I've Loved You Ever Since

Part 2

"My God, I feel so old!" Stevie yelled in Lindsey's ear over the loud music. "When you said, you were taking me out for a drink, I thought, we'd go to a jazz lounge or something."

Lindsey nearly spit out his drink hearing that. "Never have I ever heard you listening to jazz."

"I know, but I feel like a grandma in this place." Stevie took a sip of her wine as she looked over the crowd from their corner. 

"It's not that bad." Lindsey rolled his eyes, politely smiling back at a woman at the bar looking his way. 

"You can go if you like." Stevie shrugged. 

"What?" Lindsey's eyebrows creased slightly, his attention back on her.

"She's clearly interested."

"Wh- oh, no." Lindsey shook his head. "No, I'm here with you."

"Everyone's leaving me lately, so why not-" Stevie began, but stopped, hearing him sigh. "I'm serious. Well, okay, not everyone, I only had Tom, but he left, so..."

"You've got me." Lindsey said after a short pause.

"I wonder why." Stevie breathed out heavily, bringing her glass up to her mouth again. "I've been a terrible friend to you for the longest time now. I can't even remember the last time we went out together, just the two of us. What the hell happened to us?" She asked, laughing, not really expecting an answer.

Swallowing a gulp of courage, Lindsey spoke up. "You met Tom." Awkward silence followed and he felt like he had to clarify, make it seem as though he didn't mean anything by it. "I mean, it's only natural. You used to have a lot of free time, which we'd usually spend together, but then he came into your life and... it's what happens."

Stevie stared at him a bit confused. She thought, she'd picked up on a note of hurt in his voice. "I'm sorry. I never even stopped to think that... I'm sorry." 

"It's fine." Lindsey waved it off, squeezing out a smile. "But I've missed you. We see each other every day, but you know, you're Stevie the Boss most of the time, it's different."

"Am I different?" Stevie leaned in closer, resting her chin on her clenched fist. 

Lindsey faked a cough and moved away a little, hoping that she wouldn't notice. "Well, you have to be." He shrugged. "It's not that I don't recognize the person I've known for years, when we're at the office, but you do behave differently. Again, it's expected."

"A shitty friend and a shitty boss." Stevie shook her head, leaning back in her seat. 

"No! God, no." Lindsey swore, laying his hand over hers. "That came out wrong."

"I get it, you don't have to-" She waved her hand around. "You know. I promise, I'll be better from now on." She said, hand on her heart. "After all, I can't scare you away too."

Lindsey laughed lightly then smiled, looking at her for a moment. "You couldn't possibly."

They grew silent again. As she sipped her wine, Stevie kept her eyes on Lindsey. He maintained the eye contact for moment until it felt like she was reading him like an open book. He couldn't let her do that, especially not now, when he'd just found out that she was single again after four long, agonizing years.

"I really believed that I was going to marry Tom." Stevie said out of nowhere. "I keep trying to figure out, but I just... I have no idea, what it was I did wrong or what I didn't do. Why wasn't I enough, you know?" She added with a sigh.

"He's an idiot." Lindsey shrugged, winning a small smile from her. 

"We spent three years together, a year engaged and then he just woke up one day and..." Stevie shrugged, lowering her eyes. "And told me that the wedding is off, that he no longer has any feelings for me."

"Well-" Lindsey cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. "Do you think that maybe he had someone else?"

"Maybe. Doesn't make me feel any better." Stevie finished her glass and carefully placed it down on the table. "Still means that I wasn't enough and he found someone better."

"Again, he's an idiot." Lindsey repeated himself. When she didn't respond, he put his arm around her and pulled her in a bit closer. "You're a beautiful person with a heart of gold. How can there be someone better?"

Stevie sniffled as she drew back, wiping under her eyes. "Yeah, who's now 38-years-old, having to start over."

"Who knows, maybe you won't have to look too far and for too long." Lindsey replied and she gave him a questioning look. "I mean, you never know. The right person could be just around the corner."

"Yeah, maybe." Stevie shrugged. "All I know is that he's definitely not here." She added jokingly. "What do you say we get out of here? I can make you a better whiskey sour at home." She added, showing at his empty glass.