“Francisca, be smart about this,” he says, and I watch her frame fill with tension. “We can discuss the details over dinner.”

“I have plans tonight, and we don’t need to talk about it. I’ve already told you what I want.” She looks at me, her eyes filled with frustration. “Are you ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

“I’m ready now.” She looks back to Matthew. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening at my parents’. Mom mentioned that you and your mother are coming to dinner.”

“Yeah,” he mutters. “Call me later.”

She doesn’t respond to that request but waits until he’s walking away to let out a long breath.

“Sorry about that,” she murmurs, then motions for me to come inside.

“You, okay?”

“Just annoyed, but that’s nothing new.” She walks across the apartment as I close the door and lock it.

“You two still own a property together?” I ask her back as she walks to a stack of boxes and disappears behind it.

“Yes, a three-bedroom condo near Germantown. We got it before the housing market boom and the price of real estate skyrocketed. When we split up, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to sell or buy my half from me so I moved in here.” She steps out from behind the boxes that are taller than her holding a piece of fabric in her hand. “But now it’s become a whole thing, and I can’t exactly complain about it because I was an idiot for not forcing him to make a decision before I moved out.”

“Maybe it’s time to talk to a lawyer.”

“I know but I hate the idea of having to hear my dad or Phillip say I told you so.”

“Phillip?”

“My family’s lawyer.” She drags her fingers through her long hair sweeping it over to one side. “My dad told me that I needed to give Matthew a strict timeline for the sale and Phillip didn’t say it, but I know he was annoyed that I didn’t get things with Matthew in writing before we finalized our divorce.”

“You might not want to hear ‘I told you so,’ but it would be better than dealing with this situation for the next year.”

“You’re right.” She looks around and her shoulders slump. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I frown.

“Wasting your time, I don’t think I’m going to be able to take a nap now. I just…”

“You need sleep, Franny.”

“I know.” She whispers sounding exhausted and I imagine a lot of that exhaustion has to do with her ex showing up likely unannounced in an attempt to get her attention. How often does he do that, just show up out of the blue without calling?