“Speaking of nail, not know better, how’s beard boy?”
“Who?”
“You were so drunk,” Britt scoffed. “This guy you called Duck Dynasty becaus
e of his beard. He was Chris’s friend.”
“You should go out with Chris again.”
“NOT! Break from men, plus ‘organic water’ and no gluten for no good reason. No way.”
“Okay, fine. When you’re ready to dust off your stilettos let me know and we’ll go out on the prowl.”
“Weren’t you with Luke?”
“I thought I was. He thought we weren’t exclusive.”
“You were flirting with guys at the bar...I thought you weren’t exclusive either.”
“Well, he was being not-exclusive with Fitzsimmons’ secretary, too. She and I were talking in the break room and figured out we were seeing the same guy. Now I have to see him every damn day at work one cubicle over from mine. Ugh. NEVER date anyone from work. I know better. I just...liked him, I guess.”
“I’m sorry, Marj,” Britt said earnestly.
“It’s okay. It’s just typical, you know. It’s what I’ve come to expect. I like a guy, I think he likes me, we’re both too gun shy to give it a real go and so we just screw each other over. It’s like it never ends.”
“I know it’s discouraging.” Britt said, struggling not to tell her friend about what happened with Jack. “There’s someone out there for you, I’m sure.”
“You’ve been watching romcoms again, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Which ones?”
“British. Four Weddings and Love, Actually.”
“Oh, gosh. You’ve brought out the classics. You must be really down. You’re mainlining sunshine.”
“I am. They just make me feel good.”
“That’s what all addicts say...it was just to take the edge off,” Marj teased.
“Wanna come to my place and watch a movie?”
“Don’t tempt me to the dark side.”
“I have a fresh bag of caramel corn. I have peanut M&M’s. I have Mamma Mia starring Meryl Streep.”
“You know me too well. Peanut M&M’s and a musical. Let me go change to sweats and I’ll be there. Want me to bring supper?”
“Sure. We might get hungry despite all the snacks.”
“Pizza?”
“Ham and pineapple? You’re on,” Britt said, feeling slightly cheered at the prospect.
They talked and ate and made fun of the singing in the movie and when it was all finished, nothing left but the credits and the empty caramel corn bag, Marj left. So Britt was alone again. She had almost asked Marj to sleep over but it seemed too pathetic. She watched another movie and then she lay in bed and didn’t sleep. She just thought about Jack, remembering everything they’d said and done on a constant memory loop.
Another week went by and she was glad that he was out of the office for most of it. That Thursday, Marj cancelled their coffee plans to get ready for a date with the new copy repairman who’d brought them new toner the day before at the office. Britt was cruising Netflix for a new series to binge-watch when her phone lit up. She put down the remote and tapped on the message.