61. REEMA

Leo walks into the apartment and does a double-take when he sees me. "Your hair!"

Right. So much has changed right down to my hair.

"I'm sorry," I tell him right away.

"Me, too."

I don't understand. "Why are you sorry?"

"Just to cover my bases, in case you haven't been to work, because all of a sudden you think I'm too impressive to handle in person. That I shine too brightly. Or maybe I'm smelly…and our friendship is overrated…"

He's brimming with concern, but trying to make me laugh, but also insecure about what's going on. There's so much I can say, but what comes out is, "I fucking missed you."

He drops the bag he was carrying, and his shoulders slump. "Me fucking, too! I know we don't talk on the phone or text much since that's not our friendship language, but we always see each other at work and when you weren't there, I didn't expect that. Coming back from Jamaica sucked, but I couldn't wait to see you?—"

"Oh, how was Jamaica?!"

"No." He shakes his head. "Nope. That can wait. You tell me what's going on." He goes to his dropped bag and pulls out a wine bottle. "We're talking about you today."

"There's nowhere to sit."

He goes cross-legged against a wall and pats the spot beside him.

"Glasses?"

He opens the bottle and drinks a big gulp as if to show me how foolish my concerns are.

I sit beside him. "Where do I start?"

"How about this place? Are you moving here?"

"I am."

"Why?"

"I've been sleeping with a curtain."

"Wait." Leo takes another healthy chug of the wine. "Say what? Speak slower."

And so I do.

And when I finish, he glares at me. "You could have lived with me! I have a spare room!"

"That you've been turning into a nursery."

"I'm upset."

"Sorry."

"If you haven't already been through so much, I'd yell at you more." He groans. "As punishment, I must hug you now. Endure it."

We get to our feet. He wraps his arms around me.

There's a suspicious wetness in his eyes that I notice when he pulls back.

"We can hug for longer?" I offer softly. "I'll endure it."

"No, it'll overwhelm us." He dusts himself off. "You're going to make this up to me by accepting furniture. No, don't make that face. No excuses. I've got some of Wyatt's old stuff in a storage unit. Things I've been trying to get rid of for ages. And—" He pats me on the shoulder. "Now it's going to make me look good. I'm helping my poor, sad little friend who needs it. She's got nothing. What a hero I will be."

"This is such emotional blackmail."

"Don't be so judgy. I'm blessing your apartment with a couch."

"Is it hideous?"

"Just very basic," he says with a shudder.

I hide my smile. This… This feels normal when almost everything else doesn't. Friendship is the buoy you can rest on when waters get choppy. It's so dependable I could cry. I can't believe I'm so lucky.

"I still have questions," says Leo. "Like…Mr.Davies hasn't told anybody why you haven't won the bonus, even though you're clearly in the lead with your portfolio."

Yeah, I haven't told him about my parking lot nights.

Before I can answer, Esha and Gurinder walk in with cans of white paint. She reads my expression and immediately deflects blame. "Bebe bought these. She's the one who sent money to our parents for you, who then sent it to me. Something about reparations for your leech of an ex-husband."

"She didn't have to do that."

"She harasses as much as she empowers. Take the money guilt-free. I did."

"You got some, too?"

"For my wedding gift."

That does make me feel better, plus it'll take care of the Grinch walls.

Gurinder is chatting to Leo. That's when I remember I haven't made official introductions yet. I do, which, right after, my sister looks at Leo and asks, "You know everything now?"

"Actually," I interrupt. "There's something I haven't told everyone."

They brace themselves, and it makes me feel bad.

I've withheld so much that anything could be another depressing update. A whispering part of me thinks I should stop. That there's been enough embarrassments already, and I can handle the rest of it on my own…

But another—strengthened—voice interjects. This is part of my story, and they care about me, and being honest hasn't made the embarrassment flame worse, but has dulled it, oddly enough. This process hasn't been easy, and it doesn't mean I have to stand naked with every mistake on display, but hearing what I did for the bonus completes the story.

When I tell them, my sister morphs into an armchair psychologist. "You were obsessed with fixing your marriage, and then you were obsessed with the bonus. Lots of intensity going on, Reema."

"Working hard isn't a bad thing," says Gurinder, throwing me a rope.

"Moderation is also nice," rebukes Esha.

"Reema is an achiever in all senses of that word," says Leo. "It's part of her personality and isn't going to change. Though, I agree that, in this case, peeing in a bottle in your car while you work in an empty parking lot is pushing it too far."

"There was no peeing in a bottle!"

"Allegedly."

Everyone laughs.

"Do you know who else is an achiever?" says Leo. "Jake Coleman."

My abdomen tenses.

Now that's a topic switch that makes Esha sit up. "Was it really fake? I'm not convinced."

Leo looks at me. "You should have seen him with Mr.Davies."

I feel everything inside me bend to listen. A static buzzing rises in my ears. "What do you mean?"

"When he found out you weren't getting the bonus, he lost it. I've never seen that side of him. It was impressive, terrifying, and very caveman-like."

My hands don't know what to do. There's a confused shrillness to my voice as I speak. "He… didn't take the bonus?"

Leo winces. "No, he did. Only because Mr.Davies refused to give it to you. And because he threatened to buy a football thing for the office if Jake didn't accept."

"How was he today?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

Leo shrugs. "He stopped showing up to work after that."

It takes a moment for my brain to figure it out. The house. He must be busy with that. With the bonus, he has enough money to buy it for his mother, so that's probably taking him away from work.

My sister snaps her fingers. "Let's get into this. Do we think he faked everything at my wedding just to win this bonus? That none of it was real? I mean, doesn't his reaction in the office tell us differently? What we need is a deep dive. Reema, start from the beginning. We're going moment-by-moment to analyze everything. We'll make arguments for it being real, and opposing arguments that he faked it all along."

"No one can fake being in love with Reema. She's annoyingly lovable." Leo points at me. "Not a compliment. Don't get happy. I'm complaining."

No, he's trying to keep this easy for me. Trying to soften my sister's hard-hitting journalistic approach.

Gurinder, on the other hand, asks a simpler question. "Did you believe it? In him?"

My hands twist together. "I took Harry to Vegas. Clearly, I don't make great judgement calls."

"That's the problem right there," says Esha. "You're scared of going backwards."

"You know what backwards means for me."

"Yes, but it's time you trust yourself again, instead of suffering about your past or suffering to make a future happen where it's all better suddenly. What about the present, Reema? Don't you think it's time you live for the person you are and have become today? Don't you think that person deserves some enjoyment?"

Leo nods. "Is what you know about him worth putting yourself out there? For you to put down your weapons and shields, knowing that you can find them again if you need to use them? To give the relationship a fair chance of being safe, good, and fucking lovely for you? Either answer is okay, because you get to decide. Just make sure it is a decision for yourself and not because you're scared of a future that hasn't even happened."

"You should find out," adds Gurinder. "Read his messages."