Repeat(39)

“I can drink to that.”

It’s strange, but Tessa’s animosity is actually kind of comforting. At least I know what she’s thinking. She straight up tells me. Other people can be so hard to read. Tessa asks me about what it was like waking up at the hospital with no idea who I was. How I wound up working at the bookstore. What it’s like to have no memories, no real history. I ask her about how we met (through Ed) and about her life in general. After some initial hesitation, she actually starts to open up. The wary gaze never goes away, but she talks to me about her life and her past. Maybe it’s the wine. Or maybe it’s just a leftover from our once upon a time friendship. I don’t know. She tells me how she and Nevin also met through Ed. Nevin was a client of his, though she soon stole him and kept him. Nevin is a teacher who used to be in the army. Guess his experiences there scarred him some since he suffers from insomnia and often goes jogging at night to wear himself out. Explains why he’s so buff, I guess. They’ve been talking about maybe having a child sometime soon and Nevin has volunteered to stay up with the baby when necessary. At least his insomnia will be serving a purpose. Also, they’ve been together for four years.

In the end, we sit there through one bottle of wine and then I order another because why not? I’ve never actually been drunk before and we’re just two not-friends spending quality time together.

As foretold, Ed does indeed eventually appear. Though I prefer to believe it comes from concern more so than just chasing after my ass, as Tessa described. His displeased face is back in play. “Ladies.”

“See,” says Leif, stealing a couple of chairs from a neighboring table. “You completely overreacted. No one’s even bleeding or wounded yet.”

“You didn’t say you were going to visit Clem.” Ed gazes at Tessa. Oh dear, he’s seriously not happy. Even I get served some of his cranky glare. “Iris had to tell me where I could find you two.”

“Am I supposed to need your permission?” snaps Tessa.

“Wait,” I say. “Am I supposed to need your permission?”

At this, Tessa laughs.

“Ed?” I cock my head.

“Of course not,” he says. “I was just worried about you.”

Tessa throws some money on the table. Then she slings her designer handbag over her shoulder before rising to her feet. “What did I tell you? Just like a compass.”

“Not going to stay for a catch-up?” asks Leif, signally the waiter for more glasses.

“Another time. Nevin and I have dinner plans.” She smacks a kiss on his cheek before heading for the door. Ed, she ignores completely. Guess she’s still annoyed about him not telling her I was staying at his condo. Or something.

The bar is busier now as people get off work and go for a drink. Music plays and people talk. It’s a nice place. I’ll have to remember to tell Iris. The alcohol is a happy warm buzz inside of me. I feel good. I look at Ed while swirling the wine in my glass all contemplative like. Another woman in the bar was doing it earlier and I thought it looked cool. “Her concern for you is intense. Like, seriously extreme.”

Leif’s forehead furrows in confusion. “Doesn’t Clem know you two used to date?”

“She does now,” grits out Ed, taking my glass from me and downing the wine.

Huh. “You and Tessa?”

“Yes.”

I don’t like the thought of them together. Of course, I don’t like the thought of Ed being with anyone. I even get a little jealous over previous me. But Ed and all of the beauty that is Tessa. Ouch. They’d look so good together. Though she’s with Nevin now so it’s all in the past. But how distant is that past?

And just like that, the pieces start to click into place. Only they’re pointed and sharp, each cutting into each other’s space all too perfectly.

“Who did I think you were cheating with?” I ask.

Ed turns away.

The waiter deposits two fresh glasses on the table with a smile.

“Fuck.” Leif helps himself to a glass of wine. “She doesn’t know anything? You didn’t tell her?”

“He doesn’t like to talk about it,” I say.

Ed’s hand on the table curls into a fist. “Can you blame me?”

“I thought you were cheating on me with Tessa, didn’t I?”

He just looks at me. Then he looks right through me.

But it all makes sense. “That’s why you reacted the way you did when I joked that time about using an ex for sex. And when Leif said last night that you were being rich about telling him not to fuck where he worked.”

“Yes,” snarls Ed.

Leif rubs his hands over his face. “You should have told her. Shit.”

“Why does Tessa hate me?” I asked, although I probably knew the answer.

Ed’s nostril’s flare. “Because you didn’t stop at just breaking my heart. You called Nevin and told him she was cheating on him with me. Nevin absolutely lost it and the two of them had this massive fight. She loves him and she was your best friend and you did your utmost to try and break them up too.”

“Right. Of course, if I thought you were—”

“I wasn’t,” says Ed, his voice low and harsh. “But you wouldn’t listen. You were absolutely convinced you were right and nothing I said mattered. I was about to ask you to marry me and you thought I would do that to you, disrespect you and hurt you that way. I loved you more than I’ve ever loved anyone and yet you believed I’d fucking betrayed you.”