door.
Monica hugged me tightly.
“You’re the absolute best, Em. I think I’ve even loved you for a thousand lifetimes.” She left my office and shut the door.
I reached for my phone to text Bo. I wasn’t going to tell him about what Josh said to Monica. I didn’t want to betray Josh ; I wanted to smack him, but not betray him.
Me: Just a heads up. Josh broke up with Monica last night. She’s a hot mess.
Bo: Shit really? That’s too bad.
Me: Yea-it’s not good. See you at noon.
I slammed my forehead down on the desk and waited for 12:00 to come.
A thousand lifetimes…
***
Knock knock… I jumped violently from the sleep I’d clearly been enjoying. I rubbed my neck as the door opened.
“Em, you OK ?” Monica looked refreshed as I searched for the time.
It was 9:00am . I’d slept with my head on my desk for about an hour.
“Oh, yea, in super classy move, I passed out. Must have been all the crying I did last night…” I hadn’t gotten around to talking to Monica about my night.
“What happened?!” She was genuinely concerned.
“Oh, you know, Bo came over for a drink and cried in my shoulder. For fun, my parents showed up after he left. They asked all kinds of questions about the guitar - oh yea, Bo and I played the guitar - which caused me to start crying and so I told them everything. They shared their theories and left after midnight.”
She stared at me straight-faced, “I’m going to n eed a little more information.”
After I filled her in with actual details and words, she relaxed back into her chair.
“Raven’s right, you know.” Monica stared out the window.
“Right about what?” Besides everything.
“Don’t let someone else hold the strings, November. I’m not saying quit your job and frolic in the sand all day with Bo , but I’m saying don’t necessarily push him aside and focus solely on your work. You’ve done that for ever. But, if what Josh said is right, about a soul-love, a thousand lifetimes love, I don’t really know that you have a choice anyway…” Did my parents kidnap her last night and say to her all of the things I thought they were going to say to me?
“Monica, stop. Josh is an asshole. He took something Bo may have said out of context and used it as an excuse for some insecure bullshit he was feeling.”
“Ember, you didn’t see the look on Josh’s face. He was changed by that conversation with Bo. He couldn’t have ever made something like that up. Bo Cavanaugh clearly has it as bad for you as you do for him, and you need to drink that in. He loves you, November . ” While her tone was somber, it was stern.
“Wow, this is some heavy shit. OK, neither one of us can cry any more today. We’ve got that meeting at noon. Let’s go walk for a few minutes to get some fresh air and get our acts together,” I resolved as I stood up and ushered us both outside.
We walked to our coffee place and came back to our building. We sat on the front steps
and killing time until about a half hour before our meeting. Our boss would be so proud.
“Monica?” I said as we headed inside, failing to break my stare into the distance.
“Yea?”
“That ‘thousand lifetimes’ thing…Do you think that’s kind of…”
“The absolute most gut-wrenchingly romantic thing I’ve ever heard? Yea, I do.” She had a half smile, maybe to encourage me.
“I was going to say intense.” I half-laughed.
“Intense, yes. Romantic, hell yes .” Monica opened the door while shaking her head.
As we walked inside she continued, “I’m really sorry I spilled that to you. I just couldn’t make up another reason Josh wanted to break up with me. But, you should have heard that first from Bo.”
“No, honestly, I’m glad I heard it from you.”
“Why? So you had permission to sit there with that blank look on your face?” Monica elbowed me as we headed to the meeting room to set up.
“Yea, actually. I almost cried. I wanted to cry about the fact that
Monica hugged me tightly.
“You’re the absolute best, Em. I think I’ve even loved you for a thousand lifetimes.” She left my office and shut the door.
I reached for my phone to text Bo. I wasn’t going to tell him about what Josh said to Monica. I didn’t want to betray Josh ; I wanted to smack him, but not betray him.
Me: Just a heads up. Josh broke up with Monica last night. She’s a hot mess.
Bo: Shit really? That’s too bad.
Me: Yea-it’s not good. See you at noon.
I slammed my forehead down on the desk and waited for 12:00 to come.
A thousand lifetimes…
***
Knock knock… I jumped violently from the sleep I’d clearly been enjoying. I rubbed my neck as the door opened.
“Em, you OK ?” Monica looked refreshed as I searched for the time.
It was 9:00am . I’d slept with my head on my desk for about an hour.
“Oh, yea, in super classy move, I passed out. Must have been all the crying I did last night…” I hadn’t gotten around to talking to Monica about my night.
“What happened?!” She was genuinely concerned.
“Oh, you know, Bo came over for a drink and cried in my shoulder. For fun, my parents showed up after he left. They asked all kinds of questions about the guitar - oh yea, Bo and I played the guitar - which caused me to start crying and so I told them everything. They shared their theories and left after midnight.”
She stared at me straight-faced, “I’m going to n eed a little more information.”
After I filled her in with actual details and words, she relaxed back into her chair.
“Raven’s right, you know.” Monica stared out the window.
“Right about what?” Besides everything.
“Don’t let someone else hold the strings, November. I’m not saying quit your job and frolic in the sand all day with Bo , but I’m saying don’t necessarily push him aside and focus solely on your work. You’ve done that for ever. But, if what Josh said is right, about a soul-love, a thousand lifetimes love, I don’t really know that you have a choice anyway…” Did my parents kidnap her last night and say to her all of the things I thought they were going to say to me?
“Monica, stop. Josh is an asshole. He took something Bo may have said out of context and used it as an excuse for some insecure bullshit he was feeling.”
“Ember, you didn’t see the look on Josh’s face. He was changed by that conversation with Bo. He couldn’t have ever made something like that up. Bo Cavanaugh clearly has it as bad for you as you do for him, and you need to drink that in. He loves you, November . ” While her tone was somber, it was stern.
“Wow, this is some heavy shit. OK, neither one of us can cry any more today. We’ve got that meeting at noon. Let’s go walk for a few minutes to get some fresh air and get our acts together,” I resolved as I stood up and ushered us both outside.
We walked to our coffee place and came back to our building. We sat on the front steps
and killing time until about a half hour before our meeting. Our boss would be so proud.
“Monica?” I said as we headed inside, failing to break my stare into the distance.
“Yea?”
“That ‘thousand lifetimes’ thing…Do you think that’s kind of…”
“The absolute most gut-wrenchingly romantic thing I’ve ever heard? Yea, I do.” She had a half smile, maybe to encourage me.
“I was going to say intense.” I half-laughed.
“Intense, yes. Romantic, hell yes .” Monica opened the door while shaking her head.
As we walked inside she continued, “I’m really sorry I spilled that to you. I just couldn’t make up another reason Josh wanted to break up with me. But, you should have heard that first from Bo.”
“No, honestly, I’m glad I heard it from you.”
“Why? So you had permission to sit there with that blank look on your face?” Monica elbowed me as we headed to the meeting room to set up.
“Yea, actually. I almost cried. I wanted to cry about the fact that
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