“They are the most open, the most non-threatening, and usually take the least amount of time to get naked,” I replied. “Needless to say, I won’t be settling down tonight.”
I winked at Glen and threw him my wallet for the drinks I promised to buy, before walking over and lifting Bambi
up out of her chair. As we walked away, I looked back over at Glen who was shaking his head, but smiling. Nope, no settling down in my future, even if that meant I lost him as my partner.
Chapter 6
Bea
My fingers were moving twice as fast as they normally did on the keyboard. I had started the new project, a romance sequel, and with my current mood on relationships, when they asked me for a “sarcastic but in the end, a Prince Charming” type of love story, I knew I would be perfect for it. The ideas were flowing so fast that I wrote the plot outline in about three minutes before jumping right into the whole story. It wasn’t often anymore that my creativity was sparked, especially since I never had time to write anything for myself, but today, I was feeling the vibe with this book.
Hailey had called that morning, and I told her I had some news, so she said she would drop by when she was done with work, leaving me a perfect stopping point for the day. Otherwise, I would keep going, not sleeping at all. Until then, I just put my nose down and worked hard, glad that my thoughts were not swimming around Grant and the fact that I was going to be the old, lonely spinster for Christmas. I just wanted to have a normal life, with a normal relationship, and a Christmas surrounded by snow, Christmas lights, and people that I loved. I sighed to myself, realizing that wasn’t going to happen this year and that I better just start hoping for a good change over the next year, so the next Christmas can be better.
My thoughts shifted when a knock came to the door, and I glanced down at the time. I had been writing all day, not even realizing how late it was getting. I got up from my desk and walked out to the living room and across to the front door. Hailey smiled and held up a bottle of wine as she walked inside.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She laughed. “But it’s not often you have something to tell me, and wine goes well with bad news and good news.”
“Too true,” I replied. “This is why you are my best friend.”
I walked in and grabbed some glasses, tossing Hailey the corkscrew and waiting for her to fill our glasses. We wandered into the living room and sat on the couch, the fireplace roaring. Hailey looked around the room and smiled, glancing over at the view from the windows.
“Seriously, you have like the best place ever.” She smiled. “You are like, my life goal.”
“Oh, God.” I laughed. “If your goal is to be a lonely, hermit, single woman, then we have to talk.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Grant came over last night. We were supposed to have me and him time, but to him, that meant he wanted to go out to some fancy club. To me, that meant curled up in front of the fireplace watching movies. Well, one thing led to another, and we were arguing as he berated me for being a writer, a woman, a person even. Then, when I said I wasn’t going to the club, between the ringing of his phone, he broke up with me and walked out the door, taking all my ideas of the future out with him.”
“I’m sorry, Bea,” Hailey said sympathetically.
“The thing I realized was, I wasn’t even sad about it,” I replied. “I didn’t shed one tear, until I realized what I just got myself out of. Damnit if I didn’t see how badly he treated me until he was gone. Then came the depression, thinking about the Christmas I had to spend alone, and the fact that I will always be the single old lady that never finds a husband. That was what hit me the most, the desperation of it all.”
“Well,” Bea said, taking a deep breath. “I think you are better off spinstering it with me, than spending another day letting ‘Old English’ berate and beat you down until you turned into the woman he wanted. Come on. Finish that wine and get dressed. We’re going shopping.”
“Now that is the kind of demand I can fold to.” I laughed. “Thanks for coming over, Hailey. And thank you for not telling me ‘you told me so.’”
“Well, that will come later,” she replied. “I’m gonna hit you with some love and empathy before I remind you how smart I am, and how you should always listen to me.”
“Is that how it works?”
“Yep.” She laughed.
I finished my glass of wine and went into the other room where I changed my clothes and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. The weather was cold, but the snow wasn’t falling for the time being, so I wrapped a scarf and heavy wool coat around me, and Hailey and I made for the car. She was driving her four-wheel drive that day, and I hadn’t dug my car out from the garage in a month, so she drove us out into town. First, we stopped for dinner, eating at one of my favorite places, Angelo’s. I used to eat there all the time, not really enjoying cooking for one, and using it as an excuse to get out of the house. Since Grant only ate at upscale restaurants, I hadn’t been there in years. Just the familiarity of it all felt good in my chest, and I started to remember how behind the girl looking for love, there was someone completely content with doing her own thing.
“So, I was at work today,” Hailey said, munching on a breadstick. “And I told my coworker, Brian—you remember Brian from the office party last year?”
“Was he the one with the thinning red hair and complete inability to hold his tongue when it came to socially appropriate comments?”
“You mean, was he the one that told you he wanted to grab onto your ass? Yeah, that’s him.” She laughed. “Anyway, I told him I thought you were going to say Grant and you were done, and then, oh my God, let the vultures descend. He immediately begged me to set you two up. I told him no. He was still on the hook for the Christmas Party. He moped all day, trying to make me feel guilty, but instead, I felt creeped out.”
“Gross.” I chuckled. “Thank you for the backup.”
“No problem. It’s my job.” She laughed.
“Ugh, Christmas music,” I said, listening to the loud speaker over the restaurant.