Page 61 of Blossoms of the Heart
Chapter 13
Tai
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Icalled Candace that same night, deciding it was time to give her my decision.
I got geared up, thought of what I could say that wouldn’t hurt her too much, but her phone went straight to her voicemail.
First I thought it was odd that she didn’t call me back, but then I realized why.
It was late when I called, nearly ten. She knew I wouldn’t have called that late unless if I wanted to talk about something important.
Something important like tell her I didn’t want to give her a second chance.
When she didn’t call me back the next day, and I called again twice, this time earlier, and her phone went to voicemailagain, I knew I had to be right.
She was avoiding the call. Avoiding talking to me on the phone.
It wasn’t in me to let shit drag on. I’d allowed this saga to drag on for long enough as it was, and wanted it resolved before the weekend but it looked like I had to think up a new tactic.
Maybe it was better to talk in person. I just wanted to be sure I told her how I felt as soon as possible. Not because I had Phoebe on the brain, and had to confine myself to the musty walls of the archives department, but because it was the right thing to do.
It was the right thing to do if I cared for Candace in the way I said I did.
I might not want to be with her in the sense of a relationship but that didn’t mean I wanted her hurt in anyway.
Friday had been a bitch. I had to do all the reports for last month and get all the contracts signed for the suppliers we used. Good thing I was in archives because I had serious work to do. I welcomed Saturday morning like a breath of fresh air when it finally came, and I planned to sleep in.
I already decided that I didn’t want to think about Candace today, or this weekend.
Today was exactly three weeks since she asked me for a second chance so I’d had three weekends of her on my mind. At least now that I’d explored my feelings I had an answer.
Monday. She’d get it on Monday when I got back from Akiyoshido. Maybe we could meet at the coffeehouse again. She seemed to like it there. It was best to do something like this in a place where she could be comfortable.
When she broke up with me she came to my house. That was a day I’d never forget.
I slept until midday then got dressed, planning to hit the garage. In the week I’d gotten Dante to modify a Lamo. Yesterday he texted to say it sold for over a hundred grand. I told him to keep the money.
Kid didn’t know that I knew his mom was in hospital, and had been sick since last year with a severe heart condition. It was Xiao that filled me in on the details a few weeks back. I waited for Dante to come to me but he didn’t. Because of pride.
He was a guy who would never ask anyone for anything even when he was desperate. Like he was now.
I knew he came from a poor family which he supported. He had three younger sisters in their teens and his mother. His father died when he was just a boy so between he and his mother they’d been trying to run things.
Xiou told me that Dante’s mom’s mom collapsed the same night I introduced them to Phoebe.
Dante went home to find her unconscious on the kitchen floor. He got her to hospital where she underwent emergency surgery which saved her life but that left him with a steep bill.
I figured the money from the car would take care of the bills and help them to live a bit more comfortably for a while.
I called him kid, even though he was twenty six –had a thing for Mitsuke too which I would talk to him about – but he was a good guy.
He started crying when I told him he could keep the money, along with the money that was coming through on two of the other cars he’d worked on last week.
Normally I’d buy more cars to fix up and modify for sale but that could wait. There was always a next time.
I was eager to see him in person for a good man-to-man talk, I was on my way out to do just that when Candace turned up on my door step. Just like she did three weeks ago, catching me completely off guard. But unlike three weeks ago there was a nervousness about her that I could sense.
