That the two of them were meant to be together.
And he hoped with all his might it would be enough.
Chapter 24
Kallie
With the plane ride and the time difference, Kallie was about to get a lot of work out of the way. So much so that the rest of the work she had to get done could be finished from her apartment. Which meant she could take a few days to recuperate from Bali before going back into her office. Kallie was exhausted. She could barely keep her eyes open. She had clients pouring into her inbox and blowing up her office phone to schedule new client meetings, but she would have to put them off until Monday. She needed rest. She needed to recuperate. She needed to catch up on all of the stuff she put off while helping Ash before she could take on anything new.
But when she walked into her apartment, she was met with a heavy silence.
Her place felt cold. Empty. Lackluster after her adventure on the sunswept island. She locked her door behind her and dropped her stuff beside her couch, mustering up just enough energy to pull on some pajamas. She grabbed her phone and buried herself within her blankets, then wiggled underneath her covers. Completely blanketed from the world, she texted Eris, apologizing profusely for not keeping in contact while she was in Bali.
But she figured, since Eris hadn’t called her either, that she was too tangled up in Jeremy to care.
Kallie placed her silenced phone on her dresser and slipped off into a deep slumber. But when her dreams arose, the only person that took them over was Ash. She dreamed of being in his arms again. Of walking the Bali coast hand in hand with him. Of feeling his body rock against hers underneath the moonlight as he gazed into her eyes.
She woke up with a wetness between her legs and a heart that ached more than she’d ever known.
Kallie picked up her phone and saw a slew of text messages from Eris. Everything from “no need to be sorry” to “why the hell aren’t you messaging back.” She picked up her phone and shot a quick message back, saying she’d fallen asleep.
Then she put her phone down and fell right back into her slumbered state.
Ash’s face plagued her all weekend. And all weekend, she did nothing but wallow in self-pity. She wondered why Ash had to come back to the city. She wondered if he was okay. She thought about Bali and the beautiful shoreline and the luxurious foods and how wonderful it felt to be against Ash’s body. She’d felt strong in that place. Desired. Important. But she didn’t feel any of those things in her apartment.
She didn’t feel any of those things in the city.
Every time she walked into her bathroom, she couldn't muster the strength to clean herself up. So instead, she’d slip back into bed and fall back into her dreams. Returning back to the lost, lonely, isolated woman she had become. It made her see the city differently. It made her see her life differently. Maybe her business was a crutch. Something that was crippling her instead of helping her. Maybe Ash was right. Maybe New York City was nothing but a noose around people’s necks.
All she knew was her apartment didn’t bring her the happiness it used to.
And she was regretting her decision to come back.
The grease gathered in her hair and her body began to stink. Her sheets reeked of an odor she’d never smelled before. Kallie’s eyes opened on Sunday morning to a heavy banging at her door, which only caused her to wrap herself farther into her comforter.
“I’m taking down this damn door if you don’t open it, Kallie.”
Eris.
Of course it was Eris.
Kallie slid from her bed and dragged herself to the door. And the second she opened it, Eris recoiled. She watched her best friend crinkle her nose before she swept her eyes up and down Kallie’s body.
“Did you die in here?” Eris asked.
“Just recuperating,” Kallie said.
“No. You’re not recuperating. You’re dying. Rotten bodies smell better than you do right now. Come on. You’re taking a shower and I’m ordering takeout.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Your hollowed-out cheeks tell me otherwise. Get in the damn shower.”
The hot water felt good, but not as good as the cool ocean waves. Nothing about he
r apartment could ever hold a candle to what Ash showed her on the island. And her pathetic shower only reminded her of what she’d turned down. Kallie washed her hair and cleaned the days’ worth of dirt from her body, then grabbed a sundress from the closet and threw it on.
She didn’t even bother to put on a bra.