“Are you sure about letting her go out?” she asked.
“I think it’ll be fine. Marley’s not met Natalie, so I doubt she’ll be following her around. But it doesn’t hurt.” Michael shrugged. “Besides, do you want a stroppy teenager complaining all day because she wasn’t allowed to go out? It’s not pretty.”
Paula wasn’t about to argue. She wasn’t a parent. Sighing, she started up the stairs, heading into the guest room as Natalie was putting the backpack on the bed.
“Do you need any help?”
“I’ll be fine, thanks, Natalie.” Paula laid her laptop bag on the desk in the corner. “I’ll manage from here now.”
“Okay.” Natalie gave her a sly smile. “So, you and Dad are going to be alone. Finally.”
“What?”
“Well, you know.”
Paula was confused. She frowned at the teen.
“No, I don’t. What are you talking about?”
“You and Dad.” Natalie winked. “Don’t you know about Dad’s crush on you?”
“What?” Paula thought she had misheard. “Crush? Michael?”
“You seriously didn’t know?” Natalie bit her lip. “Oops. Sorry, I thought you were aware of it.”
Paula shook her head. She was feeling a little dazed. Michael had a crush on her? That couldn’t be right.
“That can’t be right. Michael…he doesn’t…”
“Oh, trust me, he does. He doesn’t need to say anything about it. I can tell.” With an impish glint in her eye, Natalie turned to leave. “I’d best go. I think you and Dad have a lot to talk about.”
She was giggling as she left the room, leaving Paula feeling like everything was tilting a little. She staggered to the bed and sat down. Natalie had to be messing around with her. Michael surely couldn’t have any feelings like that towards her. He was way out of her league. Paula thought she would never have anything with him, choosing to keep it firmly in the friend-zone.
Now Natalie was putting doubts in her head. Did that mean there was something else?
God, how was she supposed to hang around Michael after hearing something like that?
* * *
For a while, Paula didn’t leave the bedroom except to go to the bathroom. She didn’t think she could go down and face Michael after what Natalie had just said. Of course, it could just be Natalie being a teenager and messing around, but Paula didn’t know that.
The only way she was going to find out was to confront Michael on her own. And Paula didn’t know if she could do that. Not just yet.
She focused on getting her stuff set up, and tried to do some work. Maybe focusing on her projects would help her calm down, and then she would be able to figure out her net step. But no matter how hard Paula tried, sitting with her tablet and her client’s instructions in front of her, it wouldn’t come. She was just stuck, with Natalie’s words floating around her head.
She had to talk to him about it. But Paula didn’t want to. She knew there was a chance of rejection, and that was what was holding her back. She didn’t like rejection - who did? - but to have it come from Michael would crush her. Especially as she was using his home as a place to crash until the drama around Marley and Sam died down. That would just make things really awkward until she went back.
Should she confront him about what Natalie said? Or should she leave it alone and put it down to a teenager trying to do some matchmaking of her own?
After another hour of trying to work, and her brain just not functioning properly, Paula gave up. She had to get this sorted. If she didn’t, it was going to weigh on her mind, and her relationship with Michael would be affected.
Putting her tablet aside, Paula rolled up the sleeves of Michael’s shirt - it was just really comfortable, and she didn’t want to take it off - she left the guest room and headed downstairs. Michael was at his desk in the living room, glasses on as he frowned at the screen. He looked around as Paula came into the room.
“You okay? You need anything?”
Paula didn’t answer. She hovered near the end of his desk, unsure how to start. How could she outright ask him if he had any feelings towards her? It wasn’t exactly something that came up in conversations.
“Paula?” Michael took his glasses off and put them on the desk before turning to face her. “What is it?”