Page 23 of Saving Meadow

12

A date

Of all days…

Something had crawled so far up Beth’s ass, not only had it died, but it was decaying. From the moment I’d walked into the office after my session with Mandy, she’d been on my case. Her sales numbers had dropped this week, and two clients canceled their accounts after she’d missed a meeting with them. She blamed me, even though I didn’t keep her schedule. Bitch. I’d heard her in her office yelling at someone on the phone; and I hoped to God it wasn’t a client. If it was, I understood why people were canceling their orders and their memberships to our cloud storage service.

Beth had never been especially nice to me, but after my attack, she’d been even bitchier. And today had been no different. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but every time she made a comment, it was like a slap in the face. I’d heard it all, from how sorry she was I was now ugly, to what a shame it was I’d never have children. The woman was down-right mean.

I held my breath when five o’clock rolled around, and she’d stepped out of her office, prepared for the verbal vomit that would spew from her mouth. But when she’d placed her reports on my desk to file she didn’t say a word. In fact, she looked like she’d been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and her normally perfect makeup was smudged. If she were anyone else, I would’ve asked if she was okay. But she wasn’t, and I didn’t. I watched in shock as she made her way to the door, with her purse hanging from the crook of her elbow and her coat draped over her arm, and silently left. No snarky comment about how lonely it must be going home to an empty house. No boasting about how perfect her boyfriend was. No bragging about how he’d been hinting at marriage. It was crazy a man would actually want to marry her. Today she was silent. I should’ve been grateful, but instead, I kind of felt sorry for her. When I thought about it, she hadn’t mentioned the boyfriend in a few months.

Trouble in paradise?

I had barely enough time to get home and change before Nick came over. I rushed through closing down my computer and grabbed my bag from under my desk and headed out. Now that I didn’t have Beth or work to occupy my mind, I was getting nervous. More than nervous, my palms were sweating the whole drive home, and by the time I pulled into my parking spot, I’d considered canceling.

Why was I doing this? It was a waste of time; nothing could or would come of having dinner with Nick. He was handsome, smart, and had a good job. I was sure like most men, he’d want a family. Maybe he wanted to have some fun before he settled down and found a wife. My heart sank at the thought of being filler. That’s all I could ever be, the filler, the space between when a man was playing the field and ready to settle down.

Before I got out of my car, I grabbed my phone and sent a message to Veronica Venus.

Me: Am I crazy for going on a date?

VV21: Meadow? Is this you? Have you been abducted by aliens? A date?

I couldn’t help but laugh at her response. I haven’t been on a date in years. Hell, I barely leave the house. I’m a twenty-six-year-old cat woman, minus the cats.

Me: Yes. With an FBI agent. He’s super-hot! 😊 😊

VV21: FBI?

Me: Sigh. Long story. I’ll fill you in tomorrow. He’ll be here soon; I have to get ready.

VV21: Have fun. Be safe. And I want details tomorrow. Wait, the FBI guy from the other day?

Me: Yes.

VV21: Sweetie. Are you sure it’s a date and he just doesn’t want more information from you?

Ouch! As much as what she said stung, maybe she was right. Was I making too much of this? Nick asked if I wanted to grab dinner. He didn’t call it a date. He didn’t even ask, really. Just I’ll come by, and we’ll have dinner. Shit. I’d misread the situation.

VV21: I’m not being mean. I don’t want to see you get hurt. Don’t let him use you.

Use me? Nick wouldn’t use me, would he? I didn’t know him that well, but he didn’t seem like the type of man that would be dishonest or underhanded.

Me: No. You’re right. He didn’t call it date. He said “dinner.” I called it a date. I’m sure he’s being nice checking on me since I was hypnotized today and remembered some awful stuff.

How could I’ve been so stupid thinking that Nick wanted to go on a date with me? He felt sorry for me, that was all. He was a nice guy, and nice guys go out of their way to help broken women like me.

VV21: YOU REMEMBERED?!

Me: Not everything. I’ll message you later and tell you about it. I’m sure I’ll be home early from my non-date dinner. How lame am I thought he asked me on a date?! BBL. xo

I put my phone in my purse and headed to my door. How had I been so stupid?

“Hey.”

The voice behind me had me nearly jumping out of my skin. I dropped my keys and spun around so quickly I banged my hip on the door handle.

“Damn!”