Page 48 of Faking it with my Off Limits Neighbor

I give her a long look. “What’s going on?”

She drops her eyes and shrugs again. “Nothing,” she lies.

“Right. I can see that.”

A long silence hangs in the air between us. Whatever has her upset, she doesn’t want to talk about it, and I’m nearly a hundred percent certain it has something to do with Charlie and me.

“What did I do wrong?” I ask eventually, unable to tolerate not knowing any longer.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Troy,” Milly sighs.

“Sure I did. I must have. Charlie hasn’t spoken to me for nearly three days. She won’t answer my calls or texts. It’s like she’s fallen off the planet.”

Milly doesn’t say anything to that, which tells me I’m right. What I don’t understand is why she isn’t either agreeing or telling me the reason. We’ve always been pretty close. As much as we tease each other, nothing could come between us. In school, no one would dare speak a bad word to her for fear of having to face the consequences.

But after all her desperation to get me and Charlie back together, her reticence to tell me what’s wrong doesn’t make any sense to me. If there was anyone on this planet who would want to tell me how to fix the situation, it would be Milly.

“Are you really not going to tell me what I’ve done wrong?”

“I’ve already told you,” she replies adamantly. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Then why won’t Charlie speak to me? Why is she ignoring me and behaving like I have?”

Milly takes a huge breath in and then sighs like the world is on her shoulders. She looks at me for a long moment, and then she says, “It’s not my place, Troy.”

“What isn’t your place?”

“To tell you what’s wrong. You need to speak to Charlie yourself.”

“How am I supposed to do that if she won’t talk to me?” I bark in frustration. “I’ve tried. I even went to her house. She was in but refused to answer the door. She had me worried sick that something terrible had happened to her.”

“She’s fine”—Milly tilts her head—“kind of. I mean, nothing physical has happened to her.”

“But she’s clearly not fine in any other way,” I deduce.

“She’s hurting, Troy.”

“Because?” I press impatiently.

“I’ve told you. It’s not my place to tell you. You have to ask her yourself.”

I jump up from the chair and thread my fingers through my hair. “This is ridiculous.” I’m irritated at this silliness, but I have a funny feeling Charlie is behind Milly’s silence, so I can’t blame her. “And if she won’t talk to me?”

Milly looks up at me. “You lost her once. Are you really going to let that happen again?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Then maybe”—Milly stands and takes a step back—“you need to show her you’re not willing to give up. I’m sorry, Troy. Truly I am. In fact, I’m gutted for you both. I really thought this was going to work out. Maybe it still will. Who knows?” Thumbing behind her, she says, “Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the store.”

I nod. “I know.” Our conversation has resolved nothing, and I’m as frustrated now as I was before. The only thing I’ve discovered is that Charlie’s behavior is because of something I’ve done. I just can’t figure out what that is.

The restaurant keeps me busy for a little longer. Partly because there’s still stuff I have to do, partly because I don’t want to go home and have to sit fifty feet away from the woman I’m madly in love with, suffering from being unable to see her.

Two hours later, I’m driving home, and the heavens open. The raindrops bounce off the hood and windshield of my car, forcing me to put the wipers on at full speed. It’s so heavy that the cars in front slow down, adjusting to the sudden change in conditions.

I park the truck and run to the house, but even in that short time, I get nearly soaked to the skin. I can’t help but notice that Charlie’s car is back in her driveway.

Milly’s words come back to me as I’m flicking water off my hands and head.

---