Roni

As if she weren't already feeling slightly tense, Roni froze when she saw the name on her phone after it rang. Mateo. What could he possibly be calling her for? Jack's appointment with him was in less than an hour. Had he remembered where he knew her from and had to call immediately to tell her? The now-familiar knot in her stomach was back. She'd have to tell Noah if that were the case because she was already feeling rotten about having kept anything from him.

Reminding herself that, despite everything she and Nellie had discussed yesterday and what she knew Noah was thinking, they'd all very likely made too much of this already. Despite the conclusions they'd all so hastily jumped to, the man hadn't so much as said anything inappropriate to her.

So, she took a deep breath and answered. "Hello?"

There were muffled sounds, and she heard him say something but couldn't make anything out. Then the line clicked, and he hung up. Roni stared at the screen for a second and waited, wondering if he'd be calling back. She set the phone down, relieved when it didn't immediately ring and finished straightening her hair.

By the time she was done getting ready, he still hadn't called back. At that point, Roni assumed he'd simply dialed her by mistake, and she felt silly now. She gathered her things and Jack and got in the car, ready to get this over with once and for all.

When she got to his office, the receptionist informed her that the doctor was running a little late but was on his way. Unbelievably, after all the paperwork she'd filled out the first day they still had more for her. But it served to keep her busy while she waited.

Midway through her paperwork, her phone buzzed. She'd made a point to set it to vibrate because there were signs all over asking people to stay off their phones while in the office. It was Nellie calling, so she sent it to voicemail but sent a text saying she was sitting in the waiting room and couldn't answer the phone. Nellie responded almost immediately with a text.

I remembered something kind of important about Mat!

Curious and feeling her insides knot up all over again, Roni responded, asking what that was and waited. A part of her regretted telling her friend about this in the first place. Nellie was wonderful and all, and Roni loved brainstorming with and venting to her. But if Roni had kept her big mouth shut about this in the first place, her anxiety might've ended when Noah apologized the day Mat called her. Their prattling on about this had only made things worse. Her phone buzzed again. The much longer text explained why it'd taken Nellie longer to respond this time and Roni braced herself. The very first sentence made her smile.

I wasn't TRYING to remember anything more to rattle you. It just came to me and it's something that might actually lessen your angst about this. I think Mat's married. I remembered, you telling me he didn't wear a ring but it was rumored that he might be. This might all just be a product of our overactive and suspicious minds. =)

The relief Roni began to feel was fleeting because this gave way to another reminder and her heart sped up. She could hardly believe now that she'd forgotten something so significant. But then this all had happened just before her mother's cancer diagnosis. Everything else that happened around that time was now a blur.

"Mrs. Quintanilla?" Roni looked up at the girl at the open doorway. "You can come back now."

For a moment, Roni hesitated to move but then stood up and called out for Jack. They were walked back to the doctor's empty office. "He's not here yet, but he just called to say he's close, so you can have a seat in his office until he arrives." The girl walked out, closing the door behind her.

Thankfully, there was a playset in his office as well, and Jack was instantly distracted by it. Roni took advantage of the moment and closed door to call Nellie.

"Aren't we the silly bunch," Nellie mused when she answered.

"No, we're not."

"What, why? A physician his age and with his looks has got to be married or at the very least in a serious relationship. Did you check if he wears a—"

"He's not here yet, so I need to make this fast." Roni spoke quickly in a hushed voice. "He lives for the chase. We had a whole conversation about this back then. I refused to ask if he was married because I didn't care, but this reminded me that I did ask him why he'd continue to pursue me when he knew I was in a relationship. He said there was nothing more thrilling to him than a woman who was off limits." Bringing her hand to her face, she nearly groaned when she remembered the next part. "Just before the whole Derek incident, he'd made it clear he always got his way and he wasn't one to ever give up. And he wasn't kidding, because even after he and Derek nearly went to blows, he still brought me Starbucks. Called it a peace offering but then he kept doing it."

"How did he finally stop?"

"He didn't. He continued to be an insatiable flirt until a few weeks later when I resigned to take care of my mom. I never saw him again after that."

"Until now," Nellie stated the obvious.

"Nellie, remember I told you I did find him attractive?"

"Yeah?"

"I never told you this because I didn't want to admit it even to myself, but there were times I probably encouraged his being so relentless."

"I doubt that. How?"

"Even before but especially after the confrontation with Derek, I should've been meaner."

"You don't have a mean bone in your body, Roni."

"I accepted and even thanked him for the Starbucks, even after Derek told him to back off. Derek would've been furious if he'd known."

Of course, Nellie was quick to rebuttal. "You love Starbucks and you're a sweetheart. Of course, you'd thank him. Nothing wrong with that."

"Would Abel be okay if you'd done anything similar?"

Roni heard Nellie inhale and exhale. "Okay. Maybe accepting the Starbucks after the confrontation wasn't cool. But Derek did turn out to be an asshole. Maybe you sensed it even back then and subconsciously you were acting out."

This time Roni really groaned. "Oh my God, Nellie. He sends the photo, which I'm sure he didn't buy that it didn't remind me. Then he moves the appointment way up, probably so he wouldn't have to wait a whole month to see if I'd really come back to see him. Now here I am, without my husband to boot." Roni paused momentarily when she heard something outside the door, but whoever it was appeared to keep walking. She lowered her voice even more. "Should I just leave?"

Nellie was quiet for a moment before finally responding. "No. I think if you do, it'll send the wrong message. You're there for one reason—Jack. You'd honestly forgotten about all that other stuff he said to you way back. But if you leave now, he might think you'd been tempted to get back to where you left off then changed your mind last minute. If he's that persistent, it might make things worse, especially if he starts showing up at the gym."

Roni shuddered at the very thought. She'd be forced to fess everything up to Noah. She'd managed to get through last night's conversation, but inwardly she'd been a wreck. Would he even believe that she hadn't remembered any of this until now?

"Oh my God, Nellie," she whispered.

"Calm down. You got this." Nellie assured her. "Get this appointment out of the way and be done with it. If he so much as brings up the past, you tell him point blank that you have no interest in even discussing it. Period. I wouldn't worry too much about him showing up at the gym to do anything stupid. Your intimidating dean ex-boyfriend was one thing. But I'm sure he's already researched 5th Street. If he has half a brain, he knows how many men with lethal fists he'd be up against this time if even thinks about it."

"What if—" The knock at the door silenced Roni. "I gotta go," she whispered before hanging up.

The door opened and in walked Mateo, smiling broadly. "Morning, Roni. Sorry about the wait. Rough morning."

https://youtu.be/BX3bN5YeiQs

Thoughts?