The last time I saw Tomas in person, he flew into Miami and spent New Year’s weekend with me.
That was two years ago.
The last time I saw him in person and not in a video chat.
From that point on, when I tried to talk him into coming for a visit, there were always—legitimate, mind you—excuses because of work. And he tried to get me to come home for visits.
I mean, to Maudlin Falls.
But it wasn’t reallymyhome anymore. I usually had cases and clients that kept me too busy to get away for a visit, and the time simply…got away from me.
We never really broke up. We just sort of paused and never restarted. There were no angry words, no recriminations, no hurtful things said that were impossible to take back.
No real closure.
The frequent video chats and phone calls slowly shifted to calls and texts, which transitioned into texts and e-mails.
And then…
One day, over a week had gone by since I realized I hadn’t heard anything from him. Then another.
And another.
I guess I was afraid to push for fear he’d bring up a finite conclusion.
In some ways, if we didn’t have closure, it would mean we were still…
Well,us.
Hell, I still have keys to his house. Unless he’s changed the locks since I was last here.
He did tell me when I moved that if I found someone else he’d understand. But…
Yeah.
Hell, I haven’t even slept any other guys. Not for a lack of trying on Freddy’s part, either. I always had excuses—sometimes legitimate ones—for not doing the deed with my partners.
Especially Freddy.
Which was another reason I broke up with Freddy. He gave me an ultimatum about wanting to sleep together and I told him he was free to move on to greener pastures, hoping he’d take me up on the offer and spare me having to do it, because I knew he’d then be a pain in my butt.
I wasn’t that lucky and had to drop the hammer when he immediately backtracked and tried to sweet-talk his way into my bed since I proved immune to his relationship version of “shock and awe.”
Now, on my personal phone, I have his calls set to ignore them so they go to voice mail. Unless it’s something to do with work, I’ve refused to talk to him since I ended things with him. And I won’t talk to him outside of the office, either.
Unfortunately, that means any time I’m in the Miami office, he’s practically stalking me and shows up all the time. He keeps begging me to get back together and I keep telling him no.
I think part of Freddy’s problem about not moving on is that he’s never had someone tell him no before, and now he sees me as a challenge to conquer.
Closing my eyes, I slowly inhale, letting the sweet smell of freshly mown grass mix with the pleasantly sharp pine and it brings back so many memories.
I can only pray new memories might soon follow. But before I can approach Tomas, I need to finish this job and clear it from my plate.
Before I fall apart, in case Tomas tells me to go to hell.
Chapter Five
Tomas
