Erin is still trying to get a grasp on everything.
Yesterday was not her best day, far from it, from embarrassingly pushing a door that clearly said pull to her flipflop breaking while she's out pushing a stroller and walking Milo around the nearest park, the day had been long and stressful. She spent close to half an hour searching for her phone while holding it in her hand. She visited her mom and while Camille changed Emma's diaper, Erin was in the basement, doing a favor for her mom and taking a roast out of the deep freezer, only to then turn the basement lights off and run up their stairs like someone was chasing her. She even got mad at Jay after thinking he was ignoring her only to realize that she didn't even press send on the text message. She ended up apologizing to Jay for that when he came over to visit the baby yesterday. She is trying to get a grasp on everything, it's happening, too slowly for her liking, but at least it's happening. She just needs to get a grip, center herself and take her time.
Erin switches over from her laptop to her phone, funnily enough realizing that she simply took a break from the internet on her computer just to be on the internet on her phone. She's bored and for once, she's not tired. She's wide awake, she's online shopping and she's browsing through a collection of the cutest pair of booties. Erin glanced over at Emma as she gently rocked on the slowest setting in the swing, "I just found you the cutest pair of shoes that I want to buy," she looks over at her bedroom door, knowing her purse was in the room, too far away for her to simply reach for her wallet, "The worst part of online shopping is having to get up and get my card."
She groans, getting up, wishing she had put her card in her phone to prevent things like this but knowing she didn't to limit the easy spending that having immediate access to her phone would have on her and her bank account. Just the shoes, she tells herself over and over again. And it's for Emma, not for her, which she uses as another reason to buy them. It's just shoes, they don't even cost more than twenty bucks and in a few months' time, Emma will be able to actually fit them. It is expected to arrive by the end of the week, and after the purchase goes through and she gets the confirmation email, she immediately exits out of the site then tosses her phone to the side, feeling proud of herself for making one purchase when that baby boutique had so much to offer.
Erin stretches her arms, feeling boredom grow in her spirit that fortunately gets put out when her phone buzzes, alerting her to a text. She leans over, swiping it up to see a message from Jay, -I think next week I'm going to talk to Abby about staying over your house for a night or two.
She reads his message twice before responding, I thought you would have done that sooner rather than later. Don't feel pressured though, if you changed your mind, that's okay.
No, his reply is immediate, and based on the gray dots floating at the bottom, she can tell he isn't finished, I really want this, I need this, I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't. I already can't wait to be off so I can drop by and see her; I miss her. What's she doing?
To answer his question, she sends a photo, knowing that it'll help make his day and probably lift his mood from the troubles she knows being a detective can have on anyone. She was in her swing, no longer sleeping, but simply enjoying the gentle rock of the swing as she sucks on her pacifier. She sends the picture, Jay hearts it and then calls her on Facetime. And when she answers, she has the phone camera flipped to show Emma, knowing his call was most likely to talk to her. She can see him though, and the red rim around his eyes has her heart breaking, "Are you okay?"
"Hold on," he whispers, she can see he's walking, stepping into the locker room and checking to make sure it's empty, "Hey, yeah, um I'm alright. I'm sorry I didn't ask first before calling but I just-" he pauses, "I saw the picture and I wanted to see her."
"Hey, there's no need to apologize," she turns the camera on herself, "you can call anytime to see her," Erin stops the swing and unbuckles the baby from her seat, "just give me a second," he doesn't say anything, he simply waits as she sits her phone down to use both hands to lift her up.
Erin has the baby in her arms and then raises the phone back up to show Jay the reason behind his call. At the immediate sight of her, his watery eyes released a few tears he'd been holding in. She knows something is wrong, he said he's alright but it's obvious that was a lie, maybe in an attempt to ensure her mood wasn't as ruined as his, but she's too curious and concerned to not ask again.
"What happened? And please don't tell me it's nothing."
He clears his throat, the ghost of a smile tugs at his lips when he sees Emma's mouth stretch out into a wide, gummy yawn, "Um, just a really bad case that didn't have a happy ending."
