“Yes. I guess… I don’t know. I’m nowhere near where you are with him. With my crush, I mean,” she adds before laughing, amused.
I crack a smile.
“Yeah… These things are difficult,” I murmur absentmindedly. “Anyway. We’re going out tonight, and that should be fun. Just him and me. Me and him.”
My joke doesn’t grab her attention. She seems preoccupied with something else.
“Okay…” I say, sucking in a short breath. “I’ll keep you posted then.”
We end our conversation when another call flashes across the screen.
I answer the call, pick up my phone, and move to the closet.
“Hi,” I say.
A pause comes from the other end of the line.
I check the screen to make sure we’re still connected.
“Shauna?”
“Hey,” she says, rushed. “I’m sorry. Is this a bad time?”
I freeze.
“No. What happened?”
“Nothing. Are you still in Miami?”
“Yes…” I say, suspicious.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to sound like I’m prying, but is Kai Walker still there?”
Yes,” I say, unsure of where she is going with this. “Is there a problem?”
“No, no…. He talked to me on Thursday.”
“He told me,” I confess.
“Yes. Well, he did… It was about his father. At first, I thought you’d asked him to approach me. He said it was entirely his idea. Anyway, I appreciated his honesty, but I wanted to talk to you too.”
I fold an arm across my chest, holding the phone next to my ear.
“What he said was right,” he says. “It was about Robert’s indiscretions and how to handle the situation. It wasn't news to me, as you can imagine, but I wanted to hear your opinion too. What has happened these past few days?”
I feel cold.
“Are we talking about his father?”
“Yes. About him and his women… I want the whole truth. I need all the anger that I can muster to pull away from him. I thought it would be easier to just end our story, but I kept dwelling and dwelling, and it didn’t serve me well. All the lies I’ve told myself have kept me shackled to him.”
I feel bad for her. And I know what she means.
You think you control things, and then you try to make a move and realize it’s more complicated than you thought.
What can I tell her?
“He is everything you know and more,” I say.