“Okay,” she nods. “Thanks again… for everything.”
“Anytime.” It sounds casual and dismissive, but I mean it. Literally anytime. Now, for example. She could come back to my house and stay in a nice, comfortable bedroom. Have access to a television and a sofa and a fully stocked kitchen.
But she won’t, so it’s time for me to leave.
7
Margot
“Margot, what’s going on? Is everything okay?” Emma asks as soon as I answer her call on Sunday afternoon.
It’s been so hard for Emma and me to connect ever since she left for this trip. I’m happy for her, but I also miss my best friend.
“Everything’s fine,” I say because truthfully, it is. As long as I stay focused on work and keep my mind off the breakup, I’m fine.
“Okay,” Emma says, drawing the word out. “But did something happen with you and Jeremy?”
“Yeah, um, we broke up,” I admit.
“And you didn’t call me?!”
“I tried a couple of times, but it went straight to voicemail. I figured you didn’t have service on your hike.”
Emma blows a long breath into the phone. “I’m so sorry, Margot. What happened?”
I tell her the entire story but leave out the part where I got fall-down, yell-at-an-office-plant drunk afterwards and woke up at Ethan’s house… then proceeded to stay for another week.
“Jeremy is such an asshole,” Emma says when I finish.
“Yeah, I guess you warned me,” I say, trying not to sound bitter. Emma never came right out and said that she didn’t like Jeremy, but she wasn’t very good at keeping it a secret either. She must’ve seen the warning signs long before I did.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Emma says.
“I know.”
A quiet moment passes between us where all is forgiven and forgotten in the span of a single breath. Neither of us are the type to hold grudges, with the notable exception of the massive grudge she held against Garrett right up until the moment she decided that kissing him sounded more fun.
“What can I do?” Emma asks softly. “What do you need? I could come home for a few days…”
“No, Emma, don’t do that. I’m fine, really. Ethan’s been helping me out a lot.”
I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Emma has always not-so-secretly hoped that Ethan and I would date. If for no other reason, because it would potentially make us sisters-in-law.
“Ethan?” she asks with piqued curiosity.
“Yeah, um, just with getting some new furniture and stuff,” I explain, downplaying everything that’s transpired over the past week. Not that there’s anything that requires discussion or disclosure. Ethan’s been extra nice to me. That’s all. End of story.
Nothing happened, and nothing will ever happen between the two of us. I know it’s easy for people to see how well we get along and assume that we would make a good couple, but we wouldn’t. There are a million reasons why it would never work. First and foremost, because Ethan’s idea of a relationship spans the course of approximately two or three hours. Mine spans the course of eternity. I’m not completely sure if there’s a heaven,but if there is, I’m hoping for a cottage on a riverbank with a cat and my one true love. I’m that sort of person. Ethan is not, and I don’t even want to know what his idea of heaven would entail. MILF porn and sex dungeons, probably.
“Why did you need new furniture?” Emma asks.
It’s a valid question, but not one that I feel up to explaining at the moment. “It’s a long story. Do you mind if I save it for another time? I’m kind of tired of thinking about it all right now.”
“Of course,” Emma says softly. “Talk soon?”
“Yeah,” I tell her. But just as I’m about to hang up, something occurs to me. “Wait, Emma… how did you know?”
“Know what?”