She doesn't ask for more information, but she can assume it probably had to do with a baby, which was why he really needed to see his. She stays on the phone with him, not even daring to rush to get off, but instead choosing to allow him to get all the baby sniffles and yawns he can soak in.
She remains quiet as he coos and baby talks Emma as if she understands. And maybe a part of her does, because she's sitting in her mom's arms focused on her dad's image on the screen, staring pretty hard as if trying to make out what she's seeing. Erin stays quiet in the background, not wanting to break the intense moment between father and daughter.
"Thanks again Erin," she blinks back into focus now that Jay is talking to her, "it's just this is my first case involving a little kid since Emma came and-" he pauses again. He swallows, opens his mouth to continue but no words come out. And though he didn't finish that statement, his silence was loud and said everything that he couldn't find the words to say.
"I know," she offers by way of comfort in an effort to reassure him that he doesn't have to strain himself to finish his sentence. She knows what he means, she knows what he's trying to say.
His name is called in the background and she recognizes that voice as his partner. He says goodbye to her before spending majority of his goodbye on Emma, waving and then doing a quick round of peekaboo. The call ends seconds later, leaving Erin and Emma sitting quietly in their living room, basking in the intensity of that call. She bends her head forward to kiss the top of her daughter's head, before snuggling her daughter in closer, appreciating the smell and the warmth of her baby girl that the family of the victim in Jay's case probably won't get to experience anymore. It's crazy; this world can be so evil and it seems even the most innocent aren't avoided.
She needs to get out of this house. And she decides in the time it takes for her to get dressed, that she'll just go to Target. She doesn't know what specifically she'll get, but she knows herself enough to know that she never leaves Target empty handed. If she's lucky, she won't leave the store with a full cart. She packs her daughter up, finding it takes more time to get her daughter ready than it did herself, and also realizing that the days of grabbing her keys and leaving were out the door. Now, it took a lot longer than that, a lot more than that. With grabbing the baby, her diaper bag, and ensuring that she has enough items in that bag to get them through the experience was way more than she bargained for, and truly realized by the second they're at Target and she's pushing the stroller with her sleeping infant inside, she realized that it was worth it to go out.
The colors of Target, the new items on display, the flow of people in and out, the kids laughing, a few kids hiding in the clothing racks to try and scare their parents, and the fresh air breezing in and out every time someone enters was just what the doctor ordered to clear her mind from that phone call with Jay. She couldn't imagine doing that job. She'd hardly be able to sleep at night, especially cases involving kids, even more especially now that she has a kid herself.
Erin browses a few aisles, checking a few racks, searching for her size and selecting a few items to buy. It wouldn't hurt to treat herself, especially because most of the items she purchased in the last couple of months had been for Emma. She grabs a sundress and holds it up to her body, tilting her head side to side to imagine herself in it. She still has the bulge from birthing a child, and if she were just a bit more confident maybe she'd go for it, but instead she puts it back on the rack.
She continues her way through the aisles of Target, stopping to look at nothing in particular but figuring she's in no rush to leave because she doesn't have anywhere to be.
"Erin!"
She turns around the second she hears her name being called. She sees Kenny a few steps behind her and once she acknowledges his presence, he starts to jog closer, excusing himself through the few people standing in their way. It was the middle of a work day and the last thing she expected was to run into someone she knew at Target. She probably didn't look her best, but she wasn't here to impress anyone, yet that didn't stop her from running her hand repeatedly through her hair to tame the wild strands. She uses her foot to push down on the stroller brake as he approaches, "Hey, it feels like it's been eons since I last saw you."
"It's definitely been way too long. Everyone at work has been missing you."
She smirks, giving him a knowing look, "It's only because you guys are ready to hand off a bunch of caseloads to me. Don't think you're slick. I know what you're up to."
"Caught," he throws his hands up, admitting defeat. And she nods, appreciating his lack of pushback. He lowers his hands, tucking his hands into his front pockets before leaning forward to peer into the stroller, finding the baby fast asleep, thankfully for Erin because she didn't want to have to turn Kenny down when he inevitably asked to hold and meet the baby, "Oh she's absolutely precious," Erin smiled at the compliment, "how old is she now?"
