Page 76 of Rewrites of the Heart

“That was it,” his mother said.

“Mom, I’ve got to go.” And he ended the call and stood.

“Rain, what a surprise.” He swallowed hard when he saw his former girlfriend, dressed in a skin-tight T-shirt and black leather jacket.

She ran up to him, embraced him, and planted a kiss on his unsuspecting lips. He resisted as she tried to maneuver him.

“Rain, what the hell are you doing?” He hoped she understood him, because her lips wouldn’t let go of his.

“I’ve missed you, honey. I want to get back together.”

He understood the words only too well. He tried to separate himself from her, but she was amazingly strong for such a small person. As he squirmed to get out of her grip, he lost his balance and fell on the pile of term papers and took Rain down with him. She lay there without apparently making an effort to get up.

****

“I know he’s been busy grading papers practically nonstop,” JJ told Alex and Blake as they walked to Kenn’s office. “I bet he can use a Physics Café break.”

“What the hell is going on? Who the hell is she?” JJ pointed at the woman dressed in biker apparel.

“JJ, meet—” Blake began.

Alex bopped him on the back of the head.

“What?” Blake rubbed his head.

The woman jumped up and adjusted her T-shirt.

“This must look horrible,” Kenn said, as he tried to climb his way out of the mess of midterm essays. His companion looked startled.

JJ marched toward the two and shoved the woman out of her way to get closer to Kenn. The woman lost her balance and tried to grasp the desk to break her fall. It proved useless. She toppled to the floor.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the woman said. She ignored her as she glared at Kenn.

Once again, Blake tried to introduce the two, but Alex stopped him. “Well, they haven’t been properly introduced.”

Kenn finally got to his feet. That allowed JJ to get into his face. Well, as close to his face as she could, considering the height difference.

“What were you doing? Who is this…this…” She glanced at the other woman and finally decided on a nondescript term. “…person?”

Involuntary tears swelled in her eyes. Her breathing became shallow. She glared. She opened her mouth to say something but realized no words could express the pain in her heart. She slapped him in the face, turned on a heel, and dashed out of the office.

She had no idea where she was headed; she just wanted to get as far away from that man as quickly as possible.

“Come on, Blake,” she heard Alex say, “we’ve got to follow her.”

She wanted to be alone. For the rest of her life.

Chapter 51

“Go away,” JJ said when she saw Alex and Blake. She was already working on her second latte. Confused, bewildered, and feeling betrayed after what she witnessed, she wasn’t sure where to turn.

She stopped momentarily at her office, but it was too small to contain her anger. She didn’t want to go home. Not yet, at least. She needed a neutral location where she could think things out.

Okay, so perhaps the Physics Café wasn’t that neutral of a location considering the amount of time she had spent there with that man. But it beat out every other place. Besides, here she could drown herself in coffee.

She just wanted to be alone. That was why having her creations standing in front of her was so annoying. Against her better judgment, she signaled for them to sit down.

Just at that moment, Dr. Chare and Rain walked in. JJ’s eyes widened and her muscles tensed.

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