Together.
A knot formed in my stomach whenever I thought about it, and I thought about it often. Fantasized about it, to be more accurate. Hell, I’d even picked out a few outfits…
I was sitting in the coffee shop across from the office building when I felt the tap on my shoulder. It snapped me out of my daydream. Caused me turn and look over my shoulder… while Malcolm circled around the other side and slipped into the empty chair across from me.
“Hey,” he grinned, trying to sound casual. “I thought you said you didn’t want coffee?”
My face must’ve registered my extreme disappointment, because his smile faded almost instantly.
“No, I said I didn’t want to get coffee with you.”
Awkward silence followed. Awkward for him, anyway.
“Oh,” he said. “I just… I thought, you know, I saw you sitting here drinking coffee, and I figured—”
“What is it you want, Malcolm?”
Oddly enough, he looked entirely different than he had only a few weeks ago. He’d lost weight, and on Malcolm’s already-slender frame that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. He seemed twitchy, too. Fidgety. And there were dark circles under his eyes — circles I knew he got whenever he missed sleep. Beneath the circles, there were bags there too.
That’s new, I thought to myself absently.
“Well first I wanted to say I’m sorry,” he began, “about how we broke up. About how quickly I was… well, how fast I was willing to just let it all go.”
I nodded, looking bored. Hell, I was bored.
“That’s it? You’re sorry.”
“Yes.”
“Good, we’ve established that you’re sorry. Is that all?”
Wow, I sounded like a complete bitch!
“Well… no.”
“Then what else?”
Malcolm looked down at the table. He was struggling hard. His hands were moving in circles, for lack of anything to manipulate.
“Speak up,” I said, checking the time on my phone. “I have to be back soon.”
He swallowed, then cleared his throat before continuing. “Holly listen,” he said. “I think I made a mistake.”
A laugh tore its way from my throat. “A mistake?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s it, right? Just a little mistake?”
“Well, more like a big mistake. More like—”
I stood up and grabbed my stuff in one fluid motion, purse, bag and all.
“It was a mistake to come here,” I said, before stomping off.
Thirty-Three
HOLLY