"…almost three weeks, can you believe it?"
"Time flies, every time I go to visit my nephew, I feel like he's aged in years and I visit every few weeks. Time for kids is definitely different than time for adults."
"That's true, but I can't say I'm mad about that. I'd hate for time to fly. I want to age slowly."
"No matter how fast or slow you age, you shouldn't worry, you'll always look beautiful," he compliments, and it comes out a bit more awkward than he intended. To curve some of his embarrassment, he reaches behind his ear and scratches it.
Erin awkwardly grins, knowing this compliment was doused with a hint of flirtation, yet she plays dumb and acts as if she doesn't pick up on it. She spares both of them the humiliation by simply saying, "thank you Kenny," she sways side to side, as an awkward silence falls between them.
"Well, I should get going, I only stepped out on my lunch break," he says by way of excuse.
"Yeah, yeah, tell everyone I said hi, I'll send you all pictures of the baby soon and if I forget, just hunt Kim down, I think she has more pictures of Emma in her phone than selfies."
She continues shopping, and whether it's coincidence or fate, the line she's in, Kenny ends up right behind her. She smiles bashfully, "It's nice running into you again," she initiates the conversation this time, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me."
"I'm caught," he shakes his hand, playing along with her joke, "I need to get better at this."
"Want your receipt?" The cashier interrupts her before she has a second to respond to him.
"Um, sure," she thanks the cashier and shoves the receipt into her purse before looking over her shoulder to meet Kenny's gaze, "you know, when they ask that question about whether or not you want your receipt, there is no strategy to my answer whatsoever. My answer is simply based on nothing, no criteria; it changes all the time depending on the first word that comes out." He laughs, a little harder than her joke required but she didn't know him enough to comment on it. Instead, she waves, leaving Rixton behind to have his order wrung up by the cashier. She can feel his eyes on her as she pushes the stroller, holding the Target bag on her wrist as she focuses on her daughter who is now waking up, gracing the world with her beautiful green eyes, "Perfect timing little one."
Erin can tell from the way her daughter is blinking that she intends to fall right back to sleep. It almost seems unfair, like a cheat nap because it's done while they are out and about rather than at home where Erin could settle down and get a nap in too. It takes seconds for her to put the bags in the back and then the longest part that she has yet to get down completely is getting that baby of hers safely buckled into her car seat so Erin can lower the stroller and put it in the trunk.
By the looks of the clouds, she's no weatherwoman, but it's pretty obvious that it's going to start storming soon, and if she's lucky, she can get home before the first drop of rain falls. Her phone buzzes in her back pocket and to check it would mean to slow her down. She figures it's Kim and her call can truly wait. Unbuckling the baby from the stroller, Erin scoops her up, one hand behind her head and the other beneath her bottom, lifting her with all the care in the world, like an active grenade that could go off with one jolt. Emma emits the sweetest sigh ever as she drifts off to sleep and her mom transfers her from the stroller to the car seat. Once she's buckled in and settled, pacifier back in her mouth after it fell out during the transfer, thank goodness for the pacifier clip because without it, it would have surely fallen to the floor somewhere and would have been rendered useless until she can wash it off. She puts the stroller down, shuts the door, sets it in the trunk and then gears up to head home. She sees Kenny, though he doesn't see her. And she turns her head in the opposite direction, hoping to keep it that way.
By the time she's home and transferring her sleeping baby from the car seat to her swing, she soon enough disappears into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. She doesn't bother changing or getting comfortable because she has to prioritize her needs and right now, by the sound of her stomach growling, that's her primary concern. She grabs the bread, she grabs a knife and then she grabs the peanut butter and jelly, slapping on an equal amount to both sides of the bread, slamming them together and cutting it in half. She's hungry. She leans over the sink as she eats, wanting to swallow the sandwich whole but reining in those basic urges in order to act like the lady her mother raised. She finishes off the last bite and debates making herself another, however before she gets a chance to decide, a knock on the door pulls her away from the ingredients laid out on her counter.
