Would you call her if Alex broke your heart?
Hell no.
"I doubt Dad has another woman in his life, Mom. He works himself silly." Jamie tried hard to push her own issues back and remain in the moment. "Have you spoken to Christine?"
"Yes. I called her when it happened." More crying.
Of course you did. Who wouldn't call their favorite first?
"And what did she say, Mom?" Jamie spoke through clenched teeth, hating how badly the situation was upsetting her, and for all of the wrong reasons.
"She said that I needed to give him a little bit of space, and then play hard to get."
"Hard to get?" Jamie's voice rose. "That's ridiculous, Mom!"
"Jamie. I'm not asking for your advice,” her mother snapped. “You've never been in a long-term relationship, nor have you ever been married!” She scoffed, as if believing that was never going to happen. “I'm simply telling you what the situation is. If you're too busy to talk about it, fine. I just didn't want your dad to call you and make it sound like I was the monster. He is." Her voice went from tearful to angry faster than a race car could go from zero to hundred.
"Right. Well, I'll be thinking about you guys. Let me know if there is anything I can do that Christine already hasn't." Jamie hung up the call and leaned back, closing her eyes. It was amazing how quickly her mother could turn both her and her father into monsters.
And what the hell, Christine? Play hard to get? What good would that do? The man already left. There's nothing he's interesting in getting or getting back.
"Incredible." She shook her head, let out a long sigh and prayed the day would be beyond busy. A perfect distraction. Alex was out of the office, and she had plenty to do.
"Wait, now what happened?" Gina lifted her martini to her pretty red lips.
"My father finally had his balls drop." Jamie shrugged. "He packed up his shit and left my mother. I feel bad for her, and a little traumatized by the fact the divorce is actually real, but he deserves a better life. Hell, we all do where she's concerned."
The bar was packed with people, but it always was on Friday afternoon happy hour. Sometimes the office would join then, but today they'd found a quiet table in the corner to sneak away to. Jamie wanted time with just Gina.
"My parents have always been in love and really good to each other, so I can't imagine, but kudos for your day, I think." She laughed and nodded to Jamie's glass. "Drink up. You haven't touched that Mai Tai yet. It ain't gonna drink itself."
"True." Jamie picked it up and took a swig as her eyes scanned the crowd. "So tell me more about this new guy."
"Who? The intern?"
"Yeah. Paul, right?" Jamie turned her attention back on Gina. "What school is he from and how did he win the big prize of working with us?"
"He's from the University of Michigan, and he just impressed Alex and some of the investors that he met with. The kid’s brilliant. F’n hot too." She giggled.
"The kid? I was thinking earlier that we really can't call him that. He's not far from our age." Jamie shrugged and took another sip of her drink. The only thing that would make the night better would be the promise of getting to spend time with Alex later, but that wasn't going to happen.
"He's twenty-three I think. He's a total kid. I'll be thirty-eight this year. I'm getting old." Gina winked, teasing Jamie.
"You're just getting near your prime. I’m running hard behind you, but just not able to catch up just yet." She gave a cheeky grin.
"Why the interest in the kid?" Gina lifted her perfect-shaped eyebrow.
"Just wondering what his story was. Is his office ready? I thought it was still under construction."
"No, it's not ready. I was going to see if you might be okay with me setting up a temporary desk for him in that far corner of your office. I was going to ask around to see if anyone might have space before bothering you, but I'm pretty sure everyone is filled up because of the rest of the construction." Gina rolled her eyes and finished her martini before working to stab the olive with her straw.
"That's fine. As long as he knows that I'm not interesting in chatting all day, I'll be good. I have a million things on my ever-growing list from Alex."
"Just sit him down and tell him what you expect of him as an office mate. Besides, it'll give you something yummy to look at when you need a mental break." Gina bit her lip seductively.
"Not interested. Only one man has my attention, and he's stolen far too much of it as it is." Jamie laughed, finally allowing the liquor and good company to help her settle into the evening.