with her.
“So then I guess we know everything there is to know about each other.”
“Not quite,” he
answered. “But soon. Will I see you at the dog park tomorrow?”
“I’ll try,” I said.
I still couldn’t
make any promises, but something about the way he looked at me made me want to
try.
ACQUIESCENCE
KATE
“Let’s get it all out of the way right now. Take care of all the
business so that we can have a good time and not think about any of it.” Maddox
gave me a serious look before taking a long pull off his bottle of beer.
I looked at him
sideways. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on, Kate. You
ran out of the office yesterday like your hair was on fire. You hid all day
today. Something’s wrong. Let’s hear it.”
I sipped my
margarita, attempting to stall. I would feel better after I talked to him,
regardless of what he told me. Still, I was nervous. This was Jonathan’s best
friend that I was talking to.
“Did you know that
Jonathan was having an affair?” Straight and to the point. Though his reaction was slight, he stiffened in his chair. “You did.”
He leaned back and
rubbed his hand down his face. “I
suspected.” I’d suspected him suspecting so I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. Or disappointed.
Maddox had been
Jonathan’s friend since college. But that also meant that he’d known Grace
almost as long. I couldn’t understand how he could sit back and watch it
happen, knowing that she would be devastated if she ever found out. “And you
never said anything?”
“To Grace?” he
asked. “Come on, Kate. Cut me some slack. He was my best friend.”
“And she wasn’t a
friend? How long was it going on?”
“Look, he never
actually admitted it, and I never asked. I didn’t want to know.”
I rolled my eyes at
him, trying to resist the urge to punch him in the face.
“Look. It wasn’t my
place to tell her,” he said almost apologetically. “I tried to talk to him about
it once, but he told me to fuck off. I have a general policy of not
interjecting myself into other people’s problems, especially when it involves
their marriage.”
I couldn’t really
blame him there, but I wasn’t so inclined at this point. “Do you know Hope?”
He shook his head.
“No. Who’s that?”
“I found a chat
string between him and some woman named Hope. I searched online for a Hope in Merriville but came up with nothing.”
“I don’t know,” he
said, shaking his head, “but Kate, if you want my advice, and you probably
don’t, let it go. It’s just going to eat you up. What’s the point now? What
good are you going to accomplish by dredging up the past?”
He was right. What
went on behind closed doors wasn’t really any one’s business. So why was I now
making it mine? I’d done enough damage already. I smiled and made a vow to
myself to stop obsessing over Jonathan’s sleaziness.
I looked around the
noisy Mexican restaurant and noticed for the first time a grandfather and granddaughter
eating in the far corner. Her head was down as she colored on the paper-covered
table. The grandfather also had a crayon in his hand, and they were both intent
upon their art work . When the girl looked up, her eyes
met mine. She smiled and pointed to her drawing with a proud grin across her
face. For a moment, that smile erased all of my anxiety.
“You’re right,” I
said. “No more talk about Jonathan tonight.”
He nodded happily.
“Good. I finally got you to agree to a date, and so far it’s not looking like
you’ll agree to another one any time soon.”
“Just friends,
remember? That was the deal.” I reached out my hand to shake on it.
He groaned and
shook his head. “You’re really going to try and hold me to it, too, aren’t you?
I can’t shake on that.”
I dropped my hand
on the table in defeat. “But we agreed.”
“I don’t remember
any such deal,” he said just as our fajitas arrived. As the waiter placed
“So then I guess we know everything there is to know about each other.”
“Not quite,” he
answered. “But soon. Will I see you at the dog park tomorrow?”
“I’ll try,” I said.
I still couldn’t
make any promises, but something about the way he looked at me made me want to
try.
ACQUIESCENCE
KATE
“Let’s get it all out of the way right now. Take care of all the
business so that we can have a good time and not think about any of it.” Maddox
gave me a serious look before taking a long pull off his bottle of beer.
I looked at him
sideways. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on, Kate. You
ran out of the office yesterday like your hair was on fire. You hid all day
today. Something’s wrong. Let’s hear it.”
I sipped my
margarita, attempting to stall. I would feel better after I talked to him,
regardless of what he told me. Still, I was nervous. This was Jonathan’s best
friend that I was talking to.
“Did you know that
Jonathan was having an affair?” Straight and to the point. Though his reaction was slight, he stiffened in his chair. “You did.”
He leaned back and
rubbed his hand down his face. “I
suspected.” I’d suspected him suspecting so I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. Or disappointed.
Maddox had been
Jonathan’s friend since college. But that also meant that he’d known Grace
almost as long. I couldn’t understand how he could sit back and watch it
happen, knowing that she would be devastated if she ever found out. “And you
never said anything?”
“To Grace?” he
asked. “Come on, Kate. Cut me some slack. He was my best friend.”
“And she wasn’t a
friend? How long was it going on?”
“Look, he never
actually admitted it, and I never asked. I didn’t want to know.”
I rolled my eyes at
him, trying to resist the urge to punch him in the face.
“Look. It wasn’t my
place to tell her,” he said almost apologetically. “I tried to talk to him about
it once, but he told me to fuck off. I have a general policy of not
interjecting myself into other people’s problems, especially when it involves
their marriage.”
I couldn’t really
blame him there, but I wasn’t so inclined at this point. “Do you know Hope?”
He shook his head.
“No. Who’s that?”
“I found a chat
string between him and some woman named Hope. I searched online for a Hope in Merriville but came up with nothing.”
“I don’t know,” he
said, shaking his head, “but Kate, if you want my advice, and you probably
don’t, let it go. It’s just going to eat you up. What’s the point now? What
good are you going to accomplish by dredging up the past?”
He was right. What
went on behind closed doors wasn’t really any one’s business. So why was I now
making it mine? I’d done enough damage already. I smiled and made a vow to
myself to stop obsessing over Jonathan’s sleaziness.
I looked around the
noisy Mexican restaurant and noticed for the first time a grandfather and granddaughter
eating in the far corner. Her head was down as she colored on the paper-covered
table. The grandfather also had a crayon in his hand, and they were both intent
upon their art work . When the girl looked up, her eyes
met mine. She smiled and pointed to her drawing with a proud grin across her
face. For a moment, that smile erased all of my anxiety.
“You’re right,” I
said. “No more talk about Jonathan tonight.”
He nodded happily.
“Good. I finally got you to agree to a date, and so far it’s not looking like
you’ll agree to another one any time soon.”
“Just friends,
remember? That was the deal.” I reached out my hand to shake on it.
He groaned and
shook his head. “You’re really going to try and hold me to it, too, aren’t you?
I can’t shake on that.”
I dropped my hand
on the table in defeat. “But we agreed.”
“I don’t remember
any such deal,” he said just as our fajitas arrived. As the waiter placed
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