Regret Me

Triangle

Am I dramatic? Yes. With the knowledge that Vanessa was flying out to New York and the rule Lizzie and I have made about not seeing each other more than three days each week, I'm going a little bit mad. I understand why Ness is coming, it's stressing me out, but I understand. It had now been two days since her dad had passed away, a day since I last saw Lizzie and only a few more days until I could see her again. Work was slow as it was my first day back after calling in sick. A few of my staff knew what had happened and why I had called in sick but not all of them. Most of them just thought I was living some secret drug cartel which is why I have had so much time off lately. I walked in this morning to see Bobbi had left a little note on my desk which said she had contacted HR again. After rolling my eyes dramatically and throwing the piece of paper away, I sat down at my desk and started on some charts for the stupid work gala that was a mere two weeks away now. A gala which was literally a party, but we were calling a gala for some stupid publicity reason. Bobbi was such a small character in my life right now that I didn't even have time to talk to her or deal with her bullshit or the fact she turned up out of nowhere and decided she was going to dictate the trajectory of my work life.

With everything else in the back of my mind, Vanessa's messaged slipped my thoughts. Especially the conversation that followed quickly after. As soon as I saw her message, I called her, and she picked up after a few seconds.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I need to get out of this fucking house, and I've got nowhere to go in London so I'm going to New York. I've booked a hotel and my flight leaves on Wednesday," she explained.

"That's three days away," I replied.

"I know, I'm going to drive myself mad staying here. Mum is inconsolable and I can't grieve on my own if she's swamping me every second of the day so I'm going to a different continent, that might work," she continued, "I just need comfort and familiarity and that's you."

"Okay," I exhaled, "where are you staying? You could've stayed with me."

"You have a girlfriend and as nice as she sounds, I don't think she would be overly happy about your ex staying with you for a week," Vanessa reasoned, "I'm staying in an Airbnb by Times Square."

"A week?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied bluntly, "you don't sound overly happy."

"I'm just taking it in, I guess I'll see you in three days then," I nodded slowly, "come over for dinner; you can meet Elizabeth."

"Okay, I'd like that," Ness replied, "I'll see you later."

"Bye," I exhaled.

Why I would even think about suggesting that she meet Elizabeth, I don't know. I think I assumed she would just say no and that would be that but now she is coming over for dinner tomorrow with my current girlfriend who she tried to help me get over for the last seven years.

In conclusion, I am completely and utterly fucked.

___

It wasn't until I was sat in a coffee shop that evening that I realised just how fucked of a situation I was in. I had my headphones in, blasting Boy Genius, so of course I didn't hear her approaching but when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, I knew straight away who it was.

"We really need to stop meeting in coffee shops," she smirked, sitting down opposite me.

I took out my headphones and smiled over at her, "Natasha, are you following me?"

"New York isn't as big as it seems," she joked, "you look awful, in the best way of course but- are you okay?"

"Yeah, I um- it's been a rough couple of days ... I have a lot on my mind I guess," I sighed, closing my laptop, "you look much better than me."