Then I grabbed some tissues and tried to breathe. How could Leif not have told me that he was moving? Or at least, was supposed to? That was a pretty big deal.
There was no way he should decide to stay here on my account. And certainly not with a deadline to make his decision of just a few weeks. It was ludicrous.
I’d never felt so absolutely wounded before. Yet I refused to waste the entire day crying about a man.
Even a gorgeous, sweet, sexy man who had made me feel more in one very long weekend than I had ever felt in my entire life.
Forcing myself to dry my eyes, I got up and made a sandwich, then sat on the couch with my laptop.
One of my dreams was to become a writer for the magazine someday, but that began with finishing my last classes. Well, time to get cracking.
By the time I went to bed, I’d finished the first draft of my paper, and completed the last two modules of my course.
I’d have to double check my work tomorrow. I didn’t trust myself in this mental state to have done a good job. Crawling into bed, I knew I wasn’t going to sleep well, even though I’d hoped to exhaust myself so that I would.
It was ridiculous that I already missed sleeping with Leif. How sad that last night was the best sleep of my life, and I might not ever see him again.
Tossing and turning, with the sheets tangled around me, there was no way to tell if I was overreacting. But from what little I knew about relationships, lying was pretty massive.
A tiny voice in the back of my mind kept whispering, “It wasn’t lying, it was just neglecting to tell you something right away. Maybe he was just waiting.”
That sounded l ike an excuse to me, but of course I wanted to make excuses for him. He was incredible in every possible way. That could be why I was so fearful. How could a girl like me possibly hope to keep a guy like him for the long run?
Sleep finally found me, and I woke up to a beeping alarm.
Knowing what I was going to have to face today, I put on one of my nicest outfits, and took some extra time doing my hair and make up. Not only was it going to be very busy at work since we had had Friday off, but also I was going to have to deal with Craig at some point. I just didn’t know what I was going to do about it.
I used Leif’s trick of going out to the back door, but peaked around the edge of the building. Sure enough, Craig’s car was out front.
And by the time I got to work, he was already there.
I was used to seeing his car parked a few buildings away every day as I walked into the office. Today he was parked right out front, and was actually standing outside, leaning against the brick wall of my building.
Even though I didn’t really want to admit it, maybe Leif was right. Maybe confronting him would get a better result than simple avoidance. Especially since that hadn’t been working for the past month. And recently he was getting braver and coming closer.
I walked up to him, standing on his other side, away from the door. I certainly didn’t want my coworkers to hear any of this.
As always, Craig was wearing black suit pants and a dark blue button down shirt. It was like his uniform. On our one coffee chat, he said that a man needed to dress so that he’d be ready for anything. At the time I wondered if he was being clever, but now I knew he was simply a loser who always stuck with the same thing because he was uncreative.
Now that I took a closer look, I realized how desperate he was. Always trying to impress people. Like his so-called classic car, which, more likely, was the only one he could afford. I would never judge a man for wearing cheap shoes, but it didn’t sit well when he was trying to put on airs.
“Hey, pretty lady,” he drawled. “Are you finally ready to talk to me?”
“No. I need you to listen.” His eyes widened at my unmistakably annoyed tone of voice. “If I ever catch you hovering around me again, I’m calling the police.”
His smug smile made me want to slap him. But then he came closer, placing his hands on the wall on either side of my ears, completely caging me in.
He leaned in, his breath seeming to steal my air. “Really? What kind of mark will you get in your French class if you’ve sent the department head’s son to jail?”
My heart raced like a rabbit as my vision began to swim.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. If I screamed, would my coworkers hear me? Probably not, through two sets of glass doors.
Craig’s hand lowered to my shoulder, as his thumb brushed along my throat. “We’re going to be so good together, Hayden.”
My eyes shut as I wished I could cringe even farther away. My pounding pulse was choking me. His breath on my face was nauseating, and I needed oxygen. Everything was too hot as my stomach clenched.
There was a slight whoosh of air, then his hand was gone.