“Was that your mom?” I ask, hiking my bag up on my shoulder.
“No, Jacob.”
“Your ex?”
She nods. “Yeah. He’s working with a few others to start up a new company and asked if I was interested. I am.”
We walk down the terminal. “What would you be doing?”
“It’s kinda complicated. To make a long story short, we’d be developing new software and using technology to help the environment.”
“Sounds neat.”
“Yes! There will be a lot of environmental research too,” she says, looking excited. I swallow hard. I don’t want to make her give that up. “And the best part is after the initial start-up phase, I’ll be able to do a lot of the coding and development from an office at home.”
“You could work from home?”
“Yeah. It would take a while before we got to that point though. We’ll all be sharing an office in the Lincoln Park area for a while.”
We get on the plane and find our seats. Quinn takes the spot by the window this time since I had it on the way to Hawaii. “So you’d be working with Jacob?”
“Yes. We’ll be equal partners to the project.”
I nod again. “Why did he ask you?”
She raises her eyebrows and I realize my question wasn’t worded the best. “I’m good at what I do. Plus selling that app gives me street cred in the technology world and we’re more likely to get big investors if they see my name. I’ve already proven that I’m able to turn a profit.” She continues to explain how things would work, and how they’re hoping to expand the company over the years and have it make an impact on the world. I always knew she was smart, but I didn’t realize she was so business savvy as well. I can easily see her as a big CEO of an energy solutions company, creating new programs to save energy and bring clean water to underdeveloped parts of the world.
I can’t take that away from her and have her move to Boston.
“So no, he’s not trying to hit on me or anything,” she concludes, going back to my question. “I made sure of it.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I basically asked him and made sure he knew we were together.”
“That’s good, though you have to admit it’s a little weird to work with your ex.”
She shakes her head in disagreement. “I don’t think it’s weird at all. If you worked with that one nurse you dated, I wouldn’t think it’s weird.”
“But we’re surrounded by other people. It’s not like the two of us are performing surgery in my living room.”
“Performing surgery in your living room isn’t weird but working with an ex is?” She buckles her seat belt.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t. Because you’re sounding really jealous and like you don’t trust me, which hurts.”
“I trust you, but I don’t trust him.”
“So you’re saying he doesn’t think I’m good for the job and is secretly trying to steal me back even though I’m pregnant with your child?”
“No.”
“Then what are you saying?” She lifts her eyebrows and waits.
I shake my head and let out a breath. “I don’t know. He’s your ex and you admitted that he still likes you. I’m sure he’ll hit on you.”
“That shouldn’t matter, Archer. I get hit on from time to time and it might be hard to believe, but I don’t fall for just any guy who tells me I have a nice ass,” she says, looking pissed. Her eyes fall shut and the anger fades away into something worse. She’s hurt by my words and I hate it. “I love you and I thought we had a good relationship. But if you can’t even trust me…” She turns, tears filling her eyes.
Her reaction is justified, and not without merit. I am jealous—just a bit. And I do trust her to be loyal, but yeah, I’m a little afraid she’ll not want to do the long-distance thing while raising a child. I’ve wanted us to be together for so long the fear of it all crumbling apart around me is nagging.
“Babe,” I start and take her hand. “I’m sorry.”
She wipes her eyes and smiles. “Thanks.” She gives my hand a squeeze and then lets go, getting her phone from her bag. “Want to look at vacation pictures with me?”
I lean closer. “Yeah. I do.”
26
Quinn
I hang up without leaving a message and set my phone down, feeling a little uneasy. I haven’t talked to Archer since yesterday afternoon. Things still weren’t quite resolved between us when we got off the plane, and it’s making the missed calls seem like a bigger deal than it is.
I know Archer was in surgery throughout the night and is working again today. He doesn’t usually call if he gets off in the middle of the night, not wanting to wake me up. Though given the way things are unsettled between us, it’s making me worry. And when I worry, I tend to obsess and assume the worst is going to happen. That way if something slightly less traumatic actually does happen, I’m not as devastated.
“My bitch is back!” Marissa throws her arms up and comes into my office. “It was so boring around here without you last week. How was vacay?”
“Fun,” I tell her with a smile. And it was, up until the plane ride home. Archer felt bad for insinuating he doesn’t trust me, and I believe him. And a bit of jealousy is nice, if I’m being honest. But he has nothing to worry about, and what hurt the most was that I gave him well wishes to go follow his dreams in Boston and didn’t even bring up the fact that he’d be away and alone and has the potential to stray.
Because I didn’t even think about it.
I love him. I trust him. I’ve known Archer for years and have always believed him to be a good man.
“You have a sour look on your face.” Marissa sits in the chair in front of my desk. “Are you feeling sick again?”
“No, thankfully.” I let out a sigh. “Archer and I got into a weird fight-thing on the way home and it’s still bugging me.”
“Fight-thing?”
“It wasn’t really a fight but was more than a disagreement and we’re both at crossroads, and I don’t know what to really think about it.”
“Start from the beginning because you lost me.”
I nod, so glad Marissa is here. She’s not exactly a neutral party; she’ll side with me nine times out of ten. That’s what best friends do, after all.
> “Archer got into a fellowship program to do trauma surgery, but it’s in Boston. It’s an intense program and he’ll be there for two years.”
“Oh, damn, that’s both good and bad.”
“Yeah.” I shake my head. “I want him to go as much as I don’t. He’s wanted this and was aiming for it before this happened.” I motion to my belly. “And I don’t know what’s right or wrong here. I feel bad telling him I don’t want him to go. We’ve been talking about moving in together and it felt like we were on the path to becoming a family. But it’s just two years, that’s nothing compared to the rest of his life as a trauma surgeon. And it’s not fair for him to change his plans for me when this has been his end game the whole time, right?”
“You’re changing your plans,” Marissa counters. “Once the baby is born you’re taking at least some time off.” She holds up her hand before I can interrupt. “And don’t tell me it’s because you’re the mom. Do you feel like that’s unfair?”
“No, but it’s not the same. This fellowship is really competitive and if he doesn’t do it now, there’s no promise he’ll get in again later.”
“Okay…say you got into some sort of training program with Bill Gates or something. You’d go away for a year or two, but Emma would stay with Archer. Would you do it?”
“No,” I say with no hesitation. “But I don’t want to push my personal opinion on him.”
“You guys are pretty personal though. Personal enough to have a baby.”
I make a face. “I know. But I don’t know, and that’s the issue with this.”
She nods. “So that’s what your fight-thing was about?”
“No.” I look at her, realizing I’m going to have to spill the beans about potentially leaving IHG. “Close the door.”
“Ohhhh, this has to be some good drama.” She gets up to close the door and comes back, sitting on the edge of the chair.
“Jacob approached me about starting up a new company, and when I told Archer he got a little jealous, which is fine, but it’s making me wonder if we did rush into things because he has nothing to be worried about. It takes time to build up trust between two people, and we haven’t been dating for that long, which makes me go back to feeling bad not wanting him to go to Boston because he should want to be with us more than he wants this fellowship.” I blurt that all out fast, relieved when I finally say it out loud.