Quadruple Duty: All or Nothing
I searched my feelings… and what I found was surprising. All the anger and resentment I’d felt back then? I couldn’t find it anymore. It was almost like it had drained away when I wasn’t looking, completely dissipated in the wake of our bitter ending. An ending, I reminded myself, in which I’d ultimately gotten the better of her… by a LOT.
Dawn glanced up, and I saw her do a double-take. I tried looking down quickly, but it was already too late.
Shit!
Slowly she pushed her cart my way. There was barely anything in it. The stuff that was in it wasn’t any good for her either.
I considered turning away. Pretending I’d never seen her and rolling down the other side of the aisle. But then I realized it could come off as childish, and I really didn’t want to be that way.
Besides, running just wasn’t my style.
“Hey Sammara.”
Even her voice sounded tired. When I finally looked up to acknowledge her, she was wearing a weary half-smile.
“Oh…” I said, trying to sound surprised. “Hey.”
What followed was the longest, most awkward period of silence in my life. I think both of us were waiting on the other. Neither one of us really knowing what to say.
“How’s things?” she offered.
“Good,” I said immediately, realizing the lightning quick answer sounded a little desperate. “Real good, actually.”
“Glad to hear it,” Dawn grinned weakly. I looked at her now, examining her carefully. I detected no sarcasm, no malice.
“I heard you… opened another—”
“Yes,” I said. “Universal Designs.” I took a deep breath. “We’re doing well, so I’m moving in another direction: new construction.”
I don’t know why I even told her. Dawn had practically robbed our past business blind, and then tried to snake me by swindling all of our decorating pieces out from under my nose. If it hadn’t been for Jason and Ryan, a pair of bolt-cutters, and a couple of midnight box trucks, she would’ve gotten away with it. But the guys had helped me to get everything back.
Everything and then some…
Quite honestly, that wasn’t my idea. I was prepared to take the things that belonged to me, and half the stuff we’d purchased together. Instead, Jason and Ryan loaded up all of it. In the end, they left nothing in Dawn’s storage unit but a single piece I absolutely hated.
“I’m glad,” Dawn was saying. Her eyes drooped at the edges. “Tell me more about your new thing, though. It sounds interesting…”
Dawn and I had our differences, both as business partners and beyond. If there was one thing we did have in common though, it was our love for old homes, bygone styles, and ancient architecture.
Once again, I don’t know why, but for some reason I told her. I told her everything I was doing, everything that was going on. Dawn’s reaction reminded me of the old days — her eyes lit up, her face grew more animated as I kept talking about the things I planned to do. By the time I was finished she and I were almost amicable, talking like old friends again… despite what she’d done to me.
“What about you?” I asked.
“Oh, same old stuff,” she smirked. “Between girlfriends right now, but that’s okay. Busy with life, I guess. Can’t complain.”
I glanced down, and saw three different kinds of dog food in her cart. She chuckled.
“Luna unexpectedly popped out a litter of puppies a few weeks back,” she explained. “So now I’ve got five more mouths to feed. And find homes for.”
“You’re up and running again I heard?”
Her face dropped again a little. “Yeah…” she said guardedly.
“That’s cool, no?”
“It is and it isn’t,” she shrugged. “It’s slow going. Hard to do without you there,” she winked, “but I’m gradually building a new client base.”
I nodded in understanding. “These things take time.”