Page 21 of Another Life

“It led to a more beautiful life than I could’ve ever hoped for,” he answers without skipping a beat.

We sit there in silence and I’m too afraid to look in his eyes, so I stare at the screen of my laptop just as it goes into sleep mode. I can see the glimmer of my tears in the reflection of the screen, and I sigh, wondering what the fuck I’ve done here.

What a fucking mess I’ve made of my life.

I stand and he follows suit, placing his hands on my shoulders and pulling me in for a hug. His body has fit mine for so long, that I breathe him in and let myself mold into the familiar planes of his shape.

He leans into me, and it would be so easy. To kiss, to go upstairs and share a bed again, to go back to a life where everything makes sense to my daughters.

If someone were to peek into my kitchen window, I know what they’d see. I’m almost certain of how they’d view the little family inside with the mom and dad embracing in the kitchen.

Perfect.

It’s a word my younger sister has used to describe me many times. And each time I feel the weight of it, feel it crack at my tough exterior.

I pull away from him, wiping the rest of my tears with the back of my hand.

He nods, as if my actions confirm all he needs to know.

“Goodnight, Sabrina,” he murmurs before stepping away to head to the guest room. I close my eyes at the quiet click of his door shutting, wishing I could skip forward to a day when all of this isn’t on the forefront anymore.

Or go back to a time when it hadn’t even happened yet.

CHAPTER TEN

BEAUTIFULLY

PAST

“Fuck.”

My angry outburst startles the few people standing around me as I rifle through my canvas bag, searching for the cellphone that I know isn’t in there. This is what I get for rushing out of that damn classroom, trying to get as far away from Professor Pugliesi as possible.

Now it’s the end of my school day and I doubt the classroom is unlocked. But Iknowit’s in there. I haven’t used it since I read a text from Miley just before he’d started speaking. I remember shoving it away quickly and I guess it must’ve missed my bag and fell on the floor instead.

I stand there in the hallway a moment, debating on trying to see if the classroom is open. And then I think aboutyiayiaand Denise and how I haven’t spoken to either of them all day and I start the trek toward the other side of campus. The sun is still out but the sky is getting that cotton candy effect, pink fluffy clouds rolling over the city sky, and the campus is less populated, making it quicker to maneuver through.

I find myself outside the building and I take a deep breathbefore I push the door open and head in.What if he’s with a female student again? What if I walked all this way for nothing?

Maybe there’ll be a janitor around who can help me. I try to be optimistic as I reach the door of the auditorium. My hand shakes as I try the doorknob and it’s locked. I glance down at my feet, wondering how I hadn’t realized my phone was missing all this time.

Probably because I’m trying to do way too fucking much.

“Miss Milas?”

I don’t lift my head when I hear his voice, opting to squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. Because the jolt of my skipped heartbeat and the way my body stiffens at the soft timbre of his voice forces me to take a second to reorient myself.

I open my eyes before I turn my head to look at him.

He’s wearing a T-shirt instead of the button-up he’d had on in class today. More of his golden skin is on display and I’m taken back to the night we met, when I knew this version of him; relaxed and open.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, and the softness of his tone does wonders to the curl of his accent.

“I lost my phone,” I offer, lifting my hands in defeat before they drop, my palms hitting my thighs. “I’m pretty sure it’s in there.”

He tilts his head back just a little, his lips part in a silent, “ah,” and I press mine together.

“Let me,” he starts, stepping toward me and leaning against the door to unlock it.

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