“Hey,” Veronica replied.
Another long silence passed, and Veronica looked at the front pocket of Frank’s shirt.
“Hey,” Frank said again, more softly, and placed his fingers under her chin to lift her face so that she was looking him in the eye. Veronica looked there and saw a mixture of emotions swirling.
“Was that Calvin?” he asked her. Veronica frowned a little.
“Yes,” Veronica answered, her voice soft. Frank let out a sigh, and clenched his jaw.
“How is he doing?” Frank asked, and Veronica felt a familiar pang of guilt, now because she felt like she was being deceitful to Frank. This was all incredibly confusing and foreign to her.
“I don’t want to talk about Calvin,” Veronica said plainly. Frank blinked and drew back a little.
“Okay,” he said softly, and Veronica sighed.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to sound angry.
“No, no I understand,” Frank nodded. “It’s your business of course.”
Veronica nodded. They stood in silence for a moment.
“How are you?” Frank asked. “You’ve seemed a little off today.”
Veronica let out a soft laugh. That was the understatement of the year.
“Yeah I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this,” Veronica said, and Frank seemed to relax a little.
“Oh,” he said, looking around at their surroundings. “Yeah, I know it’s lot to have to get used to, but don’t worry, you’ll adjust to it.”
“I’m not talking about the house,” Veronica said, all her emotions coming to the surface. “And I’m not talking about the job.”
Frank frowned a little, pressing his lips together.
“Then what are you talking about?” he asked, his brows knitting together.
Veronica scoffed and rolled her eyes, irritation and stress coming to the forefront of her emotional struggle.
“What am I talking about?” she returned. “Oh I don’t know, the fact that I’m sleeping around with my boss and I have a boyfriend!”
Frank’s scowl dissipated into a look of concern. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but Veronica held up her hand to stop him.
“Look, I get it,” Veronica said. “I know I’m grown and I can make my own decisions, but I really think you are a major contributor to this as well.”
Veronica finished with a huff, a
nd spun around, unable to look at him. She felt tears gathering in her eyes and she swiped at them with her hand.
“Veronica, I’m sorry,” Frank said from behind her, and she was more than a little shocked to hear him apologize. Slowly, she turned back to face him.
“I know what we did was inappropriate,” he said, his voice soft. “Not only was it inappropriate, it was premature, as we’ve only even known each other for a couple of days.”
Veronica said nothing, and merely looked back at him, sensing that he was nowhere near done saying what was on his mind.
“When I first met you in that interview, I knew you were the person I wanted to be responsible for taking care of my daughters when I am not around,” Frank started off. “You seemed so cool and collected, and experienced, and I knew that two little girls would be nothing for you to handle. After talking with you for a little while, there was little doubt in my mind that you were the one for the job.”
Veronica took in all that he said. She was flattered with all that, but she knew this was just a lead in for whatever else he was going to say.
“And even then,” Frank said. “I… I felt something else, too.”