Page 17 of A Matter of Time
“It’s a terrible waste of time,” she told me, slipping into her work voice that I recognized from the office. “You need to learn to be far more efficient.”
“I’m sure you’ll teach me what I need to know, Sugar.”
“I’ll try.”
She gave me another smile and for a moment, we both just stood there, simply looking at each other. All I could think of was the way it had felt back in the bar earlier when I kissed her. Or when she kissed me, I couldn’t quite say which way it went.
And damn it all if I didn’t want to do it again.
But this wasn’t the time or the place, not at the hospital with her whole family watching, so I took a step back and she gave me a nod and got in the car, while I headed to the next taxi with her parents, making polite conversation with them on the way back to my apartment.
It hadn’t been at all the evening I expected, but life had always been a whirlwind whenever Tonia was around. Even after all these years, that definitely hadn’t changed.
~Tonia~
“So?” My sisters both cornered me as soon as we walked into my clean and modern one-bedroom apartment, and Laura took the lead on questioning. “What’s going on with you and Cam?”
“Nothing is going on,” I tried to deflect, stepping out of my high-heeled shoes with a sigh of relief. When I put them on that morning, I never imagined I’d be wearing them so long, and the hardwood floor of my hallway had never felt so good on my bare feet. “Laura, you can sleep with me and Billie gets the couch.”
My distraction worked on my youngest sister, at least, as she looked into the living room in dismay. The two-seater couch sat at a right angle to a matching armchair, both facing the wall-mounted TV. “Why do I have to sleep on the couch? It’s too short.”
“And you’re the shortest one of us,” I pointed out. “That’s why it has to be you.”
“You’re not getting off the hook that easily,” Laura protested as I walked into my bedroom with the two of them in close pursuit, stuck to me like shadows. “Last time you saw Cam, you said you’d rather be locked in a room full of angry yellowjackets rather than spend another evening with him.”
Had I said that? I didn’t recall using those exact words, but to be fair, it sounded like something I would say. Thinking back over the evening as I pulled out my earrings and took off my necklace and watch, placing everything in its proper place so I wouldn’t have to waste time looking for them the next time I wanted them, I had to admit that might have been an exaggeration.
“I didn’t spend the evening with him on purpose. It just kind of turned out that way, and it was… okay.”
It had been more than okay, actually, in a rather confusing way. We had fun at the bar before that kiss came out of nowhere. His quiet support once I got Dex’s text had actually been really sweet. At any time, he could have washed his hands of the whole evening and left me to handle it on my own. It didn’t affect him personally in any way, and yet, he never hesitated. In his usual calm, steady way, he’d been there for me, just like he used to be.
In the end, I couldn’t put a label on the night as a whole.
“That look he gave you by the taxi suggested a lot more than ‘okay’,” Laura pointed out, and Billie nodded enthusiastically.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone smoulder before, but that looksmouldered.”
“Why are we talking about this?” I tried as I pulled two extra pairs of pajamas out of my drawer and threw them at my sisters. “We should be focused on Dex and Shawna.”
“We’re not talking about them because that whole situation is depressing as hell,” Laura countered. “And besides, we hardly ever get to see you flustered. This is kind of fun.”
“I’m not flustered,” I protested. “I’m drunk. There’s a difference.”
She rolled her eyes at me while I grabbed my own pajamas and started to get undressed.
“I never understood exactly why you guys broke up in the first place,” Billie complained. “No one will ever tell me the whole story. Every time I ask, everyone just says ‘it’s in the past’.”
Billie had only been twelve years old when things ended between me and Cam, so I hadn’t exactly opened up to her about it at the time. However, Laura and I had both been making a concerted effort to treat her more like an adult since she technically became one, rather than continuing to treat her as just our baby sister, so although I didn’t really want to rehash it all, I decided to give in anyway.
Laura had a point, after all: revisiting my past drama would be better than worrying about Shawna when we couldn’t do a damn thing about her health.
“Go get ready for bed and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Billie squealed in excitement as she made a beeline for the bathroom. Once we’d each taken a turn, we gathered back on my queen-sized bed, the most expensive piece of furniture in my one-bedroom apartment. A good night’s sleep was key to productivity; I told my clients that and I firmly believed it. My mattress might have cost me a month’s salary, but I never regretted it.
“Stop me if I tell you anything you already know,” I instructed Billie before settling into the story. “Cam and I started dating officially when we were fifteen but we had known each other since forever. We did everything together. You must remember how much time he spent at our house.”
Billie nodded so enthusiastically that the bed bounced beneath her. “I remember when Jill Mason moved to town, she thought Cam must be my brother because every time she came over to see me, he’d be there.”
