“Sort of. We were together for two years and had a messy breakup early last year. Had a lot of stuff to split, so it went through the courts. Now she’s having a change of heart and feels justified in cheating on me. No matter how many times I tell her it’s over, and it’s been over for a long time, she just won’t listen.”
“She cheated on you?” The warmth from Calliope suddenly seems to vanish as she returns to the table in front of me and carefully opens the container of ruined pastries. “That must have sucked.”
My brow twitches slightly. There’s something about her words that catches me off guard, like a coldness has suddenly swept in and laced her tone with ice. “Yeah it was… pretty horrible.”
“Cheating is irredeemable," she mutters, swiping her finger along the edge of one tart. After gathering it on her fingertip, she lifts it to her lips and sucks it off.
I watch her, utterly transfixed, and nod. “I agree.”
“You do?” Her eyes snap to me, and I look away quickly, not wanting her to see how intently I was staring at her.
“Of course I do.”
“Interesting.” Calliope picks the small tart out of the case and takes a bite.
Interesting? Was she cheated on? I don’t want to ask her outright as the topic is clearly uncomfortable for her, but something fuels me to keep prying subtly. “Is that what happened with Nick’s father?”
She pauses her eating and stares down at the pastry in her hands. “Not exactly.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Calliope shrugs, popping the last bite into her mouth. “It’s fine. He’s just not around because he had better things to do.”
“A disgrace,” I mutter. “Walking out on your kid is lower than low. I can’t stomach the thought of a man who would do that.” I glance up, and Calliope’s staring at me with the strangest look on her face. It’s an odd mix between curiosity and disbelief, but there’s something else there that I can’t put my finger on. “He’s missing out, that’s for sure.”
“You think so?” Calliope finally looks away and moves to the sink, pulling paper towels out of the dispenser and cleaning excess cream from her hands.
“Yeah…” I stand slowly, ignoring the pulse of pain from my head, and approach her. “Calliope… that night at the conference… I know I’d only known you for such a short time, but it was the best night of my life. So one night with you, like that, tells me all I need to know about how incredible you are, and he’s a fool for?—”
“Don’t,” Calliope snaps suddenly, balling up the paper towel in her fist. “We can’t talk about that.”
“Why not? It happened.”
“I know. But you can’t say a thing. Not here. Not anywhere.”
Is she worried people will find out? Or… something else. “Do you regret it? If I’m reminding you of a bad time, then… I’m sorry.” In my selfish enjoyment of her presence, it never crossed my mind that she might not look back fondly on our time together. Maybe for her, it was awful.
“No.” Calliope frowns, and while she’s angled away from me, she lifts her head and our eyes lock. “I… I don’t regret it. It was one of the best nights of my life.”
Excitement suddenly explodes through my chest, lifting my heart rate and sending heat flushing through my body. She remembers. And she remembers fondly. “It was?”
Her lips purse briefly. “It was. But… we’re different people now, Elijah. So we shouldn’t talk about it. It’s in the past.”
I step forward and she raises her hand, pressing her palm flat to my chest to keep me away, but there’s no resistance when I continue to lean forward. “I know. It was six years ago and it was a long time ago. We’re different people, but I can’t hide that ever since running into you again, I’ve felt… different. I never thought I’d see you again and suddenly, here you are. That has to mean something.”
“Elijah, you can’t just…”
Fearing she’s about to turn me down, I surge forward with barely a thought and gently place my lips over hers as I curl my finger under her chin and lift her head an inch. The moment we kiss, my mind goes quiet and a deep, blissful sensation pulls through my body like warm taffy. The sweetness of the lingering creamon her lips mingles with a taste that’s all her, a taste that’s achingly familiar and unlocks every single detail of our night together all these years ago.
Calliope’s fingers curl against my chest and then she’s kissing me back. She lightly presses upward, pushing into the kiss, and her eyes flutter closed. I join her in that blissful darkness and slide my hand from her chin to gently cup the side of her face.
A kiss is all it takes.
A kiss will ignite everything again, will remind her that I?—
She suddenly pulls away and her palm collides with my cheek in a sharp slap that leaves my face and tongue fuzzy with a stinging sensation. My eyes snap open and I stare at her hurriedly retreating back.
What the hell was that?
