Page 4 of Love Unspoken

"Where do you live?" he asked.

He'd shown more curiosity about my personal life since we got in this elevator than in the past three years I worked at Midas.

"South End."

The elevator thankfully stopped.

"Goodnight," I said softly and scurried away. I hated how small I felt when I was around Amias. Now that I knew he thought I was a woman with no curves, my insecurities were lit up like a Christmas tree.

While I bicycled home, wrapped up in a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves, I called Nolan by asking Siri to dial.

"Yeah?"

"Hi, Nolan," I spoke into my earbuds.

"Naya, is this urgent?"

This was how all our conversations went. It was always transactional with Nolan. I had no idea why he couldn't muster any affection for me, but I'd given up trying to figure that out.

"Yes," I said firmly. "Did you ask Amias to give me a job?"

"What?"

"You heard me, Nolan."

I heard a long sigh. "I didn't. I may have mentioned that since you were moving, you'd need a job in Boston. Why?"

"I…I just overheard a conversation that made me wonder. Anyway…thanks. Say hi to Magnus and⁠—"

"Naya," my sister-in-law grabbed Nolan's phone, "can you babysit Magnus tomorrow night?"

"Ah…."

"Our regular canceled, and Amias and Ann are throwing a party at his place," she motored on.

"Sure, Kara."

"Great. I'll drop him off around six? Thanks."

And then they hung up on me. Boring nerdy Auntie Naya, who dressed like a frump and had nobody in her life. I needed to get some cats, and I'd be set at the tender age of twenty-six to be a cat lady. If only I wasn't allergic to the little furballs.

TWO

AMIAS

"We've been dating for months, and I can't understand why you insist that we keep separate apartments," Ann started up on her usual nag fest while she did her makeup.

She'd insisted on throwing a party at my place in Back Bay. I didn't mind having people over. I had a good housekeeper and cleaning crew. Ann had catered the food and hired a bartender to mix and serve drinks for the evening. All I needed to do was show up.

"Because we tend to break up, Ann, and I'd like to make sure we're actually going to have a steady relationship this time before talking about moving in."

"Amias, your lack of trust in us hurts."

I wish she'd cut the crap. She knew I didn't mince my words. She also knew I wasn't ready to live with her, and nagging me wasn't going to help. Ann and I had been doing this dance for years, and, in all honesty, I was getting tired of it. The sex was fantastic, but everything else was starting to take its toll, especially dealing with her constant need to be validated.

Am I pretty enough? Rich enough? Successful enough? Do you love me enough?

Christ! She was driving me nuts with her constant demands. Ann was as old as me, and I knew she was starting to panic that she'd not find someone in time to have babies. I wasn't planning to bring kids into this world with a woman I wasn't sure I had a future with. Considering how it was going between Ann and me, after dating this time around for six months, I had a feeling that she'd need to find someone else to impregnate her and put a ring on her finger in whichever order she preferred.