Page 320 of Now and Forever

Callum: Does he make you happy?

Derek was great, for some time. That was until he went berserk with his relentless pursuit to get my virginity out of the way.

Me: He did at one point.

Callum: Now, what about now?

I had no idea. All I knew was that I was in love to a man who didn’t want it because his heart belonged to her, his Zara. If this was his attempt to make sure that my dating life was great so he wouldn’t feel a tad guilty, then he was fine. He had nothing to worry about. I was fine without him.

Me: I’ll know soon enough.

I stared at my phone for a full minute, waiting for his reply, but when I didn’t get one, I convinced myself that he had only been feeling obligated towards me.

So, I tried to mask my hurt and delved into work.

An hour later, he finally responded.

Callum: I miss you, S.

“Oh God!” I freaked. “No need to have a panic attack, so calm down.” I coached myself to breathe evenly. This was Callum after all; it could mean so many things. I miss you might be different in his terms. “Yeah, he was used to having me around. So, don’t get yourself affected, Stella. Just fucking don’t or you’ll be fucked,” I repeated to myself until I released the phone and didn’t bother replying to his message.

It was bad, but his words never left me. Even when I went on the date with Derek, Callum was in the back of my mind. I hated how affected I was with his words.

Yet I was determined to move on, broken heart be damned.

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