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“Or better.”
“I just need to be with her tonight and you have a meeting anyway. Okay?”
“Okay. Text me after you talk to her. I’ll call you as soon as I’m out of my meeting.”
“Okay.”
He does then what he never does at work. He pulls me to him and kisses me. “Come home to me tonight if you can.”
Home.
My God, I’m really living with him. My mother is not a fool. She knows. What if people here at the office know?
I don’t see Cole before I leave the office. He’s in a meeting that rolls into his partner meeting, but he still manages to send me a text right as I reach my apartment door: I’m crazy for you. I want to meet your mother.
I suck in air and let it out. I’m crazy for him too, but right now I just feel a little crazy in general. I open the door and find my mother in her scrubs, slipping her purse over her shoulder. “There’s a bus that just overturned on the highway. The hospital needs me for a couple of hours. I’m sorry, honey. Mac N Cheese is in the oven.” She rushes toward me and hugs me. “I was so looking forward to a mom and daughter dinner. I should be back by midnight. If you’re up, we can have hot chocolate and talk.”
“Is everything okay, though?” I ask.
“There you go again. Of course it’s okay.”
“How is your architect?” I ask as she rushes toward the door.
“I like him,” she says, smiling. “I’ll tell you more over cocoa.” She disappears, and I text Cole: She got called into the hospital for a few hours. We’re having midnight coffee. Won’t be over.
My cell phone rings and I expect it to be him. “Hello,” I say, without checking caller ID.
“Lori, it’s Ned at the restaurant. I’m desperate for help. If you can work a shift, I’ll double your tips. That’s how desperate I am.”
I open my mouth to refuse but the word “double” gets me. For the first time since I asked to be on call, I can actually take the shift, and I’ll net a grand of cash. “I’m in. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
I rush to the bedroom, and text my mother: I’m taking a shift at the restaurant. Text me when you head home. I’ll try to be there when you arrive.
She calls me. “Why would you take a shift? You have an important job.”
“He offered to double my tips. That’s a grand we need.”
“You are one person.”
“I know, but when this six months ends, we’re going to be running forward, not crawling. I’ll see you later tonight.”
A few minutes later, I’m on the subway on my way to work.
Cole
It’s nearly ten when the partners meeting ends, and I finally return to my office and text Lori: Can you talk?
She sends me a message: I’ll call you in a couple of hours.
The reply does not please me. It feels like a wall. She’s shutting me out, panicking. Fuck. I’m going over there. I have to see her, and we need to get this barrier between us torn down once and for all. I grab my briefcase and head for the door, exiting to the lobby to freeze when I find Ashley at the desk outside the doorway. “Hi, boss,” she says.
“How the hell—you’re here.”
“I know,” she says. “Maria arranged to let me in. She seemed to think me coming straight from the airport to let you know I was here assured you’d be in a better mood tomorrow.” She covers her hands with her face and when she looks at me again, she starts to tear up. “I’m really here and he’s still really a bastard. I loved him and I’m kind of a wreck. You hate wrecks.”
“I do,” I say, “But tonight, we’ll be a train wreck together, and you probably just stopped me from creating a bigger one. Come on. I’ll take you to dinner and we’ll get drunk.”
She grabs her purse. “I’m in.”
