I missed him so much.
I didn’t see him at work, which was a good thing and a bad thing. The last time I saw him, he left the car and slammed the door behind him. It was a different kind of anger, a ferocity that Calloway rarely showed.
I knew he was truly pissed at me.
Even if I wanted him back, there was a possibility he might not take me.
At the end of the day on Friday, I walked to the elevator and checked a message on my phone.
Christopher texted me. Wanna get dinner?
I hardly had an appetite as it was, especially this early in the evening. How about a walk through the park instead?
No. You need to eat. I’ll meet you at the pizza place.
I shoved my phone in my pocket as I walked into the elevator.
And joined Calloway.
I hadn’t even noticed he was there, let alone holding the door open for me.
He pulled his arm back so the doors would close then hit the button for the lobby. His hands were in his pockets, and he stared at the numbers as we descended to the bottom floor. He didn’t seem angry or sad. In fact, he seemed indifferent.
I didn’t feel the usual tension between us, the fiery chemistry that always erupted anytime we were near each other. All I felt was nothing—from him. He didn’t glance at me. He didn’t make conversation.
He just stood there.
The doors opened, and he walked out first. “Have a good weekend, Ms. Moretti.” He spoke to me like he would to any other employee, like I was someone he would forget about the second he was out of the building.
I was so hurt that I stayed in the elevator. I watched the doors slide closed and felt the elevator move back to the top of the building. More people filed in, and the elevator moved up and down, taking people where they needed to go.
I stood there because I didn’t know what to do.
I had nowhere to go.
Christopher was already there with the small pizza in front of him. He hadn’t waited for me to arrive before he started. He took a bite, and the cheese stretched between his mouth and the slice that was still in his hand.
I slid into the booth across from him, unable to eat anything even if I had a gun pointed to my head.
Christopher knew there was something seriously wrong the second he looked at me. “Rome, what is it?” He dropped the pizza back onto the plate, the cheese still stuck to his fingers. He quickly wiped his hands with a napkin.
“Nothing.”
“Rome, you look like shit. It’s not nothing.” He pushed the pizza off to the side, along with the plates and the sodas. “Talk to me.”
“I just saw Calloway… I’ve never seen him be so cold.”
Christopher knew about my last interaction with Calloway. He didn’t have much to say at the time. When it came to my personal life, he didn’t express his opinion like he did for everything else. “What did you expect to happen?”
“I don’t know…it just hurt.”
“Well, that’s what people do when they break up. They hate each other and move on with their lives.”
“I don’t hate Calloway.” I never could, even if I wanted to. “And he doesn’t hate me either.”
“He’s probably just tired of everything. Eager to move on.”
That was the exact impression I got.
Christopher no longer gave me sympathy the way he used to. “Rome, this is the moment of truth. You’ve got to do something now, or let him walk away for good. Is losing him really worth your stubbornness?”
“I’m not stubborn—”
“Yes, you are,” he said coldly. “Either do something about Calloway, or move on with your life. I’m not trying to be an ass here. But you can’t keep moping around over this guy if you’re the reason you aren’t together. He already tried to make it work, but it was too difficult. Now it’s your turn.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Because it is easy,” he snapped. “You love the guy, or what?”
“Of course…” I would never love another man the way I loved him.
“Then you really need to think about your next move. You’re running out of time. Honestly, you probably are out of time.”
“You think…?”
He nodded. “I’m sure he went back to his old ways the second he got out of the car. I would have done the same.”
I hated picturing Calloway with other women. It wasn’t about jealousy, only heartbreak. He was the man I loved, and even after everything we’d been through, I still felt exactly the same way.
Christopher shook his head slightly as he stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He pulled the pizza back to the center of the table and handed me my drink. “Looks like there’s nothing else to talk about.”
13
Calloway
I didn’t think about Rome anymore.