Page 32 of Let's Call a Truce
Ben turned and looked directly at me as if he felt my eyes. His eyes widened as he took me in, and his lips tilted in that half grin.
“What the he”—I caught myself at the last second—“heck are you doing here, Ben?”
Gabriela watched us, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “Oh, you two already know each other?”
“We work together.” His eyebrows pulled together as he scanned my face.
I scoffed, like “work together” could encompass whatever we were, and crossed my arms.Hewas the single father? The same man who had criticized me for putting my children first and talked shit about me at work? I got pissed off at anyone who criticized parents for caring for their kids, but there was a special circle of hell reserved for parents who put down other parents.
Gabriela sensed the tension. “I need to take a head count and call anyone who hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll give you two a minute.” She scurried off, turning around behind him and mouthingIs thattheBen?I waved her off.
“I’m still waiting for an answer.” My foot tapped on the ground.
“Are you mad at me for something?”
“Who are you here to chaperone, Ben?”
His crossed arms mirrored mine, like a shield raised between us. “My daughter. Is that a problem?”
“Since when do you have a daughter?” I glanced around the room to make sure we weren’t drawing attention.
“Well, she was born in December, so it’s been over eight years now.”
“Are you trying to be funny? Because, trust me, it’s not working for you.”
“What are you so mad about? That you didn’t know about Paris? I tried to tell you.”
“Don’t rewrite history,” I said.
A scoff escaped him. “I’ve brought you coffee every day this week. I asked you to talk. You’re the one who brushedmeoff.”
“Work’s been nuts. That’s not my fault.”
“And it’s notmyfault that I hadn’t told you yet, especially when you’ve told me on multiple occasions that you have no interest in my personal life. Can’t have it both ways, Juliana. Either you want in or you deal with not knowing the details.”
“I’m mad because you treated me like shit.” I sent another glance around the room, terrified of seeing a second-grader run from behind us yellingshit shit shit.I brought my voice back to a whisper. “Like shit when I had to cancel our meeting because of an emergency for my daughter. What sort of parent does that to another parent?”
He groaned. “Are we seriously back to that? I thought you let it go. It was two years ago.”
“Yeah, it was two years ago you decided to badmouth me to another colleague—”
“To my best friend,” he interrupted. “Don’t sit here and act like you never vent to Asia about someone at work, because I am one hundred percent certain you’ve complained about me.”
“That’s different. I was new and untested, and you put it in her mind that I was bad at my job. And what kills me now is you should have gotten it as a single parent. Unless you’re one of those deadbeat dads who lets the mom do the work and you get to swing in for ice cream and fun field trips on the weekends.”
A tick of his jaw told me I hit a nerve. Something caught his eye over my shoulder, and he plastered on a fake smile. “This conversation will have to wait. Hi, angel.”
Everything about his demeanor transformed. He placed a kiss on top of a head of blond curls with a touch of strawberry.The little girl looked up at me with eyes that matched her dad’s, infinitely deep and oddly old for someone her age.
Sophie appeared out of thin air. “Paris, this is your dad? I know him! Hi, Mr. Ben!”
Paris looked up at her father adoringly, and I realized this perfect little girl was also my daughter’s new best best best friend.
The one she never stopped talking about, whom she had to say goodbye to multiple times that weekend at the field because sheloved her so much.The one who was apparently the reason Ben was there in the first place.
There goes my theory about him torturing happy families.
I stifled a groan.
