Page 61 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

I blew my nose and started to gather my things. “I should go, before he does. I don’t really want another run-in with him before I leave.” I paused. “Unless you want me to stay and work?”

Hazel stared at the door he’d left open and then back at me. “Did he look pale to you? I mean, paler than usual? He wassonot himself.”

“Yeah, he was acting weird.” I sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine. I gave up trying to figure him out a long time ago.”

An odd look of regret crossed her face before she nodded. “I know you did. Maybe we all did.”

∞∞∞

The following evening, I curled up on the couch and opened my laptop. I had spent more than enough time wallowing—OK, mostly sleeping—and I felt bad about not telling Danny I couldn’t chat last night. I just hadn’t had the energy or desire to do anything except sleep.

But I was feeling over-rested now and surprisingly clear-headed. Sure, my eyes were still puffy, and my head hurt, but I knew some ibuprofen would fix it.

I quickly navigated to the fan site that Danny and I used to chat. I barely even went to the actual fan forum anymore because, to be honest, I was only interested in chatting with him now. Sure, I had a few other Internet buddies on the site, but I rarely talked to them anymore.

Hmm, that’s odd. He didn’t message me at all last night.

The chat tool said he was offline and hadn’t been online for two days.

Why?

I searched my memory, trying to figure out if I might have offended or annoyed him the last time we chatted. I couldn’t think of anything significant.

Then again, maybe it was just a late night at work. I’d just leave the chat window open while I watch some TV. Or maybe I should fold that load of clean towels sitting in a basket on the recliner that was used more often as a table than as a place to sit.

Maybe you’d be less depressed if you weren’t such a slob around the house.

I squeezed my eyes shut to block out those thoughts. All thoughts.

Maybe I’d just snooze on the couch for a bit. Sleep was the only guaranteed thought-blocker.

But when I woke with a start at 10 p.m., I still hadn’t heardfrom Danny. He was nearly always online by this time, and his statusstillsaid he’d been offline since two nights ago.

I frowned as my fingers clasped the remote, but I found myself reluctant to press Play. I wasn’t in the mood. I should probably just go to bed.

I’d told Hazel I wanted to take the rest of the week off, and she was fine with it. She applauded me, actually. It was a bizarre conversation, but I was glad to have her approval nonetheless—not to mention relieved that I wouldn’t have to face Jeff after that last awkward encounter.

The next day came and went, with still no sign of Danny and no update on his offline status. That night, I couldn’t even watchCast Afar. It just made me think of him, and I didn’t want to think about the guy who was ghosting me.

Is it really ghosting you though if you were never in a relationship?

He was always bound to get bored with this. With you.

I bit my lip, tasting a salty tear seep through the corner of my mouth.

Maybe he had a good reason. Things came up. We were just friends, and he wasn’t obligated to tell me if he was too busy to chat. I wasn’t going to be weird about this.

Yet that night, and the next three nights, I watchedLostinstead ofCast Afar.

Chapter 15

After nearly a week of silence from Danny and time away from the office, I’d started to feel stiff after so many hours on the couch—not to mention sluggish and unmotivated—so I’d moved to the desk in the corner of my living room and dusted it off, literally. After over two hours of searching, I finally found the perfect gift for Julia that would actually ship overseas. But then I realized she hadn’t told me yet whether she was staying in England for the holidays, so I decided to hold off on the order and call her tomorrow when it wasn’t crazy late in her time zone. Yes, it was early for Christmas shopping, but buying for others helped distract me from the persistent ache in my chest reflecting the swirling emotions of sadness, worry, anger, and disappointment within me.

By habit, I switched to the window with game design chat, my eyes lazily wandering across the screen. Then my heart skipped a beat or three.

The chat window showed a greenAvailablecircle next to CastGamer55.

Calm down. This doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to talk to you.

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