How Do You Love Someone As A Friend?
How Do You Love Someone As A Friend?
Day 211 of The Andie Chronicles
“Okay, we’re done here. If there’s anything else, you can send me an email.”
Douglas seemed in his usual mood: grumpy, irritable, and unable to command the room, which had been seemingly more prevalent as the launch loomed closer.
Everyone in the meeting, which comprised everyone in the office, shared a collective anxiety about how little time we had left.
Me? I wasn’t anxious. I knew I couldn’t be a part of it. It was only a matter of time before I got out. And I wouldn’t be in this office, suffering under his unreasonable leadership, come December tenth.
No way.
The team drudged out of the boardroom as the meeting concluded, except Douglas, who refused to move.
And then, as I found myself the last in the room with my ex, Taylor entered. It came as a surprise as he didn’t work in this office. He had his offices in a skyscraper down the road. And it was only the second time I’ve seen him grace these walls.
He looked thoughtful, dressed in a fitted dark brown suit and matching tie. If I was putting money on the stylist of this ensemble, it had GG’s stamp all over it: matchy-matchy and a look copied from an overstyled shop mannequin.
As he walked in, as GG passed him on the way out, she swivelled on her heels and trotted back towards him, her dancing fingers landing on his tie, straightening it before leaving him a kiss on the cheek.
As she left, I watched him dab the spot on his skin before inspecting the pink residue remaining on his fingers.
The meeting between the two brothers didn’t concern me, nor did I pay any attention to who was staying for it. I danced out of the room, nodding to Taylor as I passed him. Our eyes locked, and I made out the words he mouthed; I’ll call you later.
I didn’t know what to make of it. What did we have to talk about? The winery? The way he wouldn’t stop following me around? Or the fact that I was finally putting the distance between us we should’ve had this whole time?
Hours elapsed before my office phone rang, Taylor’s number flashing on the caller screen.
“Andie, it’s me.”
“Me who?” I jokingly queried, knowing full well it was Taylor.
“Oh, come on, Andie, you know it’s your favourite Gallo brother.”
“That’s funny. I didn’t know that I had a favourite one. Or that I even like either one of them.”
“Pl-ease.” I could hear the hum of the city streets in the background. Taylor was no longer in our office, it would seem.
“How did your meeting go? Douglas seemed in quite a bad mood earlier. Did he get any better?”
“No, he didn’t. That was because we were talking about money and investments, which he doesn’t like talking about with me in the room. But he has to because he knows I’m involved in Highway just as much as he is.”
‘Just as much?’ I asked myself. I didn’t realise Taylor had such an invested interest in my business. I assumed Douglas had swallowed the majority stake in my venture, leaving Taylor with a mere pittance.
“Well, he has to have hard conversations now and again, you know. He can’t have everything his way.” Despite how much he tries, I added internally.
“Well, getting your way does seem to be the priority in people's lives. Is it your priority, Taylor?”
I felt him stall for a minute. He was avoiding answering another question he didn’t want to answer, one of many I had asked him lately. I wished I could have watched his reaction in person. Would he avoid my contact again? Would he pretend like I didn’t say it by stepping away and talking about something else? Damn these phones, I thought.
“I want to know,” he stopped, repeating the word know several times before continuing. “What I’m missing out on. Honestly, I want to know what life is like with you, Andie.”
I felt my whole body collapse into the weight of the chair. I love Taylor. I care about him a lot as a friend.
Those words — like a friend.
We think these things, even though we’re not often sure what we mean by them. Yet, I knew my loins didn’t bubble when he entered the room. I didn’t feel the instant need to strip every morsel of clothing and demand he use his appendage to take me to unimaginable bliss.
I genuinely meant that I cared about him as a friend, simply as a dull, old, plutonic friendship. And I had to tell him that—another thing someone didn’t want to hear.
You’re reading The Andie Chronicles, the 2023 romance-fiction series from the 1 Lovelock Drive (1LD) universe.
By the way, this all started when Andie turned thirty-five, and her then-boyfriend didn’t call her.
Or the day after that.
Or the day after that, too.
Everything started to unravel when her BFFs got into bed with her ex, too… ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
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A little lost on what’s happening at 1 Lovelock Drive?
Well, you see, Andie’s break-up started back in February and so much has happened since then. These stories will help you catch right up! xx
