“I just,” I said, finally breaking the silence, “I really, really wish I’d never met either one of them.”
“You don’t mean that,” Andrea said softly.
I looked at her, angry at first. She just smiled at me kindly and squeezed my hand again. Andrea was never the type of friend to lie. She wouldn’t sugarcoat things. She wouldn’t hide from the real issues just to make me feel better. Most the of time, I loved her for it.
“I wish I meant it,” I said, sighing.
My eyes closed, and I felt fresh tears begin to form. As much as I wanted to be done crying, I wasn’t.
“I was falling in love with him,” I said weakly. My voice broke, and just like that, I was crying again.
Andrea pulled me into her arms and smoothed my hair. She let me cry on and off for the rest of the night. We switched between hating Joshua, cursing Michael, and laughing at them both. Still, nothing we did made me feel any better. I missed Michael so much that my stomach felt like a pit. It was as if he’d created a void I wasn’t sure I would be able to fill again.
“He meant a lot to you,” Andrea said later that night. “I can tell.”
“You want to know something really pathetic?” I asked.
“Always.” Andrea smiled.
“Part of me thought he was the one,” I said. “I know, it’s stupid.”
“Why is that stupid?” Andrea asked.
“Because we barely know each other,” I said. “We only just met and, already, I was falling for him.”
Andrea shrugged. “Sometimes it happens that way,” she said. “Love at first sight does exist, you know?”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I said doubtfully. “That’s a fairy tale.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Andrea said.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said. “Everything’s different now. Everything’s changed.”
“So, you never want to see him again?” Andrea asked. “Ever? You don’t want to let him try and explain?”
I didn’t know the answer to her question, so I didn’t give one. Part of me hated Michael more than I’d ever hated anyone. Another part of me wanted to fall into his arms and let him heal me. I didn’t know which part of me would win.
“I don’t want to think about it tonight,” I said. “I just want to get through this.”
Andrea nodded. We kept talking through the night. We ordered pizza and sipped wine until the sun rose outside.
CHAPTER 24
Michael
Weekends were off limits. Marcy knew not to call me anytime on Saturday or Sunday unless the sky was falling. So, when I woke up Saturday morning to three missed calls from my secretary, I knew something was horribly wrong.
“Marcy,” I said when she answered my call. “What is it?”
“You need to get to the
office,” Marcy said. “The Richardsons are here.”
The name fell like a weight on my ears. The Richardsons were some of my biggest clients. We’d worked together for years.
“What’s going on?” I asked. I pushed myself out of bed and hurried into my bathroom.
“They’re angry,” Marcy said quietly. “Something about this latest round of tools.”