Page 51 of A Matter of Time
Locking my computer, I got to my feet and went to Jason’s office where he and Marianne were sitting side-by-side, looking considerably cozier than they had before last night.
“Good morning,” I called out from the door, not wanting to startle them, but they both leaned away from each other guiltily anyway. “Sorry to interrupt, but you haven’t heard anything from Tonia Callahan, have you? I’m supposed to be meeting with her this morning and she’s not here.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I forgot,” Marianne stammered as she got to her feet. “I was supposed to tell you. She called me this morning to say she couldn’t make it in. She had a family emergency.”
An emergency? Did something happen with her dad, or with Shawna? “Is everyone okay?”
“I don’t know,” she told me apologetically. “She just said that she wouldn’t be in today and to let you know specifically. I’m so sorry, I got distracted.”
She glanced back down at Jason, making it clear what had distracted her, but that wasn’t my concern right now. I wanted to know what kept Tonia away from the office, and why she hadn’t got in touch with me herself.
“It’s alright. Thanks for letting me know.”
Giving them both a nod, I returned to my office where I pulled out my phone and sent Tonia a text.
Everything okay, Sugar?
It went to read almost immediately, letting me know she definitely had her phone with her, and a moment later, her reply popped up.
It’s okay. I’m at the hospital with my dad. There’s no change, but he’s mad at you for telling me.
Great. Getting on the bad side of yet another Callahan was just what I needed.
As if she’d heard my thoughts, she sent through one more line:I’m glad you did, though.
I was glad too, but her words and actions weren’t quite lining up.Why are you avoiding me, then?
I’m not. I’m still thinking, as we discussed, and in the meantime, I followed proper protocols for alerting the business to my absence.
My eyes couldn’t have rolled any harder.I think we’re past proper protocols, Tonia. And I’m ready to talk.
Was she really not sure what she wanted? What was holding her back?
Let’s give it the weekend,she suggested, and immediately I shook my head, though she couldn’t see me. She had stuff going on with her family, I got that, but I had no intention of giving her a chance to second guess herself and think of all the reasons we shouldn’t do this. I wanted her to remember the one damn good reason we should.
Arguing with her about it over text wouldn’t accomplish anything, though. She’d dig in harder, like she always did. I knew her, and that was an advantage I intended to use.
So, I simply wrote a few words back to her, pretending to give in, even though in reality, I was doing no such thing:If you say so, Sugar.
I had one other advantage too: I knew exactly where she planned to be that night. All I had to do was turn up.
~Tonia~
My mom watched me like a hawk as I put my phone away. “Was that Cam? What’s going on with you two?”
If I knew how to answer that question, I wouldn’t be at the hospital.
After he left the night before, I sat at the counter for a long time. I felt closer to Cam there since it was the only place in my apartment he’d ever been, and I wanted to hold onto that feeling as I thought over what I wanted.
But the longer I sat there, the more I realized that wasn’t what I needed. When Cam and I were together, we were fine; that had never been the issue. Our troubles came when we were apart and we had time to overthink. I was guilty of that as much as him; it was part of the reason I’d convinced myself he cheated on me in the first place, and it explained why he refused to talk to me earlier that week after we slept together.
On our own, we got in our own heads and created our own problems, and that was exactly why I’d sent him away in the first place. I needed to know he wouldn’t change his mind, and I needed to be sure I wouldn’t either.
One night wasn’t enough to be certain of that, so when the morning came and I was faced with the prospect of going into the office and seeing him there, I simply decided not to. We needed more time; we needed a proper test of what the distance would do to us after all of the turmoil and emotional and physical upheaval of the last few days.
The weekend should be just about enough time. By Monday, hopefully, I would have it all figured out.
Even better, I had a built-in excuse to get out of work as I did have a family member in the hospital, one who hadn’t impressed me by going to my ex-boyfriend instead of me for help. So, instead of going to work, I left a message with Marianne and headed to the hospital instead. It didn’t take me long to find my dad’s room, and my mom and dad both looked up in surprise as I walked in.
