It's Just Casual

Chapter 26

I knew it was a lie and yet the faint whisper made my heart pound. I snuck back in the bathroom and flushed the toilet. It had sounded so genuine, which made knowing it was fake even more painful.

To make it more believable that I'd actually just spent fifteen minutes on the toilet, I flushed it and when I got out of the bathroom, Mal was sitting in her chair as though nothing had happened. For a second, that made me think nothing had.

"You know what, I think it's time for me to leave," Mal said as soon as she saw me joining Regina on the couch. She looked at Regina, probably hoping she'd stop her, but Regina didn't say anything.

"I think that's a great idea," I said and jumped off the couch excitedly. The time I'd spent with Mal had all been wasted minutes and I hurried to open the door and throw her coat at her. She didn't even bother putting it on. "I'm not really comfortable with you staying here again. I'd like you to leave us from this moment forward, thank you."

Mal didn't respond and left my apartment. I sighed relieved and looked at Regina, who seemed lost in thought. She didn't say anything and just stared at the empty cup in her hands.

"Well, you should probably leave, too," I said. "You still have time to meet a man and introduce him to Luke if you're fast. Probably need someone to replace August with."

I sat down on the couch, making sure there was as much space between me and Regina as possible. Regina averted her eyes to me and cocked her head.

"Why did you do this?" she asked sincerely.

"Do what?"

"This. Meeting up with Mal, keeping up this scheme. Why would you do that? It doesn't benefit you in any way and you had to endure her horrible anecdotes of parties she's been to in the last couple weeks. You could've had a free afternoon, but instead you chose to spend it like this."

"I know. I deserve a place in heaven for what I endured," I joked. "I don't want a troubled boss, who's in an unhealthy relationship with some chick that doesn't even have a normal name. I prefer you with that August man."

"Thank you," Regina said after a moment of silence, and scooted a little closer to me. "And honestly, everything with August is over."

"That's a bummer," I said. "He was very attractive. I don't know what he had going on underneath that robe, but it didn't look like it was going to disappoint me. Now that he's single, do you have his number for me?"

"I don't want you to have it," Regina said, with a serious voice.

"Why? What happened between you two?"

She took a deep breath and subtly moved somewhat closer to me. At least, I thought she was trying to be subtle, but I did notice. I also did not mind.

"I wasn't in a relationship with him."

"Sure you weren't."

"I mean it," she said, and I believed her. I believed her the first time she'd said it, but I was scared of what was coming next. "He moves really fast. I hadn't intended for him to meet Luke. I hadn't intended for him to be more than a one night stand, but he accidentally met Luke in the morning and then I had no choice but to pursue whatever it was. I don't want Luke to think I sleep with random men and have that be it."

I could've guessed it'd gone something like this, but I still enjoyed hearing it. I didn't want to, but I really liked her telling me she hadn't wanted anything serious with August.

"He acted like we were a married couple, keep in mind I've known him for three weeks, and he was quite possessive of me. When I told him when I was meeting up with two exes, or at least, kind of, he got really angry. He was already pissed I'd told you we weren't in a relationship and this pushed him over the edge, so we broke it off."