Page 187 of One Bad Idea
"So try again."
I was losing my patience. "Maybeyoushould try again."
"What are you getting at?"
"I'm just saying, I've explained it already, but you're refusing to understand."
"Alright," he said. "Let me cut to the chase. Are you coming or not?"
I swallowed. "Do you mean to Hawaii?"
If he'd asked me that question even ten minutes ago, the answer would've been a quick and easy yes. But now, I wasn't so sure. This conversation hadn't gone anything like I'd hoped.
When he made no reply, I asked, "Do you want me to?"
"Just answer the question."
"Why should I?" I said. "You didn’t answer mine." For his benefit, I repeated it. "Do youwantme to come?"
"If I didn’t, I wouldn't've invited you."
As far as a reply, it wasn't warm and fuzzy. Cripes, it wasn't even welcoming. I murmured, "Then the answer is…I guess I don’t know."
His voice grew flat and cold. "You don't know."
"No. I don't."
"Yeah? Well, tell me when you do." And with that, he hung up. Afterward, I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at the receiver.
What had just happened?
I wasn't quite sure.
But whatever it was, I didn't like it.
Chapter 70
The next two days were horribly tense. At least twice a day, Jaden called in for his messages. And, at least twice a day, I gave them to him with only minimal commentary. At the end of every call, he'd ask me the same maddening question. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
I knew what he wanted me to say – that I wasn't quittingandthat I'd be there in Hawaii as originally planned.
But there were things that I wantedhimto say, too – that he understood my concerns and that the trip to Hawaii was nothing in the big scheme of things. But the way he was acting, like it was some do-or-die thing, well, it made me feel a little strange.
After all, he'd practically admitted that it wasn't truly a work trip. And if he only wanted me there for my company, then why wasn't he being more understanding about it?
On top of that, he wasn't even calling me at night, in spite of the fact that we usually talked all the time, even when he was out of town.
By the time Wednesday afternoon rolled around, I was feeling seriously stressed about the whole thing. Supposedly, my flight left at six o'clock tomorrow, which meant that I was running out of time to make an official decision.
On top of that, I hadn't even packed, mostly because I wasn't sure whether or not I'd be going.
As the afternoon dragged on, I kept glancing at my phone – meaning my work phone, where Jaden would be calling in for his messages. Normally, he called by four o'clock, but already, it was nearly five.
Still, I waited.
Five o'clock came and went.
No call.
