Chapter Twenty-One
Lexi
“So, how have things been going with you anyway?” Misty asked as we waited at the end of the counter for our salads to be prepared. “I feel like I've hardly seen you since you moved in with Andrew. What's more, I haven't heard from you. You were always so good about calling me, but lately, it's like you disappeared off the face of the planet. Everything's okay, isn't it?”
“Yeah, everything has been good,” I told her, smiling. “I appreciate you worrying about me, but I'd let you know if something was wrong. You know that.”
“I know, I know,” Misty sighed. “What have you been up to anyway? Have you managed to land yourself a job?”
“No job yet,” I said with a frown. “I've actually slowed down on applying for jobs at the moment, until I figure out what Andrew's plan is. We haven't exactly talked about whether this is a long-term solution or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“When we first moved in there, he was dating someone else,” I told her. “They broke up the other day. I don't know if they're broken up for good or if they're one of those couples that breaks up and gets back together every other week. I haven't wanted to ask.”
“Because you're hoping he's single, but you're afraid he's not?” Misty asked, sounding amused.
“No,” I said emphatically, even though I knew she was just teasing. “When we first moved in there, he told me that we could stay until the end of this business trip that he had. Then after that, he was going to find us some other solution. Remember, he mentioned moving us to that nice place downtown? We still haven't talked about that, and I don't know what he's thinking.”
“But even if you keep living with him, you're going to get a job, aren't you?” Misty asked, sounding confused. “You aren't the type of person to just live off his billions, even if he's offering.”
“Of course not,” I said. “But I don't even know where I'm going to be living. That affects where I can apply for jobs since I'm reliant on public transportation. So I've just taken a break for a little while. Besides, it was getting hard to look at rejection email after rejection email every morning.”
“Hmm,” Misty said, but she didn't press the issue. “What have you been up to, if you're not devoting every waking second to the job hunt, then? Exploring the city with Emma?”
“Actually, I've just been following your advice. I've either been at Andrew's house or else doing things with Andrew. I'm letting him get to know Emma, and that seems to be going well for both of them.”
“Spending a lot of time with Andrew, hmm?” Misty asked, waggling her eyebrows at me. “Does that mean I can expect another niece or nephew soon?”
I rolled my eyes. “It's not like that, okay? We're not sleeping together. He's got more than one guest bedroom. We haven't even done anything romantic. He's busy most of the time. All we've done is play some board games with Emma, and the other day we took her to the Children's Museum.” I smiled. “She had a ton of fun.”
“I'd bet she did,” Misty said. “And what about her mama? Did she have fun as well?”
“I did,” I admitted. “It was good seeing Emma that happy. It's been a while since I was able to take her to someplace fun like that. Going to the park is great, but she gets bored with it if we go there too often.”
“Are you hoping to get romantically involved with Andrew?” Misty asked.
“No!” I said, probably too quickly.
Misty's voice gentled. “There's no reason why you couldn't,” she said. “I know you feel like your whole life is in shambles at the moment, but Andrew doesn't seem to mind.”
I sighed. “I don't want to talk about this,” I told her. I frowned, trying to put the reason into words that would make sense to her. “The whole point of this is to make sure that Emma's taken care of. It's not about getting me laid or getting me, I don't know, anything more. I wouldn't feel right going after Andrew, under the circumstances. I wouldn't want to ruin things for Emma.”
“And you think that getting involved with her daddy would ruin things for her?” Misty asked, her eyebrows knitting together.
“What if it didn't work out? Andrew could kick us out, or he could refuse to ever have anything to do with Emma again, or both. I couldn't handle that.”
“Well, even if you're not trying to get back into his bed, there's no reason why the two of you can't be friends,” Misty said, shrugging. “It sounds like you're enjoying his company, at least.”
“Honestly, I'm not sure that I am,” I admitted. I frowned, puzzling it over. It wasn't that I was finding Andrew's company unpleasant, but at the same time, it wasn't as though we were hanging out. It definitely wasn't like that first night together, where we'd chatted about anything and everything. “Every time I've seen him lately, Emma's been there with us,” I slowly told her. “And it's been great, but it hasn't been like Andrew and I are hanging out. I've just enjoyed watching him interact with Emma.”
