Page 125 of Finding Jess

She stood outside Liz’s door, debating whether to knock or turn around and walk away.

The impulse to go there had been sudden, overwhelming, and completely without reason.

But she was there now. And turning back no longer felt like an option.

Sam knocked lightly, pushing the door open without waiting for a response. Liz looked up from her desk, her expression tightening when their eyes met.

“Sam,” Liz said, her tone neutral but clipped. “What are you doing here?”

Sam stepped inside, awkwardly shoving her hands into her jean pockets. “I was in the area,” she said quickly, her voice too forced. “Thought I’d stop by. See how the software’s working out.”

Liz blinked at her, the silence stretching just long enough to feel uncomfortable. “It’s fine,” she said finally, setting a pen down and leaning back in her chair. “No issues.”

“Good,” Sam replied, nodding. She shifted her weight, her gaze flicking around the large office. “That’s good.”

Liz cocked her head, her sharp gaze cutting through the awkward air. “That’s it? You came all the way here just to ask that?”

Sam hesitated, her mouth opening and closing before she shrugged. “Just wanted to check in.”

Liz rolled her eyes, pressing her lips into a thin line. “Right.”

The tension in the room was suffocating, and Sam felt the sudden urge to leave. She turned toward the door. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to—”

“You know,” Liz interrupted, her voice sharp and tight, “you might not believe me, but I really did want to try being friends again when you first showed up here.”

And there it was. The tone she’d had at the wedding. The undercurrent of whatever tension that seemed to simmer between them since that first moment she’d seen her again.

She could’ve left it at that. Gave some noncommital reply, and left.

But she couldn’t. Maybe it was some need to argue against what Liz had said at the wedding. The words she’d kept to herself, still begging to be released.

Sam paused, half turned away. Then she said carefully, “Did you mean what you said at the wedding?”

Liz eyed her, the edges of her mouth twitching. “Is that really so hard for you to believe?”

A flare of frustration ignited in Sam’s chest, heating her tone. “I never did anything to you,” she said through gritted teeth, her jaw flexing as the words came out. “How can you hate me for—”

“I never said I hated you,” Liz said sharply, her brows wrinkling in a look of distaste. As if she wanted to make sure Sam knew she didn’t care enough for hatred.

The dismissive edge in her voice was like a slap, wiping away the last of Sam’s patience. She shook her head, glaring off to the side as if looking anywhere but at Liz might stop her from saying something she’d regret. But it didn’t.

“You and your parents both act like nothing happened back then,” she said, her voice low and biting. “And that’s fine. Pretend it never happened. But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t act like I stole your life somehow and also act like me leaving didn’t mean anything to you.”

The words hung heavy in the air, and Sam braced herself for a retort, something to cut just as deep. But Liz didn’t say anything. She stayed seated, anger rolling off her in silent waves, her jaw clenched so tightly it looked carved from stone.

The silence stretched on until Sam realized Liz wasn’t going to say anything at all. And maybe that was for the best.

With a short breath, she turned toward the door, grabbing the handle.

“Wait.”

Sam froze, her grip tightening on the doorknob. Slowly, she glanced back over her shoulder. Liz was standing now, arms crossed defensively over her chest, her gaze locked somewhere on the floor.

Sam hesitated a moment before letting go of the door, her hand falling to her side.

The room fell into a strained quiet again. Liz’s gaze drifted somewhere far away, her expression clouded and unreadable. For a moment, Sam thought that might be the end of it. That Liz had nothing else to say.

But then Liz let out a slow, shaky breath, her arms uncrossing and falling to her sides. She looked down at her hands for a long moment, as if needing to ground herself.

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