Page 9 of Awaiting

‘Well, that was brazen.’Alex’s eyebrows lifted.

“I’m not sure we’re both on the same page,” she said.

“We’re not?” Teresa asked, leaning toward Alex a bit. “Do you not want to?”

“It’s our second date, Teresa.”

“I see; you’re more traditional,” the woman replied, leaning back.

“I don’t have much of an option. I need to be careful. You understand.”

“So, you’re traditional by force, not by choice?”

“It’s a little of both, I suppose,” Alex said.

“Well, I don’t mind waiting.” Teresa winked at her.

An hour later, Alex made an excuse that she was tired, gave Teresa a quick kiss on the cheek, and saw her out. Shewastired – the match had been long and hard-fought. But Alex also wasn’t in the mood for entertaining. Teresa was nice, and, under different circumstances, Alex wouldn’t have minded taking her to bed, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Alice’s phone call. Bexley had been single for months now. Alex hadn’t thought much about the fact that one day, she wouldn’t be. They were worlds apart, the two of them. As a result, Alex hadn’t ever had any actual hope that they’d end up together in the end. She hadn’t allowed herself that. But now, her heart was racing as she closed the door behind her date, and it wasn’t racing because of Teresa. It was racing because Bexley would be in Kleinland for three months.

Alice was right: the flight between their countries was a short one, and Alex could come up with any number of excuses to spend some time in Kleinland. It was even easier now that Alice was married to Nora, and they had their children. Those initial rumors about Alice and Alex had long ago died down, and no one seemed to care that they were friends these days.

But Alice was right about the other thing, too. The easy part was Alex flying to Kleinland. The hard part would be telling Bexley how she felt – or, at least, asking her out on a date. One date. It was all Alex wanted. One chance. Maybe one handhold. Possibly one really long, perfect kiss at the end of the night. Alex smiled at the thought of having those moments with Bexley. Then, she went into her bedroom, pulled out her phone, and reviewed her schedule.

CHAPTER 4

“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to call,” Bexley spoke into the phone.

“I know you said you’d call me, but I just found out my last patient of the day canceled, the surgery I had scheduled for tomorrow morning isn’t happening, and I’m actually caught up on paperwork, so… I don’t know what to do with myself. I was thinking about stopping at Cups & Cakes to pick up a few of your favorites. I can grab that white wine you like at the store next door and come by your place around seven if you can grab something for dinner,” Holly rambled.

Bexley hadn’t texted or called Holly back yet. She’d been meaning to, but things had gotten busier with work now that she was leaving for a while. She was really excited about spending so much time in Kleinland. For one, she’d be staying at a palace. Also, one of her best friends would be there. And, of course, the babies would only be this little for so long, so she wanted to spend more time with them.

On top of that, she was possibly most excited about getting her hands dirty again and helping to educate the next generation of speech pathologists. This was such a unique opportunity, and there was no way she’d be passing it up. The center had given her the sabbatical when she’d requested, mainly because they’d worked so hard to get her into the role, and Bexley was lucky. She had a little clout now and could get away with stuff like this. She knew she needed to tell Holly that she’d be gone for a few months, but she still hadn’t figured out how to address it.

If she told Holly that she was leaving and that they could pick up the conversation about them getting back together when she got back, Holly could take that the wrong way – like Bexley didn’t like her enough to try to do long-distance while she was gone. On the other hand, if Bexley told the woman that she didn’t think they should get back together, that would be the end of it, and she still wasn’t sure if she wanted that, either.

“I can grab burgers,” she finally replied to Holly.

“Burgers and cupcakes? That is such a good idea. I’ll buy the cheap wine,” Holly offered.

Bexley laughed lightly and said, “I have beer.”

“You know I don’t like the beer you drink. I’ll buy some real beer for myself,” Holly teased.

“What? I like light beer,” Bexley defended herself playfully.

“Yeah, I know. If we’re eating all those calories tonight, we might as well drink some, too. Want to go crazy with me tonight, Bex?”

Bexley recalled all the fun they used to have together, and she missed that – she missed Holly when she was like this.

“Let’s play it by ear,” she said cautiously.

“I’ll be there around seven, okay?”

“See you then.”

???

“So, you’ve got strawberry and vanilla, and I’ve got coffee and salted caramel,” Holly told her.

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