Room-maid(82)

Without another word or touch he was gone, leaving me to wonder what that meant.

Because . . . things? What kind of things? What had he been keeping from me? People couldn’t just say stuff like that and leave you hanging because then you’d do nothing but stress and freak out when maybe all he wanted to tell me was that chicken parmesan was his favorite dinner.

And he wanted me to think about it?

Trust me, this was all I was going to be thinking about.



I’d brought Pigeon home and she seemed more like her old self, only a little more prone to napping, given her pain medications. I texted Tyler to let him know that everything was going well with her. He responded with a smiling emoji.

Then he said:



It was like those smiling emojis had gone straight to my heart, filling me with absolute joy.

But before I could respond, he added:



That sent thrills of excitement through me to the point that I had to sit on the couch because I felt a little faint.

I didn’t know what to say back. I felt the same, obviously, but I hadn’t told him that yet. It didn’t seem right to do it in a text. He deserved to hear me say it, to tell him how very much I wanted us together.

I did still wonder about what he’d meant by things we need to talk about, because it was killing me not to know. I didn’t ask him, though.

Instead, I did as so many women had before me—I called my girlfriends and discussed it with them.

After their excited shrieks over him saying that he wanted to be with me (including a very emphatic “I told you so!” from Shay), I asked them what they thought he’d meant by things he had to tell me. Of course neither one of them knew, either, but they had a lot of fun conjecturing.

“Maybe his new promotion means he’ll have to move so you’ll have to move?” Delia offered.

Shay said, “I’m sticking with he’s totally in love with her and wants to tell her in person about his undying devotion.”

While I appreciated her positive outlook, my internal pessimist had taken over and I had thoroughly convinced myself that he was going to say it all was a mistake and I’d have to move out and lose both him and Pigeon and my heart was going to shatter into a million pieces and I would never ever recover. “Whatever it is,” I sighed, “I hate that I’m failing in love.”

There was a pause. Delia asked, “Don’t you mean falling in love?”

“No, the way I’m doing it, it’s failing. Nothing seems to be going right. My mind is just all over the place and I can’t quiet it down.”

“You sound overcaffeinated to me,” Shay said. “How many cups have you had today?”

“I don’t know. Two? Eleven? I didn’t sleep last night because of all this. My brain wouldn’t turn off and now I’m exhausted and coffee is the only thing keeping me awake and somewhat coherent.”

Our intercom buzzed and I told the girls to hang on. “Yes?”

“Miss Huntington, there’s someone here to see you? She says her name is Oksana?”

I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw my brain. Like Brad, apparently she didn’t understand what over meant. “Tyler’s not here. He’s on a business trip. Tell her she’ll have to come back later.”

I thought that was the end of it, but then I heard Gerald’s voice again. “She says she wants specifically to talk to you. Not Mr. Roth.”

That was super weird. Some part of me thought of telling him to just send her away but the bigger part was strangely curious as to what she might say. Like I was about to be a part of a big confrontation in one of my favorite reality TV shows.

“Tell her I’ll be right down.”

I got back on my phone and told the girls what was happening and promised to call them after I talked to her. Shay offered to drive over and be my backup, but I told them it was unnecessary.

My heart beat a bit faster as I stepped off the elevator and into the lobby. Oksana was waiting there, looking gorgeous as ever, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. She had on a red leather jacket that my aunt would have loved. She was also smoking, even though I overheard Gerald telling her this was a nonsmoking building and to get rid of her cigarette.

When I got closer she finally did as she was asked, and put the cigarette out under her high heel.

“That day, in the sushi restaurant?” she said when I got close enough. “I knew you were there. I wanted you to see me kissing Ivan. I wanted you to tell Tyler so that he would be jealous.”

Um, okay. Had she really stopped by to tell me that? Merry Christmas, I know you saw me making out with somebody else and I wanted you to pass that information along?

“I told him. He wasn’t upset.”

My response seemed to infuriate her. “I also know that you are in love with him,” she continued, and I hoped I didn’t look as shocked as I felt. Was I that bad at hiding it? Had Tyler known all along? Was that what he wanted to talk to me about? “I could see it from the first time we met. It was pathetic. You are nothing but his maid.”

“Roommaid, thank you very much!” As comebacks went, it wasn’t great. I was sure to come up with a better one at around one o’clock in the morning when I replayed this incident for the hundredth time in my head. “And you came here just to insult me? I already have a mom for that. So I’ll be going.”