Fuck, does everything have to remind me of him!?
Ever since the fair last night, I’ve been second guessing everything. Ibeggedhim to open up—and when he finally did, I still walked away.
The amount of times I replay that final moment, I can’t help but feel like I chose wrong,yet again.Why do I keep doing that?
“Did you remember your tent?” Dakota laughs.
“Hardy har, har. Very funny,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I really shouldn’t have told her all the details about how Brad and I got together. “Yeah, I got my tent.”
I’m leaving for the weekend to camp up north with Dakota, her cousin Jodie, and their friends. They were nice enough to invite me, and honestly, getting further away doesn’t feel so bad right now.
Not when every single second makes me miss Brad. And Paislee.
Although, driving down the street in my old car feelsnice. It’s good to finally have some freedom again after using my mom’s car and depending on Brad to get everywhere. I’ve missed having my own set of wheels. All those extra shifts at the bar really helped me save up quickly to get my car out of storage and tuned up.
Mymanager was kind enough to give me the month off for… personal reasons. I just need to figure out where I’m living when I get back from camping. Returning to that house would just be…too hard.
Huh, it’s funny, really.
Broke, bruised, and broken-hearted.
I really came full circle.
“Yo! You still there?” Dakota says into the speaker, snapping me out of my day dream.
“Yeah, sorry. I—” That’s when something red snags my attention.
I’m driving a little out of town, and it only hits me now that this is where Brad’s main office space, Stone & Creek, is. But, I know my mom's red hot Honda Civic anywhere, and that’s it. Which is confusing since it’s Friday, which means she’d usually be at home with Paislee while Brad is at work at the new lot. So why would her car behere?
Questions zip in and out of my mind as I try and piece it together but nothing makes sense.
“Sorry, can I call you back? I think I just saw something.”
“Yeah, for sure.”
I end the call, and turn into the office parking lot.
I’ve only been here a couple times with Brad, but it was typically to stop by quickly, report to Kev and be on the way out.
I park beside my mom's car and make my way inside the building. I’m not sure why…I just feel an overwhelming need to follow my intuition.
Something’s weird.
I can feel it the moment I enter the office space. Something feels off in the type of way that I feel when I watch scary horror movies.
Opening the front door, I pass through the frosted glass foyer and head toward the front desk.
Myeyebrows shoot up, as soon as I see Rebecca, the young front desk girl, sitting on the ground on a play mat with Paislee. Why would she be watching my little sister?
“Oh, hi Noah!” Rebecca offers a nervous, too-wide smile.
“Hey.” I don’t hide my confusion. I crouch down and tickle Paislee on the cheek as she crawls on her little blanket, gnawing on her favorite teething ring.
“My mom here?” I ask her.
Rebecca's mouth opens and shuts, gaze flicking toward the hallway. “Yeah, she’s in Kevin’s office.” Her voice is small, like she’s hoping I’ll just go and stop asking questions.
Swallowing deeply, I stand up and start heading towards the back. A mixture of emotions storm my gut but I push through it.
