Page 29 of Bad Influence
“We don’t need to make awkward small talk,” I say. “Just say or ask whatever you want to.”
“How’s the new roommate working out?” Eve asks, her eyes glinting at the possibility of gossip.
I grunt in response, turning away before I catch her grin. Of course, she wants to know. I haven’t brought Caroline here with me since that first day, and I’m not planning on bringing her back.
I can’t believe I’ve invited her to live with me like it’s a perfectly normal thing to do with your brother’s fiancée. There’s a part of me that almost wants to call Beckett and ask him to come get her.
I’m not going to do that to Caroline, though. I’m definitely not going to force myself to talk to Beckett.
“That good, huh?” Eve muses. She’s enjoying this too much.
“It’s fine.”
“Yeesh. From the sound of your voice, it literally cannot be worse,” she says.
“How would you feel if your brother’s fiancée unexpectedly showed up to stay at your apartment?”
“I don’t have a brother, but Lilith does and she happens to like her brother’s fiancée. After all, she’sfamily.”
I’m sure it’s obvious by my reaction that I don’t think of Caroline as family. She’ll always be Caroline. Not my family, definitelynotmy sister.
Growing up, every day was a reminder that Caroline was meant for my brother. Her choice didn’t matter. And my feelings about it were nothing more than a nuisance.
“I wish you’d tell me all the juicy goss,” Eve says.
“Don’t you have a client coming in?”
Eve grins at me. “Not for another ten minutes.”
I’m saved from continuing this conversation by Anna’s reappearance.
“Eve! Oh my god, I was hoping to run into you!”
They take another ten minutes to talk about the best massage place which Eve recommended to Anna, while I plug in my AirPods and zone out. I’m not listening to Anna talk about her friend’s relationship mistakes for another two hours.
After Anna leaves, I sit in the tiny back office and finish processing the payroll. Since Eve is the only one who works here, I’m done in ten minutes. I take the time to organize the office, filing and refiling the paperwork. Is it too soon to start on next year’s taxes?
“You can’t avoid her forever. She lives in your apartment,” Eve says, appearing at the office door.
“I have work to do.”
Eve rolls her eyes. “You can’t seriously be scared of her. She’s the sweetest.”
“You’ve met her twice.”
Not that Caroline isn’t thesweetest.That might be part of the problem. I can’t ignore her like I do everyone else and even being slightly rude to her feels inhumane.
“If you say she’s horrible, then I’ll believe you.”
“Thanks,” I say dryly. Closing my laptop, I sit back in my chair.
“I’m going home now,” Eve says. “Unlike you, I happen to like my roommate.”
I don’t say that her roommate is her wife and therefore, the woman she loves.
Once Eve is gone, the shop falls into an eerie silence. Usually, her sounds are still there after we’ve closed. She’s stomping around her work space, humming under her breath or trying to engage me in conversation.
With Eve gone, I only have my thoughts to keep me company. Even though I try to work, my thoughts are drawnback to the apartment and what’s waiting for me. Rather,who’swaiting for me.
