Page 2 of The Meeting
“Yes. It just needed a little bling. It’s ready to go up on the site.”
“That’s great! I knew you’d finish.”
A commotion sounded in the background and a muffled voice along with a door closing had Kailynn raising an eyebrow.
“Did I just interrupt some sexy time?”
“Um. Well… uh… no?”
“Are you sure? Because it sounds like you just asked me a question.”
Jessica remained silent.
Kailynn laughed. “C’mon Jess! You can’t leave me hanging! Where did you meet him?”
“At work.”
“At work? I thought you said all of those guys are old. Oh my God! Is he robbing the cradle?”
Jessica laughed. “No. He’s around my age.”
“Do tell!” Kailynn said. If she wasn’t getting any, at least she could live vicariously through Jessica.
“Not much to tell, really.”
This gave Kailynn pause. “Why are you being so secretive? Are you embarrassed?’
Jessica and Kailynn usually told each other everything. Jessica knew all about the train wreck of a relationship Kailynn had with Drew. It hadn’t occurred to her that Jessica would stop sharing. And if she thought about it, it had been a few years since Jessica had told her much of anything about her dating life.
“No. I just don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Oh. Okay.” Kailynn paused as her apartment complex came into view. “I’m just getting home. I should let you go.”
They said their goodbyes as she pulled into a parking spot.
Kailynn let herself into the small apartment she shared with Drew. He sat on the couch flipping through the channels on the TV and didn’t acknowledge her. She set her purse on the table and immediately walked into the kitchen and pulled out a wine glass, pouring herself a hefty glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Leaning her back against the counter, she sighed and took a long drink.
She had spent the rest of the evening in the office sewing on some bling to the waist of the dress. When she was finally satisfied, she took several photos to be uploaded to the website. Lately, things had been off. She still couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but she was not flowing as well as she usually did. Her mind seemed to be scattered, and she had a difficult time focusing on one project. Nothing ever felt good enough, so she would scrap the project and start on a new one, only to repeat the process. It was becoming ridiculous. And it was nothing like her.
A pile of clothes sat in the corner of her office, reminding her of all the projects she had decided weren’t good enough. Maybe shewasbeing too hard on herself.
Or maybe the items weren’t good enough.
She sighed and picked up her phone, intending to call her friend Abi. After seeing the time, she set her phone back down. Tomorrow. She’d call her tomorrow. She didn’t want to bother Jessica again since she hadn’t seemed in the mood to talk.
A sudden sadness washed over her as she stared at Drew sitting on the couch in the other room. It wasn’t like it used to be. When she used to spend late nights at the office, he would either hang out with her cheering her on until she was ready to leave or she would come home to find a hot bath drawn for her with a glass of wine waiting. Now? Now, he didn’t even acknowledge her. And she wasn’t sure when things had changed.
Maybe things had gone stale and couldn’t be fixed. But maybe not.
She walked over to the living room and sat down on the couch next to him. He didn’t even look away from the screen.
“So,” she said. “I finished the dress and took the pictures.”
“Oh yeah? Finally. It’ll be good to get something new up.”
Finally? She rolled her eyes. Yes, it had been a while. Yes, she was a perfectionist. But she didn’t want poor designs linked to her name floating around out there. It could be potential career suicide. Besides, there was nothing wrong with being particular.
She waited in silence. When he said nothing else, she prodded.
