“Enjoy your evening.” The lady smiles.
“Thank you,” I squeak, heading for the door at a fast clip.
Unfortunately, Sutton catches up to me easily. “So, you just gonna head home now, or did you want to do something else?”
“I think I’m gonna go.” I point over my shoulder.
“Where do you live?”
Like I’m going to tell you!
I smile at him, knowing I should be thanking him for the date. But I can’t. I cannot make those words come out of my mouth!
“You seem in a hurry.”
“I…” Giving him an edgy smile, I keep walking backward away from him, needing to create as much distance as possible. “I… just need to get home.”
“Okay, well…” He flicks his hand in the air. “I guess I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah, maybe.” I nod and spin away, riled beyond belief.
He didn’t even thank me for dinner.
What a putz!
Clipping down the sidewalk, I wrap my arms around myself, hunching my shoulders against the cool breeze. It’s April now, but the wind still has a brisk edge to it at this time of night.
I really shouldn’t be walking home by myself in the dark, but I just need a minute.
I’ll order an Uber soon… once I’m a good block away from Sutton.
Ugh!
That date was the worst!
Sudden tears blind me, and I stutter to a stop, blinking in surprise.
“I am not going to cry over that asshole!” I growl.
That’s not why you’re crying.
I sniff, blinking at my stupid tears and letting the sorrow I’ve been holding at bay flood me.
I’m supposed to be moving on with my life—letting Atlas go.
It took so much courage to go on that date, and it was a complete fail!
Swiping a tear off my cheek, I try to swallow past the swelling in my throat. I don’t want to cry. I want to be strong. Brave.
But I just miss him so much.
Everything was so easy with Atlas.
Not always. It got hard in those last couple of years.
I snap my eyes shut, not wanting to think about those tumultuous times. I just want to focus on the good stuff—our first date, our first kiss, our first time. I want to remember the hours of singing and laughter and play. I want to relive those times we’d lie on my bed, our fingers intertwined as we dreamed about our future together.
We had it all mapped out.
