Flight Risk

34 - Train to Churchill Part 2

Trevor: Hey, glad to see you weren't mauled by a polar bear.

Audrey: I've got a great can of bear spray.

Trevor: You applied it well, head to paws at least fifteen minutes before heading into the bear zone?

I shook my head and chuckled to myself. At least his sarcasm was a good sign.

Audrey: Like always. If your eyes aren't burning, it's not working. Slow day at work today?

Trevor: We finished a big job early. I'm just covering for Alicia until we close.

Seeing her name made me smile. When I left two years ago, Alicia had replaced me as a receptionist. She had such a kind soul, and I'd hoped that maybe she'd help or charm Trevor when I was gone, though based on his date to the wedding, that hadn't been the case.

Audrey: She's still working there? Say hi for me!

Trevor: Only until Friday. Then she's off on mat leave. Will do. The rest of the staff say hi too.

Audrey: What?! That's exciting for her. Tell them hi back for me, or maybe I'll pop by the office and say it in person before we hang out when I'm in the city.

Trevor: As long as you keep applying that bear spray :p. Have fun out there, Drea :)

I smiled and laughed again.

Audrey: Thanks Trev, have a good evening :)

The conversation left me with a warm sensation, both from Alicia's news and managing a friendly chat with Trev. I opened Messenger to shoot Alicia a congratulations message and not long after, she said that the job could be mine again if I ever missed freezing my ass off and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. She was planning on taking 18 months off with her baby girl, who was due in three weeks. I joked back that daily the commute from Indonesia might be hectic.

"You're smiley." Caleb's friendly voice made me jump a little.

I turned to him, happy to see his relaxed expression. "Hey, how was the family?"

"Good, good. I sent you a message, but it must not have gone through."

"Let me check." I opened Messenger and sure enough, his name was in bold font underneath Trevor's with unread messages.

Caleb let out a soft 'oh' before clearing his throat.

"Everything okay?" I looked at the message that told me I could come back to the room and the pizza was still warm.

"Yeah... it's fine." He sounded about as fine as a tornado warning. Frown lines ridged his normally smooth forehead, and his eyes didn't meet mine. 

"Caleb?"

"It's none of my business."

He must have noticed I was messaging Trevor. "If this is about my ex, we were chatting about work and making ignorant comments about bear spray. I can show you the conversation if you want to see it."

He shook his head. "No, I don't want to be that couple. I trust you." Although the tension in his upper body seemed to say 'I want to trust you' more than he actually did.

I felt guilty about having started that discussion with Trevor. It was one thing to have guy friends, but another to pursue a new friendship with your ex.

"I was messaging my friends pictures of you and me from the trip, thinking how wild it was that our relationship came out of my need to get space from Trevor, then I felt bad about how it ended and messaged him just to say hi."

"You don't need to explain it. We're temporary. I understand that and that you have a life and a past." He sighed as his lips twitched to remain in a neutral position.