Page 23 of F Buddy

“Oh, I’m just about to leave my place. Work isn’t so far, so usually if I leave before eight, I can make it no problem. What about you?”

“I’m at work already,” I said. “I woke up, and I didn’t look at my alarm clock, so I was early.”

She laughed, and I was instantly warmed by the sound, even though she was technically laughing at me.

“Should you be calling me if you’re at work? Won’t you get in trouble?”

Technically, personal calls weren’t allowed at work, but everyone looked the other way as long as it wasn’t regular.

“It’s fine,” I reassured her. “I have something important to tell you, and it’s to do with my job.”

There was a short silence. When she spoke again, her voice was subdued. “Is it a business trip?” she asked. “How long will you be gone?”

I was surprised for a moment when she jumped right into the heart of the matter. Then I winced when I realized why she would immediately think of it. I wondered just how many of her former boyfriends gave her the same news, and if it was genuine or just an excuse because they were cowards. She did have the most atrocious taste in men.

“It’s… a little more than just some business trip,” I said slowly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked after some hesitation.

“It’s bad news,” I told her honestly. “I don’t know exactly for how long. I was only just notified that the guy they had was fired unexpectedly, and I’m his replacement. I’m supposed to go to Tokyo to open an office there.”

There was a short silence on the line. I was worried how she would take it. We’d only hooked up twice and gone out on the one date. Our next date was supposed to be on the weekend, and she was expected to spend the night. I’d brought it up since I didn’t like waking up to find her gone.

But now, we couldn’t have even that. I was pretty sure I would be heading out in a matter of days.

“Oh,” she murmured. “Then, have a nice trip.”

My eyebrows jumped up as she surprised me yet again, though she wasn’t there to see it. She sounded normal, not as happy as when I called, but not as bad as I would have thought either.

“What?”

“It’s for work, right? So, you can't do anything about it. It’s fine.” Then her voice turned teasing. “I kinda envy you. I never get picked for business trips, and you’ll be going to Tokyo. I’ve never been, but it’s supposed to be amazing.”

I narrowed my eyes, feeling confused. She was taking this way better than I’d anticipated.

“Scarlett,” I said slowly. “I could be gone for months. It probably won’t be years, but I can't tell you when I’ll be coming back.”

There was another short silence, then she sighed. “Well, it can't exactly be helped, can it? Besides, it’s not like we’ll never talk or see each other. That’s what Skype is for. Just promise to keep in touch?”

I frowned. “Well… yeah.”

“Then there’s no problem,” she said with finality. “Just let me know when you leave, all right? I wanna say goodbye properly.”

“Sure,” I said absently.

She seemed okay with the whole thing, and I knew that technically that should mean everything was good. Scarlett wouldn’t be upset with me for springing something like this on her so early when we’d only recently become more than just friends. I also wouldn’t have to deal with consoling her when I was too busy.

Plenty of women, even the ones that knew better than to expect more from me, would have been upset.

Scarlett shouldn’t have been so happy.

So why did I feel slightly annoyed that she didn’t seem all that bothered about me going away for months?

Chapter 9

Scarlett

It progressed way too quickly for my taste. There were a couple of days in between, but they blurred together so it was almost like Zach was calling me, telling me he was being relocated to Tokyo, and in the next moment he was ready to leave.