Love Is Overdue (50 page)

“
Speaking of your douchebag
ex-boyfriend,” Tony started then. “I ran into him the other day. I
wasn’t going to tell you but you lookin’ so excited about those
jeans I figure you can take it.”

My eyes went wide. “You saw
Ben?”

“
Yeah. It was fuckin’
creepy.” He let out a little exaggerated shiver.

“
How? Where?”

“
At
Celebrities
. He was
mackin’ on some drag queen givin’ lap dances…”

“
Fuck off Tony.” I smacked
him across the leg with the $150 pair of jeans.

He laughed. “Just playin’…I saw him on
Granville Island near the docks. Matt and I were taking a little
afternoon stroll.”

“
Oh. Did you talk to
him?”

“
Unfortunately.”

“
Shit. You didn’t cuss him
out or anything, did you?” I was near panic.

“
I would have, but he was
with his kid.”

“
Oh that’s right…” I
remembered Ben saying Sophie loved to visit the duck pond there. I
suddenly wished Tony hadn’t told me about it. I was starting to
feel a knot grow in my throat…

“
He asked about
you.”

My eyes shot open again. “He did? What
did he say?”

“
I don’t know, something
like how are you doing or some shit – can’t really remember, but
then I fed him a buncha crap about how great you’re doing and how
you met this guy – a client actually – what did I say his name was
again? Oh yeah Carlos, that’s what it was…and I haven’t seen you
much ‘cause you been so busy with him and whatever else – don’t
worry, I made it super-believable – and then I just said…you
know…it’s really too bad, ‘cause you’re an amazing woman and he
really lost out by letting you go…totally fucking winged it, Gab,
but I swear, he swallowed the whole story right up, you shoulda
seen his face.” Tony sighed, looking thoroughly impressed with
himself.

I just stared back at him in utter
shock. I couldn’t speak.

“
What?” Tony stared back at
me, looking concerned all of a sudden.

“
Then what happened?” I
wanted to know.

Tony looked a little puzzled. “I’m not
really sure…he didn’t really say much after that…and I had to get
Matt outta there, ‘cause he was drooling all over that nigga like
he was ready to pounce, it was gettin’ fuckin’
ridiculous…”

I didn’t say anything for a good
minute. Then I met his eyes again. “Tony, don’t fuck with
me.”

“
I swear to God, Gabby – no
word of a lie, that’s exactly how it went down. You can ask Matt if
you don’t believe it.”

“
So…when you said that, I
mean…did he look upset? Hurt? Relieved? What was it?” My mind was
beginning to race in a thousand different directions.

Tony looked
like he gave some serious thought to my question. “That’s a good
question. It’s hard to say, you know. But I think if I had to
describe it…he kinda looked like my dad when I came out to him, you
know…like I’d destroyed all his hopes and dreams and crushed his
very last reason for living. Almost fuckin’ identical to that. Some
creepy shit, am tellin’ you. Gave me shivers.”

Ω

By the end
of that week I had already listed the apartment for rent. I had a
good feeling it would be a much easier sell than my old apartment
which, had it not been for all of my brother’s hard work, would
have probably still been up on the market – and simultaneously
costing a man that I no longer even talked to over a thousand
dollars a month. Luckily, that had been taken care of before he
dumped my ass and broke my heart into a thousand pieces…

My own apartment hunt happened
secretly on the nights I had respite. My goal was to low-ball it as
much as possible and find a hip little bachelor pad for around $800
a month. It ruled out some of the more desirable neighbourhoods
like Kitsilano, the West End, or even the Drive, but I didn’t care.
Hell, I would have moved into a rooming house in the Downtown
Eastside if it came down to it – as long as it was all mine. But I
was definitely counting on not having to resort to
extremes.

The appointment I had booked a viewing for on Main and
24
^th
looked quite promising and when I
left the office that Thursday evening, I was glad the skies had
held out. It was overcast and there was a chill in the air, but the
rain hadn’t come. As I stepped out the front door I found myself
suddenly face-to-face with Lena, as she stepped out of the
restaurant and into the busy street.

“
Hey…Gabby, what’s up?” she
addressed me easily, with a smile on her face and no look of
concern whatsoever, which made no sense to me, but I tried my best
to put on a brave face.

“
Oh…hi, Lena.”

“
How are you?” She
hesitated briefly. “Long time no see.”

“
Yeah…I’m good, what about
you? How’s work?” It was my typical go-to
conversation-starter.

“
Fuck…” She groaned. “Just
some drama with Levi, but what else is new…”

“
Really? What
happened?”

“
Oh…just the same old
shit-disturber he always been,” she explained. “He kinda redeemed
himself for a while there – he was watching Sophie for Ben in the
evenings in the restaurant and stuff – playing with her, taking her
to park and everything – but yesterday some punk showed up looking
for him, saying he owed him $300 for a cell phone…I don’t know,
girl…” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “What’s going on with you,
though? You okay?”

“
Me?” I found my voice.
“Yeah, I’m just…apartment hunting.” I bit my tongue.

“
Really? Didn’t you just
move?”

I nodded. “Yeah…but some stuff went
down.” I decided to just let it out. “My mom is moving into a
nursing home, so I’m downsizing.”

“
Oh…wow…sorry to hear
that.”

“
It’s okay,” I assured her
quickly. I paused, trying to decide whether or not to ask what I so
desperately wanted to know. “How’s Ben?”

Lena sighed. “He’s okay, I guess.
Adjusting to full-time daddy-mode…I don’t think it’s been that easy
for him.”

I swallowed back the gnawing pain that
was trying to creep up into my throat again. “What happened with
Maria…if you don’t mind me asking?”

