Page 14 of Fragile Kiss (Fragile 2)
Thanks for letting me know, she responded, reading each word letter by letter. Hope the flight was smooth.
She sent it and started to type the next segment. Within a few words, she saw he had already read her reply. That he was so fast intimidated her a little.
She had to send this while she knew he was there.
Listen, I’m sorry for the fight we had. I shouldn’t have said a lot of those things. I shouldn’t have approached you at all; it was inconsiderate of me. This weekend was a mistake and I’m sorry I pulled you back into this. I want you to be with someone who makes you endlessly happy. We should both see other people. I think it will help put things in perspective.
It sounded good enough. It was simple, nice, and straightforward. Guys didn’t like stuff that beat around the bush. There was no way he could misinterpret this.
She looked back out into the parking lot. The rain had reduced to a drizzle, but the sky still swirled with black clouds. Thunderstorms always helped her center and calm her thoughts; she hoped it would continue through the night. Nothing was more peaceful than curling up in her reading chair with a good book, a cup of tea, and her cat. That was exactly how she wanted to spend her evening after work.
Her phone dinged, and she picked it up without a moment of hesitation. Cayden’s message was short. Are you really going to see other people?
“Well, that was direct,” she muttered, replying, Yes, I will.
It was a complete lie.
I will too, then. Thanks, Lil. Hope work is good.
Something about the way he was so eager to see other people now, and his tone being almost passive- aggressive, annoyed her, but she knew it wouldn’t be wise to focus on it. She couldn’t ignore it completely, but right now she needed to eat lunch and get some work done before her next appointment. Time was ticking, and she had to go into the café sometime.
Not worrying about the rain, she stepped out of the car and slowly opened her umbrella. A little rain wouldn’t kill her; the cold drops felt good on her face. It made her feel human in a weird way. Still, she didn’t want her clothes to get soaked. Locking the car, she strolled to the café. In the eerie silence of the storm’s lull, time seemed to slow down.
Mechanically, she stood in line to order a latte and a panini just like she always did. She had gotten here just before the main lunch rush, so she had her pick of tables. The small one in the corner caught her eye; it was small enough that she wouldn’t have to share when the rush happened.
And that’s why you have no social life, Lillian, she thought sarcastically, but right now her hunger had grown to the point that she didn’t care.
While she waited for her food she tried to do some planning for her next appointment, but she couldn’t keep her attention on it to save her life. She tried answering emails, but couldn’t even read them without running her eyes over the same line twenty times without understanding.
Frustrated, she closed her laptop as a waiter set her latte down. She smiled sweetly and took a sip, afraid to mess up the lotus flower design in the foam. It was so pretty and perfect. Her mind shut off; her eyes locked on the foamy flower for an undetermined amount of time.
She blinked slowly, feeling the exhaustion from a sleepless night and her morning with Claire setting in. Sleep was getting harder and harder to ward off, but her da
y was far from over.
Her phone rang loudly, jolting her mind awake. Seizing it quickly so she wouldn’t be a bother to the other customers, she answered it before she could see who it was.
“Hello?” Her voice sounded grainy.
“Hello, hello, hello,” the caller rumbled into her ear, and immediately she knew who belonged to that deep smiling voice.
“Andrew!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been thinking about you lately. We must have some sort of telepathy going on.” Really, she had been thinking about his sister Amelia lately, but she didn’t want to ruin the mood. Even though Amelia had passed a few years ago Lillian and Andrew had only recently reconnected, and the wounds of losing her were still fresh.
“How’s it going, girl? Life treating you well?”
“You act like we haven’t seen each other in forever.”
“It has been forever. A few months, right?”
“A few months, forever, same thing.” Hearing the voice of her surrogate brother lifted her spirits exponentially. “How are you?”
“Good, good. I’m coming to your neck of the woods for business again. Just found out a couple of days ago and decided to call you up.”
Andrew coming into town was exactly what Lillian needed right now. Suffering from this breakup by herself was the worst, and since Andrew had met Cayden when he was in town last he would be able to understand where she was coming from. “When are you coming? You’ll stay with me, right?”
“Well...” Andrew trailed off. “So, as you already know, my higher-ups like to send me places at the drop of a hat. I’m actually already in town.”
Her heart thudded from excitement. “That’s perfect. Seriously.”
