Page 38 of Unmasking Love
I bite back my smile. “It’s no problem, wanna see the hot tub?”
“No.” She sasses back and I see Cheryl and Tom’s faces fall.
“Okay,” I turn to them, “I’ll show you the basement’s entertainment center. The sellers are willing to leave the equipment and furniture if you’re interested. We can work through the pricing details during the closing process.”
I lead the way to the basement and then the rest of the house. When the tour wraps up Cheryl walks Hannah to the car and Tom says he’ll be in touch. I watched him take his wife’s hand in his before he drove off.
In my car I try to dodge the memories of being an outcast teen but I can’t quite shake them.
As I walk up to my apartment I still carry the hurt of younger me and how it felt to have all your friends suddenly hate you.
Alone isn’t a new state for me to be in, but it doesn’t exactly get any easier.
It felt nice to sit with Aiden for lunch today. That wasn’t lonely. He’s got a game tonight and I’m not sure what time it starts or even if he checks his phone but I send him a text anyways.
Thank you again for lunch. It was the highlight of my day.
I change into some sweatpants and look through my cabinets for dinner fixings. It’s mostly baking ingredients but I’m not in the mood for whipping up a cake tonight. I find a half sleeve of crackers and pull out the string cheese from my fridge. There are pickles in there too so I toss a few onto my plate. There, it’s like a charcuterie for one. I bring my sad girl dinner with me to the sofa and my phone buzzes.
You’re welcome. Are you having dinner and watching our game? It starts in half an hour.
I just sat down with my crackers, cheese, and pickles!
What kind of crackers?
Do I admit that they’re stale Ritz? Does that make me too sad?
Just some that I had in the pantry :)
Aiden doesn’t respond but when I turn on the TV and tune it to the local sports network I see that they’re about to take the ice. I watch as they skate around behind the commentators who are talking about an injured player on the other team. Finally I see Aiden walk behind them out onto the ice, several minutes after the rest of the team.
The game becomes background noise as I start to answer emails on my phone. Absently I reach over to my dinner plate and paw around. Dangit. Empty. I stare at it wondering what else I might be able to scrounge up when my doorbell rings.
Maybe it’s Wes, although he usually texts or calls before coming over. I slide into a pair of sandals and walk downstairs.
Through the peephole I see a stranger.
“Hello?” I call through the door.
“I have a delivery from Lapis.”
“Oh, sorry, you must have the wrong house. I didn’t order anything.”
“Says here it’s for Daniel Harper? He live here?”
Huh? My name is Harper Daniels. I don’t understand what is going on.
“There’s an order note saying it’s from Aiden.” The delivery guy calls out.
What?
“Oh yeah, that’s for me then, thanks.” I say as I unlock the door and reach for the food. I carry it back upstairs and set it on my coffee table. Before I open the bag I stare it down.
I can’t believe Aiden sent me dinner.
Chapter 12
Aiden
