A Thin Line by White DL

Author:White, DL [White, DL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-30T08:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

The evening passes in a shimmery fugue. I chatted with Nate's dad, met Morgan's grandfather. I remember the champagne toast and the speech that Preston gave, something about knowing both Nate and Morgan their whole lives, so he couldn't imagine anyone better for either of them.

I leave the way I came in, through the basement, to my car at the back of the house. I drive home in the same fog, slowly becoming aware that the words that fell from Preston's mouth were real. And while I have hoped for this moment for so long, the emotions I expected to feel as a reaction are a no show. Without the self-righteous anger and hurt, I feel disarmed and unprepared.

Maybe think about giving me another chance.

I pull into my parking spot and climb the steps to my apartment. As soon as I close the door, I hear a chime from inside the sparkling clutch. I grope for the hallway light and flip the switch, then zip open the purse and dig out my phone.

Preston Reid would like to begin a Facetime session with you. Click yes to participate.

With my heart slamming around in my chest, I press ‘yes'. The screen is dark but I make out Preston's face and shoulders. His jacket is off, his tie loosened and the first three buttons on his shirt are undone. He looks tired, but not in a bad way. His eyelids are drooping, halfway closed. His fingers have been in his hair. That, along with biting his fingernails, is something he does when he's nervous.

"You make it home okay?"

"Just now. Yes."

I walk to the living room and sit on the couch, holding the phone aloft so the screen stays on my face. I look harder at his image and realize he's not at home. He's in his car–that's why the screen is so dark. "You already knew that, didn't you?"

His smile is faint, a hint on his lips. "Maybe," he says.

"So you're going to sit outside my apartment all the time, now?"

"I don't sit outside your apartment all the time. I wanted to make sure you got home."

"Well, I'm home."

"So you are." He stares at me via the screen. I stare back. "So, tonight..."

I inhale a deep breath. Here we go… the part where he takes back everything he said because it was a mistake. And we move on with our lives because that's the way it should be.

"I uh... I don't want you to be freaked out. About what I said."

"About how you think you still love me?" He nods, briefly. A short bob of the head up and down. "What makes you think that, after all this time?"

"That night at my house. You were setting the table and everything was... so perfect. I felt like I was dreaming. You were beautiful and the table looked great and the whole scene...for a split second I let myself think, what if..."

He licks his lips. I watch his Adam's apple bob as he swallows a few times.

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