Archertsksand lowers his voice further. “Comeon. Look at them. That chick is cute, and she looks straight, or at least bi or pan.” He kicks me again and grins devilishly. “Let’s go talk to them.”
I clench my jaw in mild exasperation. Beyond the fact that Archer reallydoesn’thave any business getting involved with someone while he’s so fresh in his recovery, I’m not interested in the attractive-brunette-straight-bi-or-pan woman across the restaurant, becauseshe’snotElle.
I sip my coffee. “Stay in your damn seat.”
Archer scoffs, slamming back in his chair. “What if he’s my fuckin’ soul mate, Colin?”
“Thenfateis going to have to make you two cross paths again at a more opportune time in your life.” I gesture at him with the coffee cup. “This is not that time. You’re in the middle of doing important stuff, and you don’t need a distraction.”
“Okay-okay-okay-alright-alright.” Archer waves his hands dismissively. “But maybeyoucould go talk to her. You guys could date, and then when my life is more stable, you guys could introduce me and him.” He snickers. “It’s not like any woman would ever turnyoudown. You sexy mother fucker, you.”
I curl the side of my lip at him. “Shutup, Archer.”
He’s not wrong, though. At thirty-one years old, I’ve been involved withplentyof women. Onlyonehas turned me down. Andsheis ultimately going to do the opposite of that. Just as soon as I get that text message asking for cheesecake.
“Comeon,” Archer whines again. “You haven’t had a girlfriend in years. You should go talk—”
“Yeah, and I haven’t had a girlfriend in years becausesomebodyhas been keeping me busy worrying about him constantly,” I clip, causing Archer’s shoulders to droop as he sulks. “So how about you focus on taking care of all of this?” I discreetly tilt my coffee toward the platonic friends across the restaurant. “Then when you’re finished, you and I can go chase tail or something.”
He gives a dismissive shrug as he picks up the textbook. “I still think you should go say hi. She’s pretty.”
“She is pretty, but…”
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and Archer’s now immersed in his book, so I leave it at that. Andfateis suddenly something I believe in, because when I glance at my phone, I see exactly what I’ve been hoping to see for three weeks.
Elle Kissinger: Hey! It’s Elle. I was wondering if you were still interested in getting that cheesecake. :)
I flick a glance at Archer to make sure he’s still occupied, and then I can’t stop myself from pressing my fist to my mouth to avoid hollering a victory hoot.
Colin Flannery: Yep. I’m free at six.
Elle Kissinger: Okay! I’ll meet you there. :)
Twosmiley face emojis. And that formerly dashed hopesurgesin my chest.
Today’s going to be a really good day.
This is abadday.
This is a really,reallybad day.
After vomiting for thethird time, I meander back to my living room and pick up my phone.
Celia Huckabee: Well how many did you take? Sometimes they’re wrong.
Elle Kissinger: THREE. I took THREE. They were ALL positive.
My phone rings five seconds later.
“Okay, listen, my girl,” Celia says in a firm, yet calm voice. “You are hardly the first person to deal with this, and most of them have been fine, and you’ll be fine, too.”
“How do you know that!” I screech.
“First of all, baby doll,” she says, still way too steady for my liking. “You’re a college-educated adult. You have a good job. You have no debt. You have a shit-ton of savings thanks to Colin’s weird-ass sales deal. And you just moved to a really good part of the city. It sounds like Georgia and them are super progressive and pro-women, so they’re not going to be dicks about this. You’re just going to make yourself a doctor’s appointment and decide what you’re going to do from there.”
I flop on my back on the couch. “What do you mean, decide what I’m going to do from there?”
“Uhh… I don’t know if you realize this, but it’s still legal to terminate a pregnancy in the state of New York,” she says a bit sarcastically. “In fact, if it’s early enough, you can probably just take a pill.”
