Chapter Eleven: A Storm Before the Calm, Maybe?
“He pushed you out of bed?” Melissa asked as she helped herself to a cup of coffee from the decanter in the employee’s lounge.
“Not physically.” Beth didn’t bother to look up. She was too busy digging through her purse looking for change for the soda machine. “Literally speaking, yes, he rejected my offer.”
“The cold bastard, what is his problem? Look at you, you’re pretty, he’s not gay. I don’t get it.”
“I do. It’s like you’ve always said, men want what they can’t have and since he’s already had me...”
“Oh, now you listen to me, like I know all the answers. Honey, you shouldn’t pay any attention to what I said before. I was only upset because Thad and I broke up. I was in no position to give anyone advice. I just didn’t want to see you hurting the way I was.”
She had never once seen Melissa let her guard down. For the first time she felt her friend lost and lonely and vulnerable.
In an attempt to cheer her up, Beth said, “It’s not your fault I’m attracted to emotionally unavailable men. Come lunch time, you and I are going shopping for the perfect dress to wear to Joshua’s party with Evan’s money, and then we are going to have a long overdue drink together. What do you say?”
“I say you’re on.”
The amused smile on Melissa’s face made her almost forget her dilemma.
Melissa started for the door, when on a more serious note, she said, “Don’t be
so hard on Evan, everyone has their own reality to deal with, maybe you’re his.”
“Yea, well I have my own reality too. And my reality is—I’m tired of the Callahan boys treating me like a second class citizen. I know one thing. If Evan doesn’t want my company, then I plan on making myself totally unavailable.”
“That’s going to be hard to do since he’s your boss and you work less than ten feet from his office, and you’re staying in his house.”
“I didn’t say I would be invisible. There’s a difference.”
“One last word of advice, don’t play any games. Just be yourself and see what happens.” Giving one last smile, Melissa turned and left the room.
Being herself hadn’t gotten her anywhere, Beth realized. She walked over to the soda machine and put her coins in the slot. The drink didn’t come out.
“Darn it!” she said and kicked the box with all her might. “Can’t one thing go my way?”
“I see you’re still exhibiting violent tendencies this morning.”
The smooth sound of Evan’s voice right behind her made her jump. Every bone in her body tensed.
Not bothering to turn around, she said in a less than friendly tone, “At least I can express my feelings. That’s more than I can say for you.”
Then whirling around, she lifted her chin. “You, on the other hand, are afraid of intimacy. Look at your life. You’re almost thirty years old and still single. Never been engaged, let alone married. I would be willing to bet the longest your relationships have lasted was two weeks, tops.”
The smile on his face disappeared on his perfect face as he walked over to the coffeemaker.
Then pouring the hot brew into a ceramic mug, he said in a brooding tone that felt like nails grating across a chalkboard, “What? You’re lecturing me? Why don’t we look at your life so far, Beth? It’s like you’re standing on the sidelines looking in. You passed the LSAT, but you didn’t go to law school. Why’s that? It’s obvious you’re intelligent.