Milo beats her to the door, as always, but he's not barking or growling which tells Erin it's someone that she knows, someone familiar. Still, she has an infant to protect so she still checks the peephole, spotting her best friend before opening the door. She pushes her way in, tossing a wave over her shoulder to Erin, before making her way further inside. Kim drops her bag in the arm chair before spinning to flop down on the couch, throwing her head back and shutting her eyes, "Work absolutely sucks without you! I need my best friend back. When are you coming back?!"
"I hate to disappoint you, but you'll have to go without me for a few more weeks."
She peels one eye open, frowning in disgust when she sees her friend lift Emma up from the swing to take a whiff of her diaper, "That's gross," she says as Erin disappears into the nursery to change her daughter's diaper, "I can't wait until you come back," she shouts loud enough for her friend to hear her in the other room, "No one is you. No one gets my jokes, gets my sarcasm! Please!"
"It's not like I'm on vacation," Erin shouts from the nursery, "I'm on maternity leave, I'm here taking care of your niece, who if I must remind you is not the easiest baby to take care of."
"Oh, don't talk about her like that," Kim is quick to defend. Erin leaves the nursery, carrying her baby that is now simply dressed in only a diaper. She flops the almost one-month old baby down onto her best friend's lap, forcing Kim to open both eyes and sit up to tend to the alert infant.
Erin takes a seat next to her, her back against the arm rest and her leg bent beneath her, "tell me about work. Tell me about some of the kids you've been helping. Distract me from mom duties."
"I made an unannounced visit to one of the group homes to check in on the kids there. One of the kids, he was doing his math homework, very studious he was, doing homework while the other kids were playing and trying to peer pressure him to join in." Kim cradles Emma in her arms, being mindful to support her head since she has yet to gain support of her neck, "I sat with him for a bit and Erin, let me tell you, I embarrassed myself. He asked for help on one of his math problems and you know me, I'm thinking oh yeah how hard could this be? It's seventh grade algebra. I'm working on this problem and I eventually get to an answer only to see it wasn't even one of the choices," she shoots a glare in Erin's direction when she bites back a chuckle, "Don't laugh. You have this to look forward to with Emma. It was very embarrassing especially when this other kid came in, looked at the problem and said the right answer after doing the problem in her head."
"…oh Kim, that's embarrassing," Erin tells her what her friend already knows.
"Please don't remind me," Kim readjusts the baby in her arms and smiles when Emma's hand wraps around her pointer finger, "it's one of the reasons I need you to come back to work. I can't show my face at that group home again…or at least in the next six months."
"Kim, please don't tell me you're letting them shame you into not returning?"
"No, of course not, they're kids," a silence settles between them before the both of them start cracking up laughing, bringing to light that while Kim missed her and wanted her back, Erin realized she missed her too, just about the same, if not a little more.
Once the laughing mellowed out and settled down, Erin leaned back, resting her head on her friend's lap, causing for Kim to shift Emma to her opposite leg, "I ran into Kenny at Target."
"Wait, wait, hold up, hold up, hold the fuck up," Kim immediately recognizes the curse word that left her mouth and slaps her free hand over her lips, "oops, sorry, ignore that Little E, tune me out because your mom casually dropped that on me like I wasn't going to want to talk about it."
Erin shakes her head, "you're so extra."
"He has the biggest crush on you, Erin. He'd always ask how you're doing."
"It got a bit awkward during the conversation, but he's really sweet. We're just friends though."
"You act like to get your needs met you have to be more than friends."
"Last time I got my needs met with someone that wasn't more than a friend, I ended up with that munchkin right there," Erin rubs her hand over Emma's back, "and besides we work together and if things got messy that would just make things awkward and who has time for that?"
"Okay, I'm smart enough to admit when valid points are raised."
"See," Erin exclaims, sitting up, "this is why we're friends!"
