Not okay, any of it. But she wasn’t asking and I sure as shit didn’t want to argue. Again. Been there, done that. A lot lately.
Tal was more concerned about Sierra and how everyone else was handling the aftermath that she was deaf to her own justified cries of anger. She deserved to be irate. Life dealt her another shit hand. Enough was enough already. So when she started picking meaningless fights, I felt relieved almost. And I tried not to take any of it personally.
The first time caught me off guard. I never met snippy Tal. She had hung up the phone with Lil, rolled over to the couch where I was working on my laptop and snapped it shut. “Um, why is Tack Chase’s new sparring partner?” No smile, no sweet, just pissed.
“Teeps, he’s a grown man, it’s good exercise, and in comparison to a lot of other ways he could be letting off steam, it’s safer. Chase can be an ass in the ring, but you know he’d never let him get hurt. Besides, I thought you wanted them spending time together.”
“That’s not my issue. Why are you not with them? In fact, why am I just finding out that you haven’t been to the gym since ... you know? And don’t say it’s because you haven’t had time to work out. I feel you get out of bed before sunrise, and I’m not blind to the fact that you’re more ripped than ever. You’d probably bust out of your dress shirts, that is if you ever put one back on.” Shit, she was riled.
“What’s that supposed to mean? No, forget it. You’ve got to be tired. Julius worked you hard today. Want me to draw you a bath?” I could tell her mind was reeling but she shut it down and let out an exasperated sigh.
Snippy Tal retreated, and my Teeps was back. “Just do me a favor. Please, go back to the gym.” She stretched the word please, almost begging. I kissed her forehead and nodded appeasingly. I had no intention of schlepping halfway across town to work out when I could bang it out downstairs before she even woke up. But she didn’t need to know that. Especially since her eyes were twinkling again. “Besides, Lil says Chase is a little bit of a hot mess lately, the surrogacy thing is taking its toll. So I’d rather my son not be on the receiving end of that. The Green Giant, on the other hand, my money’s on you.”
So round one with Tal, not so bad. Just some bruising.
Unfortunately it wasn’t just Tal busting my balls about going to the gym. Chase clearly fired off his concerns as well.
“Listen, I’m gonna say this once. For your own fucking sanity, get out of the house. It’s time.”
Time for what? We were living just fine. What we had worked and I wasn’t about to screw that up.
“If you don’t want to meet Tack and me, don’t. But do fucking something. Go to the office, catch up on all your bullshit. And mine. Get off your ass and make sure my shit is making money. I’ve got two kids on the way. Besides, that high rolling douche can’t be happy you’ve been MIA?”
He was so full of shit. Money was something neither of us had to worry about, and he knew it.
“First of all, I’m taking care of my woman, dickhead. And Powell? Got rid of that scumbag weeks ago. I didn’t have time for him blowing up my phone when I have more important things.”
“What the hell? Now you’re jeopardizing your firm, your reputation. Fuck, Asher. Get your life back.”
“She is my fucking life. And who are you to judge? You’re so far up Lil’s ass...”
“Don’t you turn this on me. Lil and I figured our shit out and we’re good. Can you say the same? You and Tal good? You wouldn’t know good if it slapped you in the face, you’re so far up your own ass.”
Round two with Chase, I didn’t fare as well. Black eye and cracked ribs, but I was still standing.
Since my woman and my best friend seemed to have their panties in a bunch over my lack of cardio, I started running again. I liked it. Thirty minutes and done. I didn’t see why they were making such a big deal out of nothing. I was keeping in great shape. And the parallel bars served as the perfect place for dips. Good thing, otherwise they were doing nothing but collecting dust in our living room. Anyway, I had just gotten back from a run and found her on the terrace, deep in thought. Her long hair whipped in the gusty breeze. The humidity felt like a wet towel slapping across your face, we needed this rain. I glanced at my watch and realized she was home early. If I’d known her resident lecture had been canceled I would’ve picked her up myself and probably avoided the shit-storm that followed. Literally.
“Hey you.” I bent over to kiss her head. If sweat wasn’t dripping from my face I would have gone for the lips. “Why didn’t you call? I would have met you.”
She avoided eye contact, her eyes stayed glued to the bluish grey horizon. Damn, I probably should’ve gone for the lips.
When she finally spoke, her voice was calm. Too calm. “Why aren’t we going to the Hamptons this weekend?”
“Huh?”
“Maggie called. She wanted to make sure everything was okay. Wanted to reassure us that the girls totally understood about Hawaii if that’s what we were worried about, why we weren’t coming home for the holiday weekend and missing Emma’s birthday.”
I toweled my face with the bottom of my drenched Under Armour shirt. Half to wipe the burning perspiration from my eyes, half to buy some time. It didn’t matter how I responded. Tal already took this round on a technicality. My pause was a beat too long.
“Funny words—us and we. Plurals. Implies more than one person’s involved in the decision making process.” She finally lifted her eyes to meet mine. I got anger, hell, it had been camping out in my gut for the past eight weeks. But what I saw in her eyes wasn’t anger. It was hurt.
I sat on the teak bench, refusing to have this conversation towering over her. As overheated as I was from my run, the look on her face made me sizzle. “I made sure Suzie took care of Emma, her gift should already be there.” Tal crossed her arms across her chest and bit the inside of her cheek. Bad answer. I tried again. “As for the trip, I offered to reschedule, send them anywhere they wanted to go. They passed.”
“They passed because they don’t want to go without you.”
“Well, that’s not gonna happen. It’s too long of a flight, the doctor’s said-”
“I am a doctor.” Her jab hit below the belt. I walked right into that one.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it, Tal.”
“I know what you meant.”
“Look, I don’t want to argue about this. The vacation’s a moot point. The kids are going back to school anyway. You really want to go to the Hamptons—we’ll go. But we’re driving. Flying is out of the question. It was too risky the first time, no way am I taking you now. Actually, I have a buyer.”
“Wait, you’re selling the plane? Asher, you love the plane. That’s your freedom, your hobby, why would you do that?” No way I would jeopardize her safety under my care. “Your mind is made up.” She huffed, looking disgusted. “Whatever, your plane, your choice. But it still doesn’t explain your callous disregard about this weekend. And don’t give me any ridiculous excuse about the car ride. I can sit. That’s all I do is sit … twenty-four hours a day. The six freaking hours in a car instead of my chair makes no difference.”