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1052 Words
“I don’t know…” I let my voice trail off as I looked around the apartment. “This is nice.”
He laughed. “This is the life you gave up to move to New York.”
“And I think I made a mistake.”
“Then just tell James that. I’m sure he’d be willing to move back here. He never sold his apartment.”
“He didn’t?” Maybe I could stay there. It wasn’t the independent life I wanted, but it would give me some time to get back on my feet. And there was no reason for him to look there for me. He didn’t know where I was. “Well, I could stay there instead of here then. Where is it?”
“Top floor.”
“Of this apartment building?”
“Yup.”
“Interesting.”
He smiled. “And why is that?”
“You just don’t look like the type of person that would like the same kind of apartment as James Hunter.”
“I do alright for myself, Penny.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, obviously you do.” I gestured around the apartment. When I lived on campus, these apartments were being sold for millions. They were most certainly not intended for students. “I just mean you look more…real.”
“I don’t know whether that’s a compliment or an insult.” He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table. It was just further proof that I was right. James would probably never get caught dead with his elbows on the table.
“It’s definitely a compliment.”
He shook his head. “James is probably worried sick about you. I think I should give him a call.”
“You promised you wouldn’t.”
“Well…I didn’t pinky promise.”
I laughed. “You know, I thought about asking you to do that, but stopped myself because it seemed so childish. But that’s the problem. I don’t feel like a grown up.” Besides for the fact that I get tired more easily. It must have been a symptom of old age that I wasn’t used to. I touched my stomach. It was significantly less bloated than it had been in the hospital, but it definitely wasn’t back to normal. And then there were the unexplained scars. I wanted to know what had happened to me. “You do pretty well for yourself, right?”
He looked taken aback by the change of topic. “I do.”
“Okay, here’s the new agreement. I’ll let you call James and tell him I was here. If you take me to see a doctor. And if you give me…$500 and a 12 hour head start before you call him.” I stuck out my hand.
“Why do you want to go to the doctor? You were just in the hospital for weeks.”
“No one would tell me what happened.” I kept my hand outstretched.
“I’m not letting you go to California alone.”
“Then come with me.”
He laughed.
“I’m serious. We had something once, I know we did. This can be our fresh start.”
“James is my friend, Penny.”
And my husband. So why didn’t I feel as guilty as he seemed to? “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“No deal. And I’m calling James.” He stood up from his chair.
“Melissa told me that once I made a pro-con list between choosing you and James. You won. Hands down. And I have no idea why I didn’t listen to my list. I love lists. I make them all the time. All I can guess is that I lost my freaking mind when I stopped being a teenager. Or James drugged me. Or…I don’t know. But I should have chosen you. This is where I want to live, not some stupid, loud, crowded, gross city. And you’re my type, not him. Never in my wildest dreams did anyone like James make an appearance. I swear there is nothing left for me in New York.”
“I think 20 year old you was smarter than you realize. And I’m positive that you never liked me all that much.”
“I disagree. I’m pretty sure that I did. I must have, I mean look at you. And I know you loved me once too. Tyler, I…”
“Tyler?” He started laughing. “Wow, this makes so much more sense now.” He shook his head. “My name is Brendan. We shared two kisses, years ago. And I promise, you never loved me. Not even a little bit. You couldn’t have turned me down any faster. Now come on. I’ll take you to the doctor and then I’ll call James.”
Brendan? Who the hell is Brendan?
***
I had confessed my deepest secrets to a man who lived in James’ old apartment building. A practical stranger who I kissed twice, apparently only to try to move on from James. And now the two of them were friends and he had zero feelings for me? Crap, crap, crap!
I tapped the back of my heels against the exam table. Coming here was a huge mistake. Trusting Brendan was an even bigger mistake. For all I knew, he was calling James right now. I had been tempted to insist that he come back here with me, but I doubted we were close enough for that. Not only was my escape going terribly wrong, but I was more curious than ever who Tyler was.
There was a knock on the door and a doctor came in. He was about my dad’s age.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gwendolyn Alabaster,” he stuck out his hand.
That was the one thing Brendan agreed to let me do. Give the doctor a fake name. I quickly shook his hand. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”
“It was no issue at all. Now what can I help you with, Gwendolyn?”
“I had surgery a few weeks ago, and I can’t remember what for. I was hoping you could tell me.”
- Writer