Kim rolls her eyes and chuckles, patting Erin's shoulder to nudge her up, "I have to use the bathroom then I'm going to cook what I brought over," Erin scoops the baby from her friend's arms and watch as Kim disappear to the restroom and then back to the living room to grab her bag off the arm chair and go into the kitchen. She doesn't know what she's going to cook but she hears cabinets being opened and closed and humming coming from the other room.
"I hope you're not messing up my kitchen!" Erin shouts from the living room.
"Whatever mess I make, I'll clean up!"
"You better!"
Kim's humming continues as Erin remains in the living room, entertaining the baby who she's fully surprised is still up, but considering how long of a nap she took earlier, she shouldn't be too shocked. Her baby girl is up; her baby girl is apparently trying to hang with the grown-ups. Erin looks up from her baby's green eyes and her gaze lands on the octopus across the room; it's crooked eyes stare back into her gaze and when her orbs drop, she sees Milo biting one of the tentacles as if it was a chew toy, "Milo, stop, no bad boy, don't do that," she scolds.
Her dog pouts, head tilted down and walks back to his doggy bed. He walks in circles before laying down, resting on his crossed paws. Erin looks back at Emma, shaking her head, "I should have let him bite it up but your dad would probably be mad at me if I did." Erin looks back up at the octopus, looking back in his eyes, squinting in confusion because of its face. She wonders if they actually resemble that in real life and if they do, they are not the cutest creatures. She frowns, looking from the stuffed animal then to Emma, "girl I'm sorry for the day your vision clears and you see that purple monstrosity for the first time."
Abby's home now; she loads up the app and taps into the feed to see Erin and the baby. Emma is clutching her mom's shirt, looking up at her mom's eyes as she breastfeeds. Erin feels the sudden shake and shiver coming from her daughter's shoulders, listening in to hear her baby hiccup in the most adorable way ever. And now, the way she looks down, has her realizing that she had been walking around almost all day with baby spit up on her shirt without evening knowing. She doesn't know if it was there before or after her Target visit, but she hopes it was after. To feel less embarrassed, she asserts it was after, it simply had to be considering when she got changed prior to going to the store, she didn't remember a time Emma was in her arms long enough to mess her shirt up. She's home now, with nobody to impress so she reminds herself to stop worrying about it. She's a new mom, she has an infant, cut her some slack.
"Something smells good," Erin announces. Abby rolls her eyes as she watches. She's invested in her viewing as if it was a scripted show made solely for her entertainment when in reality this is someone's life, a woman's day to day living, not some daytime soap opera.
Kim leaves the kitchen, holding two plates, each with corndogs settled carefully in the center, "Here," she sets the plate down in front of Erin, "it's the best I could make on such short notice."
"No complaints here," Erin chuckles, shuffling the baby to one leg and wrapping her arm around her stomach, "I just haven't had a corndog since I was a kid. It's pretty nostalgic."
"Okay now that we have food, let's talk. What's going on? What's with the SOS message you sent me a few days ago?" She's referring to the vague text that Erin had sent her and when Kim got it, she immediately called in a panic only to be reassured that it can wait until they chat in person.
"A few nights ago, Jay came over," not only is Kim's ears perking up, but Abby's is too with the sound of his name, "he came to visit Emma, nothing happened Kim so stop giving me that look."
Abby does sigh in relief; however, her reaction is the opposite of Erin's best friend. Kim actually looks a bit disappointed. Erin dips her corndog in the ketchup, taking a bite to buy herself some time and to make her impatient friend wait, "Okay, you could have told me a little more before taking a bite, now you're torturing me on purpose. I came over to help and this is what I get," Emma gurgles and Kim takes that as agreement, "I know Little E, you agree with what I'm saying."
"Don't bring my daughter into this," Erin chuckles before deciding to spare her friend, "anyway he came over as he usually does but this time was a bit different. I don't know what sparked it but he asked if he could stay over a few nights out the week. He wants to help more with Emma."
Kim sets her corndog back down, not even bothering to take a bite yet because she's stuck, absolutely dumbfounded as she blinks and takes in all her friend is telling her. Eventually she does find her voice, "don't take this wrong way Er, but what's wrong with that?"