Misty frowned but nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “Emma's kind of your buffer.”
“Yeah, exactly. We got into a disagreement at the breakfast table the morning after I arrived there, about those long-term plans, but neither of us wanted to bicker in front of Emma. So we shelved it to come back to later. I feel like that's what's happening with every point of friction between us: we're just kicking it all under the rug at the moment. But if we were going to start a real relationship, if we were going to start to be friends, we'd have to unpack all of that. I'm not ready to do that yet.”
“That's fair,” Misty said. “If you ever need a babysitter for a little while, though, just someone to take Emma off your hands for a little while so that you and Andrew could really talk”–from the way she suggested it, I could tell she wasn't just thinking that we'd talk–“you know where to find me.”
I giggled. “You're really rooting for the two of us, aren't you?”
“He's a handsome billionaire,” Misty said jokingly. “What's not to like?” She grinned at me. “Seriously, though, you know I just want you to be happy.”
“And you think Andrew would make me happy?” I asked, worrying my lower lip between my teeth as I thought about it.
Our life the past few weeks hadn't been horrible, that was true. It was definitely a big step up from the way that we had been living. But like Misty had said, I wasn't the kind of woman who was content with living off my husband's paycheck.
As much as I admired stay-at-home-moms and as much as I loved Emma, I wasn't sure that I wanted that for the rest of my life. I'd be much happier working, I was sure. Not that being with Andrew meant that I wouldn't be able to work. I just needed to sort my life out before I got romantically entangled with anyone, Andrew or otherwise.
“It's been kind of nice having more time to spend with Emma, now that I'm not frantically job-searching,” I mused. “Maybe I would make a good stay-at-home-mom.”
Misty laughed. “You'd be bored sick within the month,” she told me. “And what would you do once Emma started going to school? You'd go nuts.”
“You're right,” I sighed.
“I bet you just want to put in more Emma play-hours than Daddy does,” Misty remarked, grinning at me. “You're probably jealous because he's so good at handling her. She'll be Daddy's little princess before you know it.”
I stuck my tongue out at her, but then I frowned. “Do you really think that's going to happen?” I asked. I could almost see the signs of it, now that she had mentioned it.
Misty snorted. “No, I don't think that's going to happen, any more than I think that I'm going to be able to usurp her affections for you,” she said. “It's good to have a lot of different people for Emma to love and model her behavior on, isn't it? What's that saying: it takes a village to raise a kid?”
I smiled tentatively at her. “You're right,” I said. “I should be happy that she and Andrew are so taken with one another. I mean, I am happy that she and Andrew are so taken with one another.”
“Good,” Misty said. “I'm glad everything is going so well for you. I really was worried, you know.”
“I know,” I said. I shook my head. “But enough about me. How have you been? Did you find someone to fill that spare room?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I don't have a place for you if Andrew kicks you out tomorrow,” Misty said. “Unless you wanted to sleep in my closet.” She grinned crookedly. “It's been good. The girl's name is Nicole, and she's a law student, so she's not around the apartment very much. Nice, though, and very clean. Probably the best living situation I've ever had.”
“I resent that!” I said. “I make a great roommate.”
“You do,” Misty agreed. “But the cranky baby wailing at three a.m. leaves something to be desired.”
I laughed. “Yeah, don't I know it.”
“Anyway, nothing major has been happening. I went out for drinks with some of my coworkers last Friday, and that was kind of fun. I miss going out with you, though. You made a much better wing-lady than Christina from accounting.”
I felt another pang of guilt. “I know I haven't been the best friend lately, but I feel like things are really looking up for me now,” I told her. “And you know that as soon as I have the money to come out for drinks with you again, I'll be there.”
“Hey, relax,” Misty said, reaching over to grab my hand. “I was just teasing. I know that you're busy right now, even beyond your financial situation. You just concentrate on you, and I'll also concentrate on you, and eventually, we'll get you and Emma back on your feet again.”
I smiled at her. “You're the best friend,” I told her. “I don't know how I got so lucky.”
“Maybe you used up all your luck with meeting me, and that's why you've had shitty luck with everything else,” Misty suggested.
We both burst out laughing, and I felt happier than I had in ages. For the first time, it felt like maybe things were finally starting to turn around for me, just like Misty thought. I could only hope so.