Page 13 of Petals of Blue: Part One
"You have to tell him." Jared sounds bored and slightly annoyed. I don't blame him. We've had this argument many times.
"No," I mumble, "I really don't."
Jared sits up and looks me in the eye. "Listen, D, he's going to find out sooner or later." My heart sinks, but my friend continues. "He will. Then he's going to feel like shit that he didn't notice."
"Well, that's fucking embarrassing as it is. I think we'll just keep this to ourselves. Want to get dinner?" Divert. Avoid. Ignore. It will pass.
Jared rolls his eyes and stands. "Asshole, you know I can't pass up a good burger. Let's go see my sister first, please. She's at work."
I'm already nodding as I grab the keys. Another great part of moving here is finally seeing Jared's sister again. She's tenyears older and moved to Chicago when she was twenty-six, so we haven't seen her much in the past thirteen years.
Excitement urges me out of the house while muting my anxiety about Felix. For now. My dilemma and nauseating jealousy will come roaring back later, but for now, I'm thrilled to be seeing Nichole again.
"You drive," I demand and toss Jared the keys to my Toyota Camry. "I'm feeling distracted."
Jared agrees, and we're off to visit his sister.
The drive isn't far, but the traffic through downtown Chicago is ridiculous. "Jesus Christ, why does your sister like working in this mess?" I ask as we dodge people along the sidewalk.
We drove less than three miles, and still have to walk a third of one because of the shit parking. Thank fuck my café has its own parking lot.
"She said the location brings great business. People can come before work, during lunch breaks, or after work. Add in the nice locker rooms she updated last year, and her customers can freshen up. It's one of the hottest studios in the city."
"Makes sense." It does, especially once I see the gorgeous glass storefront with a striking purple and blue logo. "Damn, I hadn't seen the updates. Did you get pictures?"
Jared nods, and I glare as I follow him inside. "Sorry, it was around the time Dad got into the accident."
"Shit," I cringe, feeling like an insensitive ass. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about the timing. It looks fucking awesome in here."
It feels glorious too. The air is crisp, and the entry room issuper inviting. There's complimentary fruit and water near the waiting area, and the receptionist is beaming.
"Hi, welcome in! How can I help you?" She's cute, in a bubbly kind of way. All I feel though is the usual guilt and heartache when I encounter someone so outwardly happy.Erica was like that.
"Hey," Jared greets. "I'm visiting my sister, Nichole. Is she around?"
"Oh!" She smiles. "You're Jared. Nikki told me to keep an eye out for you this week! She's just finishing up her evening class, but she'll be out in a few minutes, I bet. Nikki always walks out with them to keep chatting."
The obvious respect this girl has for Nichole makes me smile.Nikkihas done well for herself it seems, and I couldn't be happier for her.
"Great, thank you," Jared acknowledges and takes a seat on the couch.
I follow suit, grabbing an orange on my way toward him. "When's the last time we saw Nichole do you think? I can't remember."
"It's been a long while. Maybe like eight months, but we didn't see her much. We were busy house hunting, remember?"
"Oh shit, yeah." I cross my right leg over my knee and dig my nail into the skin of my orange. Just as I'm about to ask how she's been doing, the double doors burst open in a flurry of laughter, thumping music, and sweaty women.
"JARED!" Nichole screams and runs right for her brother. He jumps up and swoops her into a tight embrace. "I'm so happy you're here," she cries.
I smile and approach them slowly. With a piece of peel in my hand, I reach to drop it in the garbage. Instead of releasing the skin, I drop the whole damn orange when my eyes catch on my living fucking nightmare.
She may have blue hair and angry eyes now, but I would recognize her anywhere anytime.
"Erica..."
Nine
BLUE
