Page 70 of The Lies I've Told
“Just tell me where you want to go,” he said, rising from his spot on the bed to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.
I couldn’t help but grin, feeling like I’d accomplished some great feat.
See?I told myself.I can do casual.
With bagel in hand, I went on a hunt for my phone, intent on looking up stores. I had a few in mind, but having no real clue where I was in relation to anything in New York, I wanted to look at a map and get my bearings.
I did a quick perusal of the bedroom with no luck, but I remembered I’d left it in the living room after Aiden explained the lack of outlets.
“Beautiful high ceilings, ornate architectural details, and, like, three outlets in the entire apartment. That’s the trade-off of living in a historical building,” he’d said with a shrug after pointing me to one of the few places I could charge my phone, which was near the coffee table.
After quickly packing everything back up in my small carry-on and stuffing the rest of my bagel in my mouth, I headed into the main room and plopped down on the sofa, reaching for my phone but was stopped short.
There, on the small table in front of me, was a small stone bird.
Underneath it was a handwritten note.
I leaned forward, my heart quickening.
Don’t read it, Millie.
Don’t—
The moment my eyes made contact with the messy writing, it was gone. I exhaled, not realizing I’d been holding my breath, as I looked up and found Aiden, his face a mixture of emotions as he shoved the beautiful stone bird in his pocket and placed the note on a shelf behind him.
“Sorry,” he said. “Just a list of supplies for a client I have coming up.”
I nodded, still a little bewildered as he took my hand, suggesting we go for a nice walk before grabbing a cab.
His words felt like they were ringing in my ears as I went through the motions, my focus still fixated on that note and the little stone bird.
There was one thing I couldn’t get out of my mind.
The fact that he’d lied.
Because, although I hadn’t read the letter, I’d managed to see a few key words before he whisked it away from my sight.
Love.
Ben.
And probably the most important one of all.
Millie.
So, unless his new client happened to share my name, this casual business just became infinitely harder.
What was the expression people used?
Oh, right.
Fuck my life.
Yeah, that about summed it up.
“I know you’re not a child anymore, but a simple text goes a long way,” my mother said as the three of us sat down over a pitcher of iced tea on the patio at the inn.
I’d barely been home an hour before she tracked me down, banging on the door to my suite like a crazy person.
