Page 61 of Balancing Act

“What are you doing here?” Beth asked, her voice laced with surprise but not displeasure.

Sean shrugged, slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat. “I was in the area.”

Beth raised a questioning eyebrow, leaning against the door and crossing her arms. “You were in the area? Since when do you happen to ‘be in the area’ all the way out here? You’re a long way from Capitol Hill.”

He didn’t even try to hide his amusement. “Alright, you caught me, darling. Maybe I wasn’tjust in the area.”

Beth narrowed her eyes playfully at him, trying to extract more information. Sean hesitated, glancing around before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He rubbed the back of his neck, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I’ve been seeing someone.”

Beth’s eyes widened in surprise, a teasing grin on her face. “Wait—what? Since when? And who?”

He shook his head, clearly amused by her sudden interest. “It’s new. Very new. And I’m not telling you who. Not yet, anyway.”

“Oh, come on!” Beth teased, nudging his arm as they walked farther into the studio. “You can’t drop that and then give me nothing.”

Sean chuckled, shaking his head as he walked to the table cluttered with paint tubes and brushes. He picked up one of the brushes, twirling it between his fingers. “You’ll meet him soon enough.”

Beth leaned against the worktable. “Oh. Him.” She beamed. “Well, I’m happy for you, and I can’t wait to meethim,” she said, with an added emphasis.

“Thanks, Beth. That means a lot.”

They fell into a comfortable silence that only came with years of friendship. Sean wandered around the studio, glancing at the various canvases scattered about, his eyes scanning the one Beth had been working on before he arrived. “You’ve been busy,” he remarked, nodding toward the half-finished painting. “Seems like you’re pulling yourself out of that creative rut. I like the direction you’re heading with these.” He picked up one of the canvases, examining it before setting it back down.

Beth smiled, her chest swelling with a sense of satisfaction. “Yeah. Things have been slowly getting better. Tonight’s been good.”

Sean gave her a knowing look. “Does that mean you’ve sorted things out with your love-triangle situation?”

Her smile faltered slightly as she exhaled, wiping her hands on the cloth again, though they were already clean. “It’s not a love triangle, Sean.”

“Are you sure about that?” He drew a triangle in the air between them with a wide smirk, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Okay, fine. It may have been triangle-shaped when viewed from certain perspectives. But it’s not anymore. We’re three separate points now,” she said softly. “I ended things with Sarah.” She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought about her conversation with Sarah the previous night. “God, Sean, she bought a house here without talking to me first! Can you believe that?”

At first, Sean didn’t say anything. He crossed the room to stand beside her, leaning against the worktable, then let out a slow breath, nodding. “I can. And, to be frank, it’s about time you ended things with her. I told you this was a bad idea, didn’t I?”

Beth huffed out a soft laugh, shaking her head. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Darling, you’ve been walking around in a fog for months, maybe years. I’m proud of you for finally seeing through it,” Sean said, his voice softer now, more serious. “I know how hard that was for you to do.”

Beth’s chest tightened at his words, a mixture of relief and sadness swirling in her chest. “Honestly, it shouldn’t have been that hard. Lily didn’t even hesitate, Sean. She told us point-blank she didn’t want us back together. If our own kid can see how wrong we are, why the hell couldn’t I?” She smiled weakly.

“God, remember when we thought toddlers were hard? I swear teenagers are going to be the death of me. The biting honesty is brutal,” Sean mused, as Beth leaned against her friend.

Sean looked down at her, his expression thoughtful. “So, with Sarah out of the picture...” His voice trailed off, and Beth knew he was asking where things stood with Jamie. And the honest answer was that she didn’t know.

“It’s not that simple.” She groaned.

“It never is, but that’s not the point. Are you going to keep hoping your problems are going to solve themselves? Or are you going to do something about it?” He crossed his arms, watching her closely.

She shifted uncomfortably at Sean’s assertion. “What?—”

“Oh, come on, Beth.” Sean shook his head. “You’ve spent your whole life waiting. Waiting for the right moment, the perfect sign, for things to fix themselves. But life doesn’t work that way. Sometimes you have to leap, even if it means falling on your face.”

Beth glanced away, the words she’d been avoiding bubbling up, too thick to swallow. “Jamie doesn’t want me. She thinks she’s too much of a risk.”

Beth shifted, chewing on her bottom lip as she paced in front of Sean, walking him through all the things that had been said and not said between herself and Jamie in the past few weeks. Once she started, it was like the dam broke. Every unspoken word and buried feeling came rushing out, and Beth hadn’t realized how much she had even needed to talk about it until she let it all go. The relief was immediate, but so was the fear—what if speaking it all aloud made it more real?

“It’s like there’s always this tension, but it’s unspoken. She looks at me like there’s more she wants to say, but then she holds back, and I do the same.”