Christmas With The Ice Queen by Clara Reese

Author:Clara Reese [Reese, Clara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: clarareese.com
Published: 2020-12-02T23:00:00+00:00

15

Adriana

“Where’s your better half?” Katherine asked, as we sat across from each other in the coffee shop. Katherine and I had agreed to meet each other as a pseudo-work meeting, each of us with our laptops open as we stared at our respective charts and graphs. Although Katherine’s work had a lot more to do with software than the stock market, her pen tapping against the desk as she stared down at her screen.

“She’s out with my sister,” I answered with a small smile. “Kelly roped her into going Christmas shopping this morning.”

“Been there, done that,” Katherine replied, lightly laughing as she spoke. “So glad I finally picked up all the gifts for my family. I wouldn’t be caught dead trying to pick off what’s left on the shelves this time of year. And if you had to shop for a kid or something? Forget about it. Everything good is already gone. You hope you can pick something up on eBay at this point.”

“Is that something you’ve been thinking about?”

“What? Shopping for gifts on eBay?”

“Having kids,” I clarified.

And Katherine frowned as she looked over at me. “Is that something you’ve been thinking about? Is that just where we are now? We casually talk about kids like it’s no big deal?”

“I… don’t think I’m ready for all that just yet,” I admitted.

“Well, if you were,” Katherine started. “You’d probably be in a good space to do it, right? I mean, you have more money than you can count. And your girlfriend seems really sweet, too, even if she is a little on the shy side.”

“Yeah. Right.” I nodded before I brought my attention down to my laptop. I tried and failed to keep my expression from shifting between somber and blank, hoping that Katherine wouldn’t have noticed the shift. I then sank a little into my seat, trying even harder to not be seen, trying to shrink myself away from her as I thought about the reality of the situation.

I considered how Mary wasn’t really mine, no matter how much I wanted her to be.

Suddenly, I heard Katherine snap her own laptop shut. “Wait.”

“Wait?” I was startled by how loudly she closed her laptop, my attention going right back to her. “What’s going on?”

“I saw the look on your face just now, Adriana,” Katherine continued. “I can tell that something’s wrong, that you’re keeping something from me.”

“And what exactly would that be?” I pressed.

“I have no idea.” Katherine leaned toward me from across the table. “But I’m getting the feeling that you’re lying to me, too.”

“What makes you think I’m lying to you about something, Katherine?”

“Adriana, I’ve been able to read you like an open book since the sixth grade,” she stated, her tone calm. “Now, my Lie-o-Meter might just be broken, because we’ve spent so much time apart, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.”

“Katherine…” I paused for a moment, internally debating about whether I was going to confess the truth. On the one hand, it was going to

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.