“I don’t blame her.”
Mason vents for a while about preschools and then segues into bragging about Astrid’s latest feats, including a fingerpainting project so striking he boasts that someone would easily drop a grand on it if he put it on eBay.
Typical kind of conversation I’d have with a proud dad.
Except in my job, I don’t deal with many proud dads. My battalion is made up of about ninety percent egotistical, Type A, testosterone-laden young male prototypes. Nothing against the guys at work, especially since a couple years ago, I was in that same mentality.
But there’s no denying the shift I feel in my gut these days, a shift that only seems more obvious to me when I’m hanging out with Millie. I know she just thinks of me as her weekend hook-up. But I’m not after hook-ups anymore.
“So what’s up down there? Ever take Millie to a festival?” Mason asks when he’s run out of Astridisms to share with me.
“Uh, no. But I did start running with her every morning.”
“Seriously? Let me guess. And you got permanently friend-zoned.”
I catch myself smiling. “Actually, the opposite.”
“Wait, what? You guys are… a thing now?”
“Yeah. Definitely a thing.” I’m just not satisfied withwhat kindof thing, I add in my head.
He groans. “My God. My wife’s on a roll.”
I furrow my brow. “What?”
“Nothing. So things are going well then?”
“Yeah, great. But it’s just temporary.”
“Temporary?”
“Yeah. Just this summer. Hell, we don’t even talk during the week,” I finish with a grumble.
“Really? And you’re okay with this?”
I snort. “Dude, I should be, right? A weekend fling, every weekend? Isn’t that supposed to be the goal?”
“Up until you meet the right one. Yeah, there’s kind of that mentality. Especially in our line of business,” he adds.
“Exactly. But then last week, she goes and gets a call from someone wanting to interview her for a job. This is a big deal for her. And she didn’t even call to tell me. Just told me this weekend. I feel like… a fucking afterthought.”
He snorts. “Did you leave your balls at home?”
“I know, right? I listen to myself, and I’m like, what the hell is with me? Why should I care that she didn’t call right away to tell me about some interview?”
“Because you’re evolving, caveman. Welcome to mature relationships. Next stop, marriage and kids.”
“Fuck you, Mason,” I reply at his joking tone.
“I’m serious, man. It sounds like you’re at that point where you wanted to be the first person she called. Am I wrong?”
I hesitate. “You’re right,” I admit after a couple beats.
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Everything’swrong with that. She still wants to cut this whole thing off at the end of August.”
“That’s what she’s saying. But she might be thinking something completely different. You’ve still got a couple weeks, right?”