Chapter 14
Kallie
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Kallie locked her apartmentdoor with one hand while trying to hitch her oversized bag onto her shoulder.She was already running late after accidentally hitting the snooze button on her phone.
She jogged down the half-dozen steps in front of the old brick apartment building, the metal railing cold beneath her palm.The morning air was crisp and moist, the kind that hinted at rain later.She stepped onto the sidewalk.
"Kallie!"
She turned and found Amy standing by her car, coffee in one hand, purse in the other.Her blonde hair was curled perfectly.Her makeup was flawless, even at seven in the morning.She was everything Kallie wasn't.Amy was an extrovert with a friendly personality and an active dating life.
"Are you heading out already?"Amy asked.
"Yeah."Kallie forced a smile."Trying to beat the rush."
Amy laughed."You always say that.You know, you should come get coffee with me sometime."
"Sure, another time, though.I'm running late."
"You always say that, too."Amy shook her head."You're such a loner.Always working or running off to have your own fun.It wouldn't kill you to hang out with me.I'm fun.I swear."
Kallie's stomach tightened.She liked Amy.She really did.But she couldn't sit in a café pretending she wasn't waiting for something else.Someone else.
"I can't today, but I promise that we'll get together soon."She waved over her shoulder."I'm really late."
Amy raised a brow."You always say that."
"Yeah, well...today I'm extra late."
Amy rolled her eyes but smiled."Fine.Rain check.Maybe?"
"Maybe," Kallie echoed.
She hurried down the street, her pace only slowing once she turned the corner and Amy was out of sight.She exhaled, shoulders sagging with relief.
Her isolation wasn't intentional.It was the result of never being taught how to be anything else.
She pulled out her phone and opened the rideshare app.The driver arrived within minutes.A middle-aged man with kind eyes who'd picked her up before.She appreciated that he never tried to make small talk.
"Where to?"he asked.
She gave him the address.Today, she chose a rural road thirty minutes outside town.He never pressed her for a conversation while they traveled.All he cared about was the money she'd paid him through the app.She always tipped well.
