My Replacement Husband

My Replacement Husband (8) Au Naturel

"HEY."

I looked up from my laptop briefly to see Yoona's head poking out from behind my door.

"Hey." I motioned for her to come inside.

Yoona closed the door behind her. "Sorry about earlier. I didn't notice that Evan was there otherwise I wouldn't have approached you two."

She placed my half-empty iced Americano on the table. "You left without this. I know you're going to be cranky without your caffeine later."

I smiled. "Thanks, Yoona, and it's fine. We weren't talking about anything serious. You weren't interrupting anything important."

"It looked pretty serious."

After the incident, I had gone to my office to freshen up. When I was overwhelmed by my emotions, good or bad, a certain flush always crept onto my cheeks. I did not need anyone from work asking me anything about what was wrong with my personal life.

"We shouldn't talk about personal things at work," I told her.

Yoona rolled her eyes. "We always talk about personal things at work, and c'mon, I'm your best friend. Why wouldn't I check up on you to make sure you're okay?"

I stopped typing up my notes for a second. "I know. I know. Thank you for making sure I'm alright. Everything's fine, Yoona. I promise I would tell you if I wasn't okay."

"That's such a lie," Yoona retorted. "Everything's always fine with you. Evan and you break up, it's fine. Ethan and you break up, everything's dandy. You never pick up your mom's phone calls or respond to her texts, but you say nothing to me about your family. I don't push because it's not my business, but don't you ever want to talk to someone about what's going on, Julie?"

I could tell Yoona was coming from a place of concern. "It's hard."

Yoona's expression softened. "I know, J. It just kills me that you're hurting, and I can't even be an ear to listen for you. I'm worried what all this bottling-up does to you."

"I'm sorry I'm making you worried." I briefly shut my eyes. "I don't know how to talk about how I feel sometimes. It just doesn't feel natural to me. It's like if we don't talk about the problem, then it's not really there until we make it an issue. It doesn't make sense, but that's how I deal with things."

That was how I learned to cope.

There was a brief pause in the room. "I talked to Evan a little after you left."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

She crossed her legs in her chair. "He's thinking it's not the best idea for you and him to work together anymore. He feels bad, Jules, like he's making all these problems for you."

I sighed. "That's not true. It's not him...it's me. I'm the one having mixed emotions about it, but I want to be professional about this. I read the book he's writing—it's good—like really good. I want to not be so frazzled by the situation. I'm just really frustrated with myself."

"Hey, it's understandable given your history with each other," she said as she reached over the place a hand over mine comfortingly. "You've been through a lot this month. Ethan was a big part of your life, and now he's not anymore. Evan came back into your life. Your sister is probably up your butt about her wedding details. It's okay to be overwhelmed."

What did I do to deserve such a good friend?

I was thankful God had put her into my life.

"Thanks, Yoona. I really needed to hear that," I croaked.