“Yup,” she nodded happily. “He’s got two Australian silky terriers. They’re the cutest. One’s named Smithy, and the other one is Delilah.”
“What happened to the guy you were seeing before Gareth?” I asked curiously. “Wasn’t he a barista or something?”
“Oh right, that didn’t work out.”
“I gathered that much,” I said. “What happened?”
“We didn’t click,” she said, with a shrug.
“Didn’t you sleep with him a couple of times?”
“Turns out
once the sex had fizzled out, we weren’t that interested in each other, after all.”
“Oh, Mel.”
“Don’t oh, Mel me,” she said firmly. “The sex was good. I don’t regret it.”
“Fair enough.”
We sat down at a nice little table overlooking the street and ordered a couple of salads to share and some drinks that served as our special treat for working out so hard at the gym. Once we’d gotten our food, Melody turned to me and raised her eyebrows.
“So, any romantic developments with you?”
I hadn’t planned on mentioning it to her just yet, especially because things with Jake and I were so complicated. But a part of me also wanted to talk about it with someone. I just wanted to confide in a friend and get some objective advice. It wasn’t like I could talk to my mother about any of this.
Her conversation with me had stayed in my head for the whole week. Every now and again, I remembered her veiled threat and my palms started sweating. But I figured she was just trying to scare me. That was Mom did best—she liked to play games with me in order to prove her point.
“Well…”
Melody let out a little squeal. “No way!” she cried. “You have met someone.”
“Well, it’s not anyone new.”
“Huh?” she said, looking a little confused. “What does that mean?”
“Uh… I kind of slept with Jake.”
Melody stopped short for a moment and looked at me strangely. “Wait… Jake, as in your boss?”
I blushed slightly as I nodded. “The very same.”
There was another second of silence before Melody grabbed my hand and squealed again. “You are kidding me? Is this for real or are you just pulling my leg?”
I laughed. “I assure you, I am not just trying to pull your leg. We really did sleep together.”
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“And, you tell me this now?” She sounded thrilled and annoyed with me in equal parts.
I smiled. “I wasn’t really sure how it would go, and I didn’t want to tell you before I knew that it was…going somewhere.”
“Wait—so you’re in a relationship with him?”
“Not quite.”