“Can’t hide forever.”
She readied for work, looking everywhere for her favorite scarf. Giving up, she grabbed her briefcase and purse, throwing in a pear and a granola bar and heading to the door.
When she opened it, she yelped. Mrs. Navorti, her neighbor from across the street, stood there, poised to ring her doorbell. She inwardly moaned knowing she would be late for work now that her nosy neighbor had arrived unexpectedly.
“Good morning, Mrs. Navorti. How are you?” Aria said with a forced smile.
“Good morning, dear. I'm fine. My foot hurts a little but other than that, I'm okay. What's wrong? Looks like you've been crying. Did that pirate-looking manhurt your feelings? IknewI should've done more than just poke him with my cane yesterday.”
“Pirate?Mrs. Navorti, who are you talking about?”
“The long-haired guy that sat on your porch yesterday. He was here so long, he fell asleep. That's when I knew something was wrong. I came by and threatened him. I think he was scared of me, too, ‘cause he got in his car and left,” she said proudly.
“Alex was here yesterday?” Aria asked, her eyes wide.
“I don't know his name.What Idoknow is that he needs a haircut,” her neighbor grumbled. “Young people. They never listen.”
“Well, thank you so much for watching out for me. I appreciate it, but I really do need to get to work now. I'll talk to you later.”
“Always in a rush,” she muttered as she meandered back across the street.
Aria sat in her car and stared out of the window, her need to rush forgotten.
Alex was still here.
But does that mean Bella left?
Starting her car, she drove to work, once again conflicted.
Walking into the entrance of Libri Stellari, Aria smiled tightly at the receptionist.
“Good morning, Aria. I hope you’re feeling better,” Anna cooed, as Aria walked past her.
“Thanks. All better,” she replied, her thoughts still swirling in her head.
Luna gave her a quizzical look but remained silent, thankfully. She wasn’t up for small talk. When Aria made it to her office, she groaned when she spotted the bouquet on her desk. So much had transpired in such a short time. It felt like she had received it weeks ago.
She didn’t want the reminder of him. Moving the bouquet to the workstation behind her, she sat down at her desk. She could feel Luna’s watchful eyes on her but continued to ignore her.
In her haste, she forgot to close her office door, so she heard when Gio came up to Luna’s desk to ask what was going on.
“I don't know, but the sadness is back,” Luna answered. “I’m not sure if Alex has anything to do with it, but she moved his bouquet off her desk first thing.”
Great. Now they’re gossiping about me. I knew I should have closed that door.
Gio looked up and caught Aria’s gaze. She forced a smile when he walked into her office, frowning.
“Hey, I decided to come back to work a littler earlier,” he said as he nervously jiggled his knee up and down. “I hope that’s alright. I tried calling you last night, but your phone must have been off.”
His nervousness was contagious because she started stacking and restacking folders on her desk. This was not the morning she felt strong enough to have this conversation, although she was happy that he had decided to return.
“Yeah, yeah, of course it is. I’m glad to have you back so soon. Areyoualright?” She hoped he believed her easy-going tone.
“Yeah, I am. I wanted you to be happy. Even if it meant you finding happiness with someone else. But right now, it looks like I need to find a certain photographer and beat some sense into him.”
“What do you mean?”
“You seem sad today. I’m choosing to blame Alex.”
