She was right, I couldn’t. My brain was telling me to be honest about last night. But we weren’t together, so my heart was yelling at me not to tell her. It would start an unnecessary fight.
She didn’t give me time to decide.
“You’ve answered my question with your silence,” she said as she walked away and got in her bed. Her words cut me. They were full of sadness and disappointment.
Classic Chase. I knew that was what she was thinking.
She was on her side, curled up under a quilt, looking like she wanted to disappear. I climbed in behind her, but gave her the space I knew she wanted.
“Mare,” I said. She didn’t move, so I went on. “I think there’s more to you not kicking me out last night.”
She spun around, ready to say something. To yell something.
“Let me finish,” I said.
The frosty look she sent my way was almost enough to shut me up. When she looked away, I took my chance and kept going.
“I’m here, with you, because you’re worth it. You’re worth any and every fight we might have. You’re worth any and every bouquet I need to buy. You’re worth every word I wrote in that letter. More importantly, you’re worth every minute I get to spend with you. So, yeah, I camped out waiting for you. Did I think he was going to walk you to your door? No way. I thought it would only be you and we could talk. That we could talk about the note I put with the flowers. That was my intention for being here last night.”
There was silence. No yelling, but silence. I wasn’t sure which was better, to be honest. She still wouldn’t look at me.
“Do you know that Garrett had to help me get you from the hall onto my couch?”
That pissed me off. I mean, I guess that made him a better man than me. It made me angry that I got so drunk I needed help from another guy. The guy she would have preferred to be with.
My instinct was to tell her what I thought of him. That he was using her to network and get his foot in the door with PFA. But if I did that, she’d be madder at me, so I kept my thoughts about him to myself.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for all of it. I shouldn’t have had that much to drink.” The pain in my head was a constant reminder of that.
“Why were you that drunk, Chase?” she asked.
Now I was faced with a dilemma. Being honest so far has been working.
“Because I knew you were on a date, and I didn’t want to think about you being with another guy.”
Now I got the look, and it wasn’t a good one.
“What?” she cried. “There are two things wrong with that statement. First…” The blankets flew onto me as she launched herself out of bed. “How the hell did you know I was on a date? And second, what business of yours is it if I’m with someone? Especially with all the girls going in and out of your office all the time.”
“Mare, I didn’t mean it like that.” But she didn’t care.
She stormed away, but with nowhere to go, she stomped back to her kitchen. Once at the refrigerator, she tore the door open, peered inside then shoved it closed.
“I have no food,” she said.
My tentative steps were quiet enough that she didn’t hear me coming up behind her. As I wrapped my arms around her, she jumped.
“I like that we’re talking,” I whispered in her ear.
“You call this talking?” She whipped around, out of my hold.
“Hold that thought, whatever you’re about to say, hold on to it. What we’re doing is good. Let’s keep doing it. How about I run to the bakery on the corner and get us some breakfast?”
She didn’t want to say yes or agree with me, but she did. I grabbed my coat and went for the door.
Once outside, I took off running to the bakery down the street. I didn’t want to be long for fear we would lose our momentum. Unfortunately, the line had other plans for me once I stepped inside. It gave me time to decide what to get us, which I did a horrible job with. Once it was my turn to order, I almostordered one of everything. Then I panicked when ordering her coffee and feared I got it wrong.
Caramel nonfat latte with almond milk.