She shook her head slowly. “It’s been
a nightmare really. She showed up here at the restaurant a few
times pretty heated…but Ben got temporary custody while they try to
sort out everything. And I mean…it’s not like he’s not letting her
see Sophie – he’s actually been bending over backwards to make sure
they get to spend time together, but at the same time, he’s fuckin’
paranoid about Miguel still being in the picture and nobody really
knows the real story behind all that…it’s just a mess.”

I let my breath out, trying to take
everything in. I didn’t know what to say.

“
Anyway…I should probably go. I have to run to the corner
store,” Lena said then. “It was nice seeing you, Gabby. You should
come by
Buena Comida
next weekend…Saturday night. Adam’s
band is playing.”

“
Oh.” I was surprised at
the invitation. “I don’t know…”

She gave me a little knowing look.
“Between you and me, Gabby…I think he misses you.”

My heart was in my throat.
“What?”

“
Ben,” she explained. “I
probably shouldn’t say anything, but…” She paused for a moment and
looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to continue.
“Are you seeing anyone right now?”

My eyes went wide as I stared back at
her. “What?” I just repeated yet again.

She shook her head quickly. “Sorry.
Never mind. Seriously, though…next Saturday…you should come out if
you can…I gotta run though.”

I nodded slowly. “Okay…I’ll try…” I
didn’t know what else to say.

And then she was gone.

I
leaned up against the side of the building and tried my best to
pull myself together. But my focus was shot. I couldn’t get Lena’s
words out of my mind. Ben missed me? What the hell did that mean? I
had told him I loved him and he’d dumped me so fast I hadn’t known
what hit me. And now, after nearly a month and a half, Lena of all
people, was telling me he
missed
me?

Fuck that. If he wanted me, he knew
where to find me. And yet, I stayed put. I couldn’t move. I just
stood there, along the side of the building.

And then I pulled out my phone. He was
still there in my contacts. All of our texts from over a month and
a half ago – still sitting there in my inbox. I agonized over them
all the time. I came so close to deleting them day after day but I
never could. I couldn’t lose any more of him than I already had. It
was unbearable.

I stared at the screen for a good
minute.

My finger lingered over the send button. I came so close
again and again. Eventually, though, I just let my breath out
deeply…closed my eyes…pulled myself together…and just put my phone
away.

Ω

I was alone
in the office, sitting at my desk and working through my morning
coffee break since Jeannine was sick and Tammy was out on a
business lunch when I heard the door chime. I glanced up and there
was Ben. I nearly choked on my chocolate. I grabbed the bag of
M&M’s I’d been snacking on and stuffed it in the top drawer of
my desk.

“
Hey, Gabby.”

And in mere seconds he was right there
in front of my desk.

I stood up slowly. “Hey…can I help
you?” It was all I could come up with.

He shook his head slowly, not able to
hide his amusement at my ridiculously awkward demeanor.

“
Where’s Tammy?” he asked
me finally, looking around the room.

Oh. My heart sank. “Why you want
Tammy?”

“
Because she keeps parking
her car in my loading zone and I have a truck coming in about an
hour,” he told me seriously, just staring me down again.

“
Oh.” I thought for a
moment. “That sucks. She’s not here.”

Ben sucked his teeth, looking more
than irritated. “Y’serious? How is she not here but her car
is?”

“
Well, probably because she’s taking her two and a half hour
lunch break getting loaded at
Amici’s
just up the
street. You can probably track her down there,” I explained
simply.

Ben didn’t say anything right away,
just kept watching me. “You think I have time to go chasin’ your
boss half-way up the Drive, Gabby? Just call her.”

“
I’m sure you have her
number. You can call her,” I refused him. “I’m already on thin
enough ice with Tammy – there’s no way I’m gonna call and drag her
from a business meeting just to come move her car.”

Ben kept quiet for a moment, again
just barreling me down with those beautiful eyes of his. I wanted
to crawl up over my desk and throw my arms around him…

Then he reached into the pocket of his
jeans and pulled out his blackberry. I just kept watching him as he
scrolled through his contacts. I waited for another
moment.

“
You calling her?” I
finally broke the silence.

Ben glanced up briefly as he pulled
the phone to his ear. “No, I’m calling a tow-truck.”

My eyes flew open. “Shit, no, Ben,
I’ll give you her number. Stop it. Hang up.”

His eyes met mine again and he slowly
pulled his phone back down. “I’m waiting.”

“
Wow…since when are you all
about making enemies with your neighbours?” I wondered, as I
started searching through my messy paperwork for a copy of our
office contacts. “I can’t imagine that would be good for business.”
Fuck, I was disorganized.

I found what I was looking for and
held it out for him. “Here.”

He took the piece of paper from me but
didn’t look down at it. He kept his eyes on me instead. “So what’s
happening with you, Gabriela?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Lena told me something
about how you’re moving…I don’t get it…what’s going on?” He looked
concerned all of a sudden.

“
Why do you care, Ben?” I
shot back instead.

“
I don’t know,” he
admitted. “I just do.”

“
Do what?”

“
Care.”

I sighed. “Yeah, no surprise there.
You care about a lot of things, don’t you?” I let my breath out
again. “Well yeah. I’m moving.”

“
What about your
mom?”

I hesitated. “My brother…he and his
wife have offered to pay for a nursing home and…right now I just
think…” My voice trailed off.

Ben still looked far too concerned…and
confused. “Yeah, but…you’re okay with that? You always
said…”

“
Yeah, I know,” I cut him
off. “But right now I just think it’s better for both of us if
we…you know…it’s a long story, Ben. And again, I don’t see why you
care.”