Abby is seething in her seat. She knew about none of this. Her hands are shaking, anger is filling her up, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. If she didn't worry about her neighbors calling the police, she would have screamed. If she didn't worry about missing another detail, she would have pulled her hair out and banged her head against a wall until she fell unconscious. This isn't what she had planned; this is not what is supposed to be happening. Abby could feel the tears blur her vision and she takes the bottom of her shirt to wipe her eyes, clearing her view and biting her lip as she grips her phone and refocuses her energy to hang onto every word.
"I'm not sure if I'm being honest. I'm reluctant because him staying here just seems so serious."
"What's wrong with serious?"
"We get along really good right now. What if," she shrugs, worried, "what if it backfires? Or we get to know each other better and don't like what we find? Or maybe…" she pauses, realizing she doesn't want to say her last thought out of fear of making it real.
Kim scoots closer, hand on her friend's knee, squeezing it to offer moral support. She doesn't know where Erin was going with that last statement, but she can at least guess, so softly and gently she poses her question, "Do you think a part of your hesitancy with letting Jay spend the night is because of you know who, your ex, he who shall not be named and maybe wanting to get back with him or maybe even fearing that Jay will act like him if the two of you do become serious?"
"Kim, you can say his name, he's not going to suddenly appear at my door."
Her best friend cringed, not fully believing her statement, "I mean, if you ask me, I'm not fully convinced he isn't part demon so saying his name just might summons him."
"Can we be serious here for a second?"
Kim holds her hands up, admitting defeat and refocusing her attention back on the conversation at hand, "Okay fine, this is me being serious. Eric is not important right now, Jay has nothing to do with him, two opposite people." She scoops the baby up and places her on her own lap.
Abby's ears peek at the sound of an unfamiliar name, she leans in closer to listen better. An ex-boyfriend named Eric didn't ring any bells, but why would it, despite her best-efforts Abby still didn't know much about Erin. It's obvious that the more Abby spirals out of control, the more she becomes unconcerned with the possible negative consequences of her actions. She checks Erin's social media and unsuccessfully finds no friends of hers with the name Eric, but that doesn't deter her from her search. She doesn't even have a last name to help her, but that doesn't dissuade her efforts. She looks through her photos, checking tagged names and when she comes across an Eric, tagged in a group photo by a woman Abby suspects Erin knew in New York, she immediately clicks on it. In Erin's efforts to sweep her page, most likely deleting all connection she had to her ex, she had forgotten to check her tagged pictures, the pictures someone else had posted. His page isn't private, it's pretty open and based on his last status update, she can tell he frequents social media. She clicks on his friends and doesn't find Erin's name listed and Abby can only assume that after the break up, they unfriended each other, one of them may have even blocked the other.
Erin had no pictures of the two of them posted and Abby continues to assume that after the break up, she deleted all of them. Fortunately for her though, Erin didn't go through her tagged pictures and if she did, one group photo slipped through the cracks. Abby explores his page, finding the man decently handsome, though he does have the haircut of a stereotypical jerk. Can't judge a book by its cover, Abby figures, considering if she hadn't met Erin and only had a picture to go off of, she wouldn't have thought the woman would become the bane of her existence. Abby clicks through his pictures, noting that he didn't sweep his page like Erin did, old pictures of them were still up and the two of them looked pretty happy together. Yet, something broke them up and set her fleeing back to the Midwest. Maybe it's something he can redeem himself for?
"Do you think it's a good idea though?" Erin asked concerned, running her teeth along her bottom lip. Abby listens closely, hoping Kim tells her no, however she isn't that lucky.
"I do, I mean he wants to be around his kid, you can't fault him for that, just look at her," Kim holds the baby up into the air, as if presenting her in the way Rafiki presented Simba in the Lion King, "who wouldn't want to be around little E as much as possible? I'd ask to move in too if this place had more room and I didn't think you'd cramp my style, so I get where Jay is coming from."
