Toe the Line(68)

Noelle seemed confused. Probably because she’d already told me the problem had been resolved. She squinted a little. “It’s working just fine.”

“Good.” I exhaled. “What are you guys up to?”

“Jason just arrived about an hour ago. So we were gonna make some dinner here. I figured tomorrow I’d show him around.”

“I’m only here until Monday,” Jason added.

“Ah.” I nodded.

Now I was down to only grunting monosyllabically.

“Why don’t you join us for a drink?” he said.

“Actually, I’m on my way to work. My shift at the restaurant starts soon.” If this were anyone else, I might’ve invited them to dinner there tonight. But no, thanks. “Anyway… Enjoy your evening,” I managed to say.

“Again, it was nice meeting you,” Jason said. “Long overdue.”

Bullshit. He had to have despised me deep down. If he didn’t, there was something fucking wrong with him.

“You guys have a good night.” My eyes lingered on Noelle’s.

Despite the somewhat apologetic look on her face, I doubted she understood the magnitude of my feelings. Especially since I don’t think I’d understood them until this moment.

Once I got to work, I found myself completely discombobulated. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known she had a boyfriend, but seeing him in the flesh had gotten to me. And I knew exactly why.

I need to talk to her.

After nearly chopping off my finger while dicing garlic, I turned to my sous chef.

“I might need you to cover for me for about an hour.”

He wiped his hands on a towel. “Everything okay?”

“There’s a bit of a family emergency,” I lied. “Nothing too terrible, but I might need to handle it.”

“Whatever you need,” he said, looking concerned.

I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.



Archie: I know you’re with Jason, but there’s something important I need to talk to you about. I don’t think it can wait. Is there a way you could make up a story and meet me for like a half hour? I can come to someplace nearby to pick you up.



The dots moved around as she typed.



Noelle: You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?



Archie: It’s nothing bad, just something that can’t wait. And I don’t want to have the conversation over text.



Noelle: I suppose I could tell Jason I need to run to the store for something. He has a rental car, so I can take that.



Archie: That would be great. I’m at the restaurant right now. Just tell me where to meet you.



She texted a few minutes later, asking to meet at Tim’s Coffee, which was right in the middle of our two locations.

I’d already picked a seat in the corner when Noelle walked through the door. My blood was pumping as I readied to explain myself. I’d probably blown this completely out of proportion. But I needed to talk to her if I was going to function at work tonight.

Fear filled her eyes as she sat down. “Archie, what’s wrong?”

I bounced my legs. “Where did you tell him you went?”

“To the drugstore, so I don’t have all that much time. He’s cooking dinner for me and Roz. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry if I scared you.” I took a deep breath. “This might come across as inappropriate, but it’s eating at me.”

“What is it?”

“Have you slept with him?”

She moved back suddenly. “No. He just got here this afternoon.”

Here it comes. “I don’t think I can handle it if you do.” I tapped my fingers against the wooden table. “I know he’s your boyfriend. It’s not exactly fair of me to expect that you wouldn’t sleep with him, but I can’t handle that as long as we’re doing this. It would complicate things and maybe create doubt if you got pregnant—vasectomies aren’t foolproof.” I paused. “And I want you to know I won’t be sleeping with anyone either, while you’re out here.” I looked down at the table for a moment, trying to calm myself. “I just don’t want to compete with someone else in this process. I panicked when I saw him because I realized I’d never made my feelings known to you.”

She blinked. “Just to be clear, so I fully understand… If I were to sleep with him, you wouldn’t want to continue this.”

My stomach was in knots. “That’s correct.”

Noelle nodded. “I hadn’t had time to ponder what I would do when he came to visit. I wasn’t expecting it so soon.” She reached for my hand. “But, Archie, I understand where you’re coming from. If something did happen between him and me, and then I became pregnant, there would always be that little bit of doubt. I know you’re one-hundred percent all in, so I owe you that assurance.” She exhaled. “I will not sleep with him while you and I are doing IUI. You have my word.”

A boulder lifted from my chest, even as I felt like a piece-of-shit manipulator. “Thank you.”

She got up from her seat. “I’d better go before he wonders what’s going on. I also have to stop at the drugstore to actually buy some things so I don’t go back empty-handed.” Our eyes locked. “I’ll call you after he leaves, okay?”