Ulterior Motive
His words flashed up inside the chat box: Don’t think I don’t know you have an ulterior motive!
She gave a maniacal laugh: Muahahaha!
Then he signed off.
At first she was feeling elated that the convo ended on a high note, plus she had gotten the last word.
Then it dawned on her:
Did he think her motive was selfish, or selfless?
He could have thought she did it to make things like old times. That’s why she laughed in the first place, to make it seem like a friendly inside joke.
But he also could have seen it as a way to drive a wedge between his new friendships he’d developed since the distance had grown between them. If he spent time with her, he’d not be with them.
Both those answers were selfish.
He could also have decided she did it to bring balance to his life. Always the rock, she often steadied him in the past.
That would have been selfless.
In the brief contact, she could not determine which he was leaning towards. So she asked herself, instead.
Why did she do it?