Abby bites her lip, piercing the skin as she clenches her hands around her phone. Her dislike for Kim was growing to be just as big of the hate she had for Erin. She throws her head back against the couch, over and over again until the pain at the back of her skull starts to hurt more than the emotional pain. Abby only stops when the headache intensifies, and it begins to muffle the sound of their voices. She needs to listen, to pay attention and knowing she's alone in the apartment has her bold enough to take her earphones out and turn up the volume.
"What if," Erin hesitates self-consciously before powering through because Kim is like an extension of herself and if she can't be completely open and honest with her, she can't be that way with anyone, "what if we sleep together again?"
Kim looks dumbfounded. And the look on her face silences Erin.
"Is that the biggest thing you're worried about with him staying over a few nights out the week?"
Erin, looks like a scolded child, admitting with the slow nod of her head that she is worried.
"Hear me out. Worst case scenario the two of you sleep together and best-case scenario, the two of you sleep together. It sounds like a win-win to me."
"Seriously Kim, we haven't slept together since," Erin averts her eyes towards her daughter as if she can understand what they're talking about, "the baby," she clears her throat, "we're not going that route, at least while he's still dating Abby and I don't want to sleep with him again at least while they're still together, but if he's here," Erin covers her face and groans, "there's no guarantee we won't fall into bed again, especially seeing him as a dad, he's so good with Emma, Kim, I mean so good, and then when he wears those muscle tees or Henley's or V-necks with his badge around his neck," Erin sighs, gazing off as if picturing him, "I don't know how I'm going to function if he's here, laying around, operating like he lives here. Like, I've never seen him in pajamas, what if he just wears pajama pants, no shirt and he walks out of his room to get a glass of water in the middle of the night and I walk out to get myself one too and we run into each other."
"Wow," Kim takes a seat on the arm of the couch, "you've really been thinking about this."
"It's all I can think about since we talked that night." Erin finishes off her corndog.
"You want my opinion?"
"Do you think I told you all of this to not get your opinion? Please, I need it."
"You're over-thinking things. Get out of your head, please for everybody's sake, especially yours, and talk to him, choose days for him to stay over, prepare the guestroom and come up with some type of routine that helps him feel useful. He doesn't feel like he's doing enough with holding up his end of the bargain with Emma. Remember, it's about Emma, not about you. You might as well get used to it anyway. And if at night, the two of you run into each other in the kitchen, enjoy it girl. If I was in your shoes, I know I would, your baby's dad is hot."
Upon hearing that, Abby exits out of the app. She didn't want to hear anymore. Any qualms or doubts about reaching out to Erin's ex that she may have felt almost immediately went out the window after hearing that conversation. She's seething in her seat, fuming, boiling so hot that she wouldn't be surprised if steam came pouring out. She doesn't hesitate to go back to Eric's profile, noticing that his other social media platforms are listed under his about me, including his email, which serves her purpose pretty nicely. It takes everything in her to keep the caps lock off, it takes every fiber of her being to not type at rapid speed and pound her fingers against her screen and it takes each and every morsel in her DNA makeup to act out of character in an effort to pretend to be someone she's not. She acts as Erin in reaching out, making up some line about needing space but ready to talk in person, she adds a little razzle dazzle by offering up an apology for how things ended despite Abby not exactly knowing the details behind it. She simply banks on his narcissism to cloud his judgment and not question any part of the apology.
She gives him Erin's address, holding her breath and hoping that her best imitation of Erin worked enough for him to believe that she wants to rekindle whatever romance they had with each other.
She wants to reunite them in an effort to get them back together. Abby hopes that with Erin off the market, her being single would no longer threaten her own relationship with Jay. She doesn't know if Eric knows about Emma, but for the off chance that he doesn't, she purposely keeps that bit of information out of the email. She doesn't want to run him off before she even gets a chance to play matchmaker. Her relationship can't afford for him to change his mind.
She continues holding her breath despite the lightheadedness and the need to release it. Her fingers tap against her thigh, being careful not to bother the healing self-inflicted wound. After what feels like a lifetime, she gets a pleasing response. He's eager and even better, he's willing to fly out.