He didn't say anything out of the ordinary, and Kayla being at his house was –to my knowledge, at least—anything but ordinary.
And he implied that he had just gotten off work.
Why didn't he tell me? Would he tell me? I wanted to call him to give him a chance to explain, but a larger part of me could only concentrate on what he hadn't said in the message.
If he didn't intend to tell me and I would have never known if I didn't serendipitously drive by, did I even want to know?
Scolding myself for seeming to favor ignorance again, I closed my book and picked up my phone, dialing Derek's number.
"Hey," he greeted.
Nothing suspect about his tone so far.
"Hey," I returned, trying to mimic his good mood.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Reading," I replied.
He chuckled. "Of course you are—why did I even ask? Did you buy a new book?"
"No, I decided to wait until my first day so I get a discount."
"Aw shit, that interview was today, wasn't it? You got it? That's awesome," he said. "The discount should save you enough for your college tuition, right?"
"You didn't remember?" I asked lightly, not wanting to make too much of it, but kind of offended that he had forgotten such an important detail.
But he was teasing me. Was I delusional, or was Derek teasing me as if he would any other day when Kayla wasn't at his house?
Maybe he hadn't been home, I realized. Maybe, for some strange reason, while Derek was at work Kayla went to his house for…something. To talk to Mike about…something...baby-related.
Yes, that must
be it. Derek had been at work.
But Derek hadn't been scheduled, which was why I had been on my way over….
Maybe he got called in!
"No, I did," he said. "It just…I don't know, my head—I just forgot when you called."
"Oh. No big deal. So, how was work for you?" I asked casually.
"Same old, same old," he replied.
"Yeah?" I asked, not encouraged. "What time did you work until?"
"Two," he replied.
Two o'clock. My interview had been at two o'clock, and he should have been home by the time I was finished with the interview and had time to drive to his house.
"Oh yeah? I thought that's what you said. So…did you do anything exciting after work?"
"Not really," he responded. "I was going to call you earlier," he began, and I felt a weight begin to lift off my shoulder. "I thought you could come over after your interview, let me know how it went."
The interview he hadn't remembered until I told him I got the job?
"Oh yeah?" I said hopefully. "Why didn't you?"