Page 48 of North
“I’ll be there. You said my favorite word, scones.”
“I thought your favorite word was mocha,” I teased.
“Second favorite word.”
“Noted,” I laughed. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Don’t stress over this shit with your friend, North. I know you. Your mind is going to be wrapped up all day.” Kane did know me well. I was going to stress and it was going to make the day drag on. I locked eyes with him for a bit before promising him I wouldn’t spend all day worried about Sierra.
I couldn’t clock in when I got to work early because there was no way they’d give me overtime. I didn’t have anyone to talk to because I kept to myself so much. I knew people well enough to strike up a conversation but not enough to hang out with them for a couple of hours.
All the more reason for me to patch things up with Sierra.
“Hey, North,” a familiar voice tugged me out of my own thoughts. I’d been sitting at a table in the corner mindlessly scrolling on my phone until it was time for me to clock in.
“Hey, Mel. What are you doing here?” We hugged and I invited her to sit with me.
“I came in to grab a cup of coffee. I’m kind of off today but I’m still going over case notes. Why are you here so early?”
“I had some things on my mind so I came to sit with my thoughts,” I told her with a one-shouldered shrug.
“Anything you wanna talk about? I know we didn’t get along that much at first.” She looked down at her clasped hands then into my eyes with an apologetic smile. “Doesn’t mean I haven’t grown and learned.” Melanie was right. Since she got with Elijah and stopped trying to fuck Kane around every corner, she was actually cool.
Elijah must have had something special with him to make her calm down.
“It’s cool, Mel. I’m trying to crawl inside someone’s head and that’s never an easy thing.”
“It’s never a smart thing, North. If someone isn’t forthcoming with information about how they feel then they don’t want you to know.”
My knee bounced under the table as I chewed on my bottom lip. “How am I supposed to help the friendship if the person won’t tell me what’s wrong? I twirled a lock of red hair around my pointer finger and looked to Mel for advice.
I was sorely lacking a female influence in my life and so far Melanie was the only woman I felt remotely comfortable with. I craved sisterhood the same way I craved love.
She rubbed the back of my hand and smiled softly. Her kindness drew me in even more. I relaxed my shoulders and waited to hear what she had to say.
“You can’t help everyone, North. If you know you’ve done everything in your power to make things work but the other person still won’t budge…maybe it’s time to walk away.” With a short exhale she stood to her feet. “I’m gonna grab a latte. You want anything?”
“I’ll use my discount,” I chirped. We walked to the counter together and ordered venti lattes, my treat. When we sat down, Mel pierced me with her gray eyes.
“I know you said to walk away if the other person won’t budge but I’d hate to throw so much time away.” The thought of no longer calling Sierra my best friend choked me. I swallowed a gulp of my hot latte and toyed with the cardboard sleeve on the cup.
“Listen, North one of the best lessons I ever learned was; don’t cling to a mistake because you spent a lot of time making it.” Those words struck something. The realization washed over me in ripples, splitting me in two.
One side of me understood I couldn’t cling to Sierra just because we’d been friends since fourth grade. The other part of me needed a little more time to fix our broken bond.
“You’re right,” I said after another sip. “I think I need more time. I want to give it one more try.” I heard myself and I hated how needy I sounded. What was wrong with wanting to save a good friendship though?
“Take whatever time you need but don’t force a friendship.”
“I’m guessing you can tell this is about Sierra.” There was no use trying to hide it and the longer I was around Mel the more I trusted her.
“Yeah, I had a hunch. To be honest, she was pretty bitchy towards you last night. If she’s like that in front of people then I can’t imagine how she treats you when you’re alone.” Her eyes flashed sympathy and it drove home another wave of realization.
I had some serious reflecting to do, which meant the workday would crawl by.
…
CHAPTER 14
