Page 30 of In Every Lifetime
Sarah
It felt intrusive being in the cabin on my own, especially with how little I knew about Gabriel, but it also gave me a chance to… wander.
Okay, I was snooping and was onlymostlyashamed about it.
Fai and Gabriel had gone on a hike, and if I had the timing right, I had about half the day to myself. I tried to keep busy, but after a shower, breakfast, and a failed attempt at reading, my curiosity about the cabin became impossible to ignore.
I wasn’t snooping through Gabriel’s nightstand or anything like that. I hadn’t even gone upstairs to where his room was. My exploring had started in the kitchen, and now I found myself in the living room, the phone wedged between my ear and shoulder as I listened to it ring.
I needed to talk to someone about the current sleeping arrangements, the fake boyfriend I had decided to invent, and everything else that had happened over the last twenty-four hours. While Fai processed things internally, I did the opposite, talking anyone’s ear off with my thoughts and feelings. Luckily, Ihad found the perfect person for that—a mostly quiet friend who didn’t mind listening.
“What?” Will asked rather aggressively into the phone when he finally picked up.
“You need to work on your greetings,” I teased. “What if I was someone important? Wouldn’t you feel guilty answering like that? Whatever happened to hello?”
I could practically hear the roll of his eyes. “First… you are important, and second, no, I would not feel guilty answering the phone like that. Especially when someone called me a dozen times in a row.”
This time I rolled my eyes as I ran my fingers over the spines of the many books on the shelf. “It was only four times, and this is important.” I picked up one of the many religious texts Gabriel had. “Who is it that reads The Book of Mormon again?”
“The Mormons. It’s right there in the title,” he answered—rather grumpily I might add—as if I were wasting his time. “What’s so important you called me four times in a row while I’m at work?”
I wasn't going to mention the three calls I had left at his house.
“Things are escalating here and I need a sounding board. That’s where you come in, best friend.” I thumbed through the thin pages and, oddly enough, found cash tucked between them.
“I would like to return my title as your best friend,” he mumbled.
I chose to ignore his comment and placed the book back on the shelf. I had run out of exciting things to snoop through in the main rooms. I craned my neck, looking down the hall where the office stood.
“Will, are you going to let me vent to you or not?” I asked, pulling the phone cord taut as I moved. The thing was insanely long, not that I was complaining. “I could call your wife, but this has to do with Fai, so I need someone unbiased.”
I heard him sigh, that sigh he only expressed when I had worn him down enough to get my way. “I have less than an hour before my next class and I need to grade papers. If I can do that while we talk, go ahead.”
“Perfect.” I tested the handle to the office, fist-bumping the air when it was unlocked. I opened the door silently, though there was no one in the house to hear me. “First, I have a lie you need to back up whenever you talk to Fai next. No questions asked.”
“I’ll back you up, but I do have questions,” he agreed, sounding more distant. I could already picture it—his phone on speaker, red pen in hand, rolling his eyes at every other sentence I threw at him. It was comforting thinking of him in his natural habitat.
“Fine,” I acquiesced, peering around the room. It matched the rest of the cabin, with log walls and well-loved, thoughtfully chosen furniture. A large desk stood in the center of the room, with a wall of shelves behind it, the lower half made up of cabinets. The curtains were drawn on the windows, and I opened them up immediately, letting the light flood in. “If Fai asks, I am in fact dating someone new.”
It was quiet over the phone, long enough that I wondered if I had wandered too far from the phone and unplugged the long cord that was now winding through the house. “Will?”
“Why in the world did you make up a fake boyfriend? Are you twelve?”
“My God, take a breath. No need for an outburst.” There were papers spread across the desk. Some looked to be bills, other tax papers. “Look, things got complicated and I panicked. I need your support, not your criticism, William.” I collapsed into the desk chair, the supple leather cool under my legs.
He laughed. “Look at you full-naming me. Remember when you refused to call anyone by anything but their full first name?”
“I do. It was a lovely time. But I’ve grown, as we all should. As you have. Remember when you didn’t laugh?” I paused for effect. “See, people can change.”
He laughed again. “Okay, okay… tell me about the complications that resulted in you making up a boyfriend.”
I exhaled gratefully. “So Gabriel, that’s Fai’s brother, he didn’t know we were divorced. Not only did we have to have that awkward conversation with him, he proceeded to explain there is one room… and one bed for us to share.”
“I’m trying really hard not to laugh right now, but I really want to,” he muttered.
I smiled. “I appreciate your restraint. Back on topic… when it actually came time to share a bed, I panicked and made up a stupid lie, and it’s too late to backtrack. So I need you to have my back.”
He snickered. “You know I always do. Can you clarify why you came up with such a stupid lie?”
