She shook her head and adverted her gaze from mine, “You know that’s not true. I believe in one love, fist love.”
I knew not to press her on this point or try to dissuade her from this belief, especially in relation to herself. I knew Elizabeth’s history, knew her feelings on the subject and I didn’t want to make her hash through a topic which was so painful for her.
I tried to make my argument relevant only to the present situation, “What about Jon, I loved Jon.”
“No you didn’t. You… tolerated Jon in much the same way ‘tolerance’ is taught in the workplace or at school.” Her mouth curved downward as though she were tasting something unpleasant, “I think you loved him like one loves their fellow man, but you never felt more for him than tolerance.”
“But Quinn wants- he- he’s my boss and now he’s my boyfriend? And then there is that apartment in his building. I promised him I would take you to see it.”
She shrugged, “We’ll go tomorrow afternoon, before you meet Quinn for your date.” And then she was wagging her eyebrows again.
I held my breath for a moment then sighed. My forehead landed in my palm and I directed my question to the table, “What am I going to do?”
Elizabeth cleared her throat then brushed her fingertips against my wrist, “Well, you are going to go back to work and not let Ms. Olivia Von Evilpants think she made any impact on your relationship with Quinn. Tonight you’ll go tutor down on the south side. Tomorrow we’ll go look at the swanky apartment. Then, after, when you see the man you love- aka Quinn Sullivan, aka Sir McHotpants- for your date, you’ll ask him about the email.”
She made it sound so simple, so reasonable, so possible.
I could only nod, agree, and hope she was right.
~*~
It all went according to plan, until it didn’t.
I did go back to work. I did ignore Olivia even though she seemed over eager to throw herself in my path and speak to me for the rest of the day. I did go to tutoring that night and I successfully avoided thinking about being in love- in love with Quinn- until he messaged me his nightly text, which had turned somewhat math-mushy recently: If I were a function you would be my asymptote. I always tend towards you
Then followed it with: I miss you.
I allowed myself to enjoy it and wonder that I may have fallen in the pit of love with this man. For it was, truly, a pit. It was dark and unknown. It was scary and I was surrounded on all sides by it.
Therefore, in an effort to avoid dark and definitely frightening pits, I made up my mind to make up my mind about the ‘in love’ question when I saw him next.
The next morning I was feeling better about the lawyer-speak email. I was feeling calmer and more certain. By mid-afternoon I was actually looking forward to taking Elizabeth to see the apartment and by the time I met her at the building I was trying to contain my pre-Quinn-date excitement.
It all went wrong when I inserted the key into the apartment door. Before I could turn it the door adjacent to it opened and Quinn bolted out of it, his expression thunderous, and his chest bare.
That’s right. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Both Elizabeth and I took a startled step backward just as he, also, rocked backward on his feet, his expression instantly mirroring ours.
“Janie.” My name was a breathless whoosh, his hand reached behind him and he grabbed for the door he’d just exited.
“I-” my eyes moved to his naked chest then lower to his jeans and bare feet. I lifted my gaze to his again and I could sense Elizabeth behind me shift to the side as she tried to peer into the apartment behind him.
“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked the question without malice or accusation; he sounded genuinely astonished.
“I’m- You made me promise to show Elizabeth the apartment.”
His attention shifted from me for the first time since we almost collided in the hall and flickered to where Elizabeth was standing. He blinked at her.
“So, Quinn…” Elizabeth’s voice sounded at my shoulder and didn’t lack malice or accusation, “Who is in there with you and why the hell don’t you have a shirt on?”
“I-” Quinn visibly flinched, either surprised by Elizabeth’s words or the harsh tenor of her tone.
Before he could respond Elizabeth stepped forward and pointed to a mark on his neck, “Is that a bite mark?”
His hand automatically lifted to his neck.
Elizabeth turned to me, her voice rising, “Did you give that to him?”
I shook my head. Everything was happening so fast, there were too many data points and I couldn’t absorb any of them, they were scattered on the floor, running away from me like legless teeth. I could only look mutely between Quinn and Elizabeth and the door he was trying to close.