre-K stuff, and we’ll probably play outside for a while, stuff like that. You sticking around?”
“I think I will,” I reply. “You got coffee?”
“Pot’s in the kitchen, Mindy’s homebrew,” Emily replied. “It’ll be cold by now, but for getting your day going, it’ll do the trick.”
Emily’s right, and a minute in the microwave doesn’t hurt the flavor too much. She follows me in as I raid the fridge, finding some cheese and a box of Ritz in the cupboard. “Hey, mind if I ask?” she says as I cut the cheese.
“What’s that?” I reply.
“I sort of saw what you were watching on Netflix,” Emily said. “You’re into reality shows?”
I grin. It’s the last question I expected, but probably the one that I most need right now. “Yeah, one of my vices when I have the time. Don’t tell me you hate them and only watch stuff like that.” I nod toward her shirt, which has two fairies, three girls in ridiculous princess outfits, and a bunch of Japanese on it.
Emily checks out her shirt, laughing. “No, I just wear stuff like this because the kids like it. Actually, I’m kind of a reality TV nut. I always tell myself I’m going to stop, and a few hours later, I’m still watching. Everything from The Bachelorette to American Ninja Warrior. You know that one?”
“I know of it,” I reply. “Haven’t seen much, though.”
Emily notices my reluctance and leans against the counter. “What’s going on? I mean, I know you don’t know me well. I’m not trying to pry or anything.”
I sulk, going over it all in my head, trying figure out where I went wrong. Finally, I answer. “I guess you could say it’s like reality TV. Like those ones where you know it has to be semi-scripted because of all the crazy shit everyone gets into?”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Emily says, smirking.
“Imagine finding love in the most insane way possible. What would it be?”
Emily thinks, then chuckles. “Well, I could be in a life or death struggle and fall in love with the enemy.”
I snicker, then sigh. “Kinda like that. It wasn’t life or death, but it damn sure felt like it at the time. I met him on a beach that was straight out of a reality TV show. Then moving to town and being friends for nearly a year before something else happened.”
“Caleb?” Emily asks, and I nod. “Last time I heard, you two were bumping uglies,” Emily says, holding up her hands when I give her a surprised look. “Sorry, I try to watch it around the kids, ya know? You might have the prettiest downstairs in the world, for all I know.”
I laugh but then sigh a moment later. “Okay, probably safer. But yeah. I mean, like I said before, it was supposed to just be a casual thing. Some fun, stress relief, and hanging out. It . . . well, I guess I changed. I started getting feelings and I didn’t even realize it until it was too late.”
“What happened?” Emily asks.
“It really doesn’t matter much at this point,” I say softly. “He moved on like we both knew would happen eventually. I’ll be okay, but it feels like my heart is shattered. Not even broken, just dust.”
Emily nods, letting me have a minute before replying. “If it helps, I kind of understand.”
“Really?” I ask. “No bullsh—no bull?”
“Nope, no bull,” Emily says. “Honestly, my entire life since puberty’s been a story of looking for love in all the wrong places, or maybe the right places but always finding the wrong guy. I did the whole bad boy that I thought I could fix thing for a while and that never works, so I went the other direction. I somehow found the only church-going male librarian who was also the worst two-timing sleaze ball ever. He fooled me for way too long.”
I can’t help it.
