“What is that?” she asked.
“I’m going to accept your apology.”
“Really?”
“I am. I shouldn't. And I have to tell you, the angry little girl in me is wanting to toss you out a window right now.”
“I’m sure it is,” she said.
“But I’m an adult. And I can put myself in your shoes and understand the situation you were put in. You want to make it work with Lucas. I get that.”
“Why? Are you wanting to make things work with Everett?”
Her question punched me in the gut and brought me face-to-face with a reality I wasn’t ready to pick part.
“I don’t know. But I do know one thing, you need to start re-evaluating whether or not you want to be with Lucas. Because if he’s anything like the man I saw this morning? He’s no good for you, Jessica.”
She took one last bite of ice cream before passing it back to me, and I took it willingly. However, I didn’t get the first bite in my mouth before my doorbell rang again.
“You expecting someone?” Jessica asked.
My body automatically tensed and she noticed it.
“I’ve got this. You sit there,” she said.
“Jessica, don’t. I don’t know who that is. It could be Everett’s father again, for all I know.”
“And if it is, I’ll look through the peephole and then call the police.”
I nodded my head as Jessica started for the door. My nerves got the best of me, however. I sat the ice cream off to the side and stood up, readying myself for another fight. I watched Jessica put her eye up to my peephole before her shoulders tensed, then she turned to me with a confused look on her face.
“It’s Lucas,” she said.
I furrowed my brow as her hand settled onto the doorknob.
“Do you want me to…?”
I nodded at her before she opened the door, and I saw a very sheepish Lucas standing in my doorway. His eyes flickered over to Jessica and he went to go hug her, but I watched her step away from him. And it looked as if someone had punched him in the throat. His eyes turned back over to me as he walked into my apartment with Jessica shutting the door behind him. Then, he stopped in the middle of my living room.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I want to apologize. What my father and I did this morning was wrong. Coming over here and blowing up that like at you and Everett,” he said.
“Is that all you have to say for yourself?” Jessica asked.
Lucas whipped his head around and stared down at her before he shook his head.
“This morning, when I found out what happened, I thought for a moment that the reason the fire issue hadn’t been resolved was because Everett had been so focused on you,” he said.
“Despite the fact that the fire happened well before Vegas?” I asked.
“I didn’t know if maybe the two of you knew one another beforehand? I honestly didn’t know anything about the situation. Everett isn’t an impulsive guy. He doesn’t do things like this with women. Yeah, sure. He’s had a handful of one-night stands over the years. But Everett’s a damn workaholic. He doesn't do anything but work and go home.”
“I know how that is,” I said.
“I thought maybe the two of you knew one another beforehand and ran off and eloped or something. It never occurred to me that the two of you would have gotten drunk and blacked out and gotten married or something. Again, because that’s way beyond the scope of Everett,” he said.
“It’s beyond the scope of Andrea, too. Trust me,” Jessica said.