Page 102 of I Love My Mistake

Chapter Forty-Six

The Next Day

Staring at my phone as though I can telepathically will Mark to text me, I’m sitting on the red bench outside Prodigy Coffee on Carmine St. I’m early, waiting for Amber who was kind enough to leave work when I called her and asked her to meet me here. She’s normally right on time, but I’m not normally anything. Sometimes I’m late, sometimes early. Like with my housecleaning, I really don’t give it much thought. Today, I couldn’t sit at home a moment longer. I need my girlfriends. And since only one has a face I can stand, only one will have to do.

I don’t know why I’m looking at my phone anyway. Mark hasn’t texted in days, not like he was doing it much to begin with. Staring, I picture his name lighting up the screen. But it only makes my heart hurt more.

“Nico!”

I look up to see Amber jogging toward me, her mouth twisted in an odd, sad smile as she waves. I don’t know if it will ever be the same between the three of us. She’s probably thinking that, too.

I give a weak little wave and slide my phone into my bag. “Hey.”

“I’m glad you called me.” Her sad smile fading away to nothing.

“It wasn’t easy.”

She nods. “Is that for me?”

I glance at the forgotten extra cup of coffee on the bench beside me. “Oh. Yeah, it is. It was a long line, so I went ahead and got you a latte.”

“Almond milk?”

“Of course,” I smile.

“And yours is black with cinnamon.”

I quietly answer, “Of course.”

A warm smile spreads across her face, a real one this time. It’s nice when someone knows you, like we know each other. But of course then this makes us think of Jess who knows us just as well, and our smiles fade as quickly as they came. Picking up our cups and handing hers to her, I motion to the empty space on the bench beside me.

She scoots in and gets comfy, drinks a small sip, closing her eyes for a moment. “Mmm. Perfect temperature. You’ve been waiting awhile?”

I shrug a little. “Not long. The milk cools it off.”

She nods and takes another sip, staring forward. I adjust myself so that I’m more comfortable, and fail. Nothing feels comfortable. “So…”

Amber looks at me sideways, and adjusts to face me. She waits.

“Amb, I don’t want to live without Mark.”

Her body slumps and she lets out the air she was holding in. She looks into my eyes and we stay quiet for a moment. “I think he’s perfect for you.”

Tears jump up from my heart. “You do?”

Amber nods, her big blue eyes full of friendship. “I do.” She frowns beneath the sadness of her next thought. “And I don’t know how Jess is going to take it.” A tear escapes down my cheek. I reach up, press it into my skin, and close my eyes against another one, but it races away from me, too. I don’t want to lose my sister. Amber lays her hand on my knee, patting the jean fabric and giving it a tiny squeeze. “Hey. For what it’s worth, I think we’re put on this planet to follow our hearts. That’s where our true path lies.”

Another tear slips away. “Jess is my heart.”

Amber nods. “I know.” Leaning back and releasing my leg, she holds her cup with both hands, staring forward. After a long pause, she says, “We got in a fight last night. I read her the riot act.”

“You did?”

Her eyes cloud over. “Yeah. It was pretty bad.”

“How so?”

“She called me short.”

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