Page 28 of Miss Treated

I’d never checked my phone so many times as on Sunday when I waited for Kelsey’s call or text. I went surfing, put in a workout, cleaned my apartment—which hadn’t needed a lot considering I had it professionally cleaned once a week—and was now looking at a lease agreement for our new office space in San Francisco.

I couldn’t remember ever being this anxious over a woman. I wanted her to say yes. Wanted a chance to show my more serious side, and an opportunity to build a foundation for something bigger? Gulp. The foreign idea both scared and exhilarated me.

When my text alert sounded, I practically pounced on my phone. What I read made my heart drop.

“I’m sorry, Dominic, but I have to say no to dinner. We work together and I don’t want to complicate things.”

It was the practical answer. It was the smart answer. But my disappointment was tangible. I’d thought we’d started forming a connection over the last week while working late together, and I’d hoped it had been strong enough for her to override, as I had, the idea of dating each other.

So this was how rejection felt. It was humbling.

I stood up, pacing to the windows looking out to the Pacific Ocean. San Diego was in my blood. I loved the beaches, the salt air, the perpetual sunshine. But currently, I could use a large rain cloud to reflect my mood. Did I respond to her text? Of course I did. Otherwise, it would seem like I was upset. Come Monday, I didn’t want her to think this would affect our working relationship.

“I completely understand. See you Monday,” I typed out, a lump in my throat. Maybe I’d come on too strong. Maybe she’d seen me for what I was: a fraud working as the COO at a major tech company. Feeling unsettled and in need of advice, I called the one person I could always count on. My mom.

We met nearby at her favorite spot by the water where they served an incredible Shrimp Louie salad. “Hello, darling, how are you?” she queried, giving me a hug.

“Good. You?” My mom had been my rock for years. While my brothers took after my father in the way they tackled goals, I tended to be more laid-back like her.

“I’m great. Although I’m always happy to meet you for lunch, this seems oddly spontaneous. Is everything all right? Is it the job? Have you decided to tell your father you’re done?”

Sheesh. You’d think they all had bets on when I would throw in the towel. “No, no. It’s actually about a woman.”

Her brows went sky high, but we had to pause the conversation while the waiter took our orders. “Tell me more,” she said once he’d walked off.

“It’s about the auditor, Kelsey Maxwell.”

“Okay.”

“I asked her out on a date, and she told me no, thanks.”

Of all reactions, I hadn’t expected my mom to burst out laughing. To the point she had tears in her eyes, dabbing them with her cloth napkin. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh.”

“No kidding,” I muttered, thinking of all people, she would’ve been supportive.

She composed herself but the smirk remained on her face. “I apologize. You took me off guard. Let me start over. Given the way most women react to you, I’m assuming this is the first time you’ve been turned down?”

“Yeah.” I used my straw to play with the ice in my water glass. Over the last couple hours, I’d replayed all of my interactions with Kelsey to figure out if working together had been the only reason she’d turned me down.

“Are you more upset about getting rejected or about losing a chance with her?”

My gaze narrowed, but she held up her hands in surrender.

“It’s a fair question, Nicky. I’m not sure you’ve ever had a woman be a challenge for you.”

She wasn’t wrong. I’d never had to expend much effort when it came to the opposite sex. “Of course I don’t like being rejected, but it’s more than being turned down. There’s something about her. I’ve never had this draw toward a woman, and I hoped to get to know her better.”

“Then be her friend instead of a date. You’ll get to know her better that way than you ever could by dating. Matter of fact, I’d argue friendship is a better foundation for something serious, if a possible relationship is what you’re after?”

“I haven’t a clue what I’m after.” In my book, a date was just a date. Nothing more. But I had to admit when I’d asked Kelsey, it had felt like more. Based on her reaction, I could tell she wasn’t the type of girl who’d want casual, no strings, and for the very first time, the thought didn’t have me running for the hills.

My mom sighed. “Maybe it’s a mistake to celebrate every year you’re cancer-free because it puts us in this habit of holding our breath like we did the first five years after. Perhaps thinking about it only one year at a time is holding you back from planning a longer-term future.”

Leave it to my mom to express my very thoughts.

Five years—it was all people talked about. If it didn’t return within five years, your chances of it ever coming back went down exponentially. My mom wasn’t wrong. The yearly celebrations had inadvertently geared me toward this unconscious wait for the other shoe to drop. It didn’t matter if it was five years or nineteen, I seemed to wait for it. I still had a mentality of avoiding long-term commitment for fear it might, I don’t know, jinx me? Maybe other cancer survivors had similar challenges?

I took her hand over the table, seeing she was getting emotional. “The celebrations are a reminder to never take anything for granted. Plus I get my favorite cookies, and my brothers have to be nice to me on that day. So it would be a shame to stop them. Could be I like to quit things because I get bored easily.”