“Have you tried saying “sorry”?” Tristan asked. “That usually works for me.”
“Then you haven’t fucked up as royally as I did.”
“Fair,” Tristan shrugged.
“It’s about showing that you really care,” Marcus said. “For starters, you gotta understand the woman you wronged. So, let’s take Darcy McClain. She’s sweet, driven, kinda vicious when cornered, and she holds a grudge. But most importantly, she seems to feel like she has something to prove, especially at work. I mean, nobody works as hard as she does if they aren’t fucked up over it somehow, right?”
I nodded. I had to give Marcus credit. He really did know how to read people. “Okay, assuming that’s true, how does it help?”
“There’s more. You have to also break down the nature of your fuck up. You really managed to fuck up in a fascinatingly complex way with very few words. By my read on it, you managed to imply her opinions and instincts for the job aren’t worth consideringandthat you would rather ditch her than risk your career goals. And I guess you kinda implied you weren’t over your daddy issues yet all at the same time.”
I glared. “And?”
Marcus brought both hands out wide and slowly drew them together like he was squishing a giant ball. “You’ve gotta find something that sort of mixes all that together in a tidy little ball of, ‘I get it. I’m an idiot. But I won’t be an idiot anymore and here is my proof that I’ve changed.” He shrugged. “So, what do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know yet. But I keep thinking about this pitch of hers I rejected. She brought it up twice, and it was kind of what started that last argument. Before that, I think we were both planning to tough it out against my dad. I wasn’t sure how we’d manage to keep her employed, but I was ready to do stupid things to make it happen. Then that pitch came up and it just spiraled. And then it was easier to let it stay bad so my dad would get off my back. And now here I am, fucking miserable.”
“Rookie mistake,” Tristan said. “If you are sleeping with someone, you gotta take their pitches, man.”
“Actually, this is why you shouldn’t sleep with someone who works for you,” Marcus said. “Was the pitch bad or something?”
“It was fine. It just didn’t fit with my vision for the magazine.”
Marcus put a hand to his forehead and let out a sigh like I was the dumbest man on Earth. “Let me guess. You didn’t give her any ideas to tweak it for your vision, either. You just shot it down?”
I was about to argue with him, but I couldn’t. That was pretty much how it happened. “Yeah,” I said.
He groaned. “Man. You need to have me on bluetooth or something when you talk to women in the future. You’re like some kinda caveman. It’s really not that hard when you boil it all down.”
I sat up suddenly. “Wait,” I said. “I know what I need to do.”
“See?” Tristan said. “He just needed a little help getting there.”
“More like a lot,” Marcus said with a roll of his eyes.
40
DARCY
Winter was officially here. My walk home from work was now a trudge through mostly shoveled sidewalks while I hunched my head beneath the hood of my thick jacket. It was normally my favorite time of year. I loved seeing the Christmas lights start popping up in stores along with little ropes of holly. It was usually enough to put me in a good mood that lasted roughly three months.
But this year, it just felt different.
I was supposed to meet Elizabeth and Polly for drinks in an hour, but I decided to call it off. I hadn’t seen my parents since that night with Dominic, and I felt like I’d put a visit off long enough. Apparently, Eloise and Basil had also split up, and I knew she was staying with them as of a couple days ago.
I’d seen the two of them just a month ago at one of Eloise’s art shows. She’d gushed about how some anonymous person had bought out her whole collection and over-bid on every piece. She was using the money to try to find her own place in the city with a studio for her work. She was thrilled, and I’d been happy to see the cracks already forming between her and Basil. She really did have terrible taste, but at least she didn’t stay in the bad relationships forever.
I called and told my friends I was canceling and where I’d be. I took my shitty car out to their house. If it wasn’t for my dad insisting I keep the thing, I would’ve ditched it by now. But I guessed it was better than paying for an Uber all the way out to my parents’ place every time I went to visit.
I shot off a text to my parents and let them know I was coming, so when I arrived I was greeted by the smell of apple pie cooking. I smiled. They had their Christmas decorations already up. Little blow ups on the front porch of Snoopy with Santa riding shotgun in an airplane, string lights, and a small tree just behind the front porch window. Dad had already shoveled the sidewalk and driveway, but fresh snow was falling and starting to cover up his work.
I knocked and waited.
My mom answered, wrapping me in a hug. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”
I smiled and hugged her back. It was good to see them. My dad was in the kitchen, already working on dinner. From the smell, I thought it might be his pasta carbonara.
“Hey, Dad.”