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And then he left.
23
I yankedmy suitcase out of the closet, threw it open, and started stuffing shit into it.
Because I was sane.
Because I still hadsomerationality left.
Because choosing anything other than the first optionwasn’t actually an option.
I didn’t care what my insides were doing. I didn’t care how good that kiss had been. I didn’tcarethat there were all these voices in the back of my head protesting the decision.
Frankly, no voice in my head should have been trying to stop me from leaving this nightmare. So, I either needed to book myself a CT scan when I got back home, enroll in extensive therapy, or both.
Probably both.
I was packed before the email hit my inbox. My flight was in four hours and the car would be at Black Sheepish Tea in two. But there was no point in waiting here.
I snuck down to the basement using a set of stairs I didn’t know existed until I read Adrien’s instructions, and left through the doors beside the theater, which, apparently, no one ever used.
I turned the corner, rushed through the gates, and I was done. I was free.
And I never had to see him again.
My feet moved quickly, my suitcase rolling noisily behind me.
I never had to see him again.
I never ever had to see him ever again.
Which was good. Great.Fantastic. It was exactly what I needed. It was exactly what I wanted. It was exactly what I should have wanted.
So why did I stop?
The teashop was right there. I could see its cloud-shaped sign from where I was standing.
So move.
I stood there and stared.
Move, damn it!
I shoved off the strange tangle of emotions gnawing at my gut and forced my legs to move forward. The Black Sheepish Tea was small, quaint. It had dark blue walls, light oak furnishings, and was decorated to the brim with greenery. Potted plants of all shapes and colors had been stuffed into every possible corner, peppered across every possible surface, and hung from every possible hook and curve.
I bit back a reluctant smile. There was around a half-dozen cafes on this block, and of course this was the one he’d thought of.
What a freak.
I ordered a pot of jasmine green tea and sat at a small round table tucked in the back corner, right by the window. Just so I could see the car when it arrived.
Because I was leaving.
I was going to get into the vehicle the second it pulled up to the curb, I was going to leave, and I was never going to talk to, or think about Adrien Cloutier ever again. He’d go back to being a random dude I’d see pop up on the news occasionally, and that would be it.
I’d wake up tomorrow and my life would go back exactly to the way it was.
I blinked down at the steam rising from the small ceramic teacup.
