"Good morning to you, too," Tiffany said, shooting me a crooked smile. She walked in, her heels clacking against the floor. "Guess someone had fun last night."
"I gotta hand it to you," I said, "I was a little worried about who it was going to end up being waiting for me at that restaurant."
"You're welcome," she said smugly.
"I didn't say it was a good surprise," I said, shutting the door behind her.
"What? What happened last night?"
"What happened was you tricked me into going on a date with the guy who dumped me. With my ex! Tiffany, what the hell?"
"We were right on that couch when you told me that you missed what you and Roman had and have been trying to get it back," she said, pointing at my couch.
"I didn't say that I wanted to get back together with him, I said I just wanted what we had. We were talking about Sean, anyway. I didn't even know Roman was back in town."
"Well, now you do. Nothing's standing in your way."
"No, Tiff," I said shaking my head. "That ship has sailed. He ended it, and it's been over for a year. I'm not going back."
"Why not? Was it a bad date? Was he rude? Did you fight?"
"No," I said, truthfully.
"Then, I don't get it. Why don’t you want to reconnect?"
"It’s called a breakup for a reason," I told her.
"He only did it because he thought what he was doing was right. It wasn't the right decision to make, but he was thinking of you when he did."
"That doesn't change that he did it, Tiff. He devastated me when he dumped me. He made a decision for me, instead of talking to me about it first. He didn't even respect me enough to treat me like his decision was going to affect me, too," I said. Tiffany sighed, looking defeated.
"He asked me whether you were happy the first night that he got back. He wanted to know how you were. He said he still cared about you, despite what happened."
"And, I do, too," I admitted, "but that isn't enough to change what he decided to do. He still left, and I can't pretend it wasn't the worst thing he could have done to me."
"I'm sorry. I thought I was... It doesn't matter what I thought I was doing, it was still wrong."
"I get it. You're not the only one who's thought about the two of us getting back together," I said sadly.
"Then why don't you give it a shot?"
"Because it's more complicated than that. He left knowing what it would do to me, and he did it anyway. He hurt me on purpose – I don't know that I can let that go." She sighed again, coming forward to hug me.
"I understand. I won't get in the way," she said, letting me go.
"I know you were just trying to help. I just don't think this one can be fixed." She looked a little sad about it. I knew how she felt about the relationship her brother and I had had, but he had changed something when he did what he did. He let me know that we weren't in it together. He could make decisions about things that would affect us both, and he would rather get rid of me than talk to me about stuff.
That was the real problem. That was the thing that would have gotten in between us sooner or later, even if we had stayed together. I suddenly felt resentful. Not towards Tiff, but towards Roman for coming back. For what he said last night about it being a date and trying to defend himself when I called him out. I had been doing great; why did he have to come back and confuse the hell out of me now?
That old feeling came back. I wanted him gone again. You know what? No, he could stay, I wanted out.
She hung out for a while, and we ended up going out to eat. When I got back to the apartment, I went online and signed up for summer courses. If I could graduate early, I would; then I'd get out of here. I'd never even look back.
Chapter Eleven
Roman
I didn't know what Tiff had against this place; it was growing on me. I was out on the patio, having coffee. The yard wasn't big, but if I wanted to put, I don't know, a dog out there, I could. I wasn't going to. It was just good having this much space to play with if I wanted. Last time I'd lived in a place with a yard was when I was still at home. I was still getting used to not having anyone need me to do anything. I wasn't sure about all this free time, what to do with it.