Yet also endearing.
Endearing because he’d been genuinely shaken and that seemed to confuse him. It’s like he had no idea what to do or where to go and somehow he ended up at my door. I could see him try—try to express what he was thinking, what was going on, but he couldn’t.
Just like I couldn’t come clean to Rosalyn at lunch.
It’s like he and I were stuck on a carousel—destined to go round and round but never actually getting anywhere.
I could vow to myself that I wouldn’t see him again, that I was just going to wash my hands of the situation. But I wasn’t going to do that. Because I wasn’t a liar and if I said that, I would be lying to myself.
I blew out a breath. I needed a break. A brain break. I needed to stop thinking and stop worrying. I needed my best friend.
I was likely in hot water with her too. Because like any good addict would tell you, addicts pushed away the people who cared about them. Addicts isolated themselves so they only had one thing in their life and that was whatever they were addicted to.
I needed a twelve-step program.
No. That was too much work.
I settled for Chinese food instead. There wasn’t anything some good Chinese food couldn’t fix.
I called and placed an order for too much, making sure I got plenty of the vegetable lo mein Piper liked so much. I knew she would be home. It was Sunday night and the diner she worked at closed early.
When I knocked on her door with food and movies in hand, I actually felt a little nervous. I wondered if she would be upset with me for the way I’d been acting. I wasn’t being a very good friend. I practically fell off the face of the earth and ignored a lot of her texts and calls. When I did answer, the replies were short and not at all the way they used to be.
She seemed a little surprised when she opened the door, but she smiled. “I’m starving!” she said, eyeing the bag in my arms.
“I got your favorite,” I sang, going inside.
“I’ll get some plates!” She dashed into the kitchen and rattled around and returned in record time with everything we needed to stuff our faces.
“You must really be hungry.”
“I really am,” she said, reaching into the bag. “But I also want to hang with you. Long time no see.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Work’s been busy.” It wasn’t a lie. Work’s always busy. It just wasn’t the reason I hadn’t been around.
“Oh? I thought maybe there was a new man in your life.”
I choked on the soda she’d given me when she came out of the kitchen. “A man?” I croaked.
She nodded, dumping a pile of lo mein onto her plate. Then she reached into the bag and pulled out the crab rangoon and added a few of those onto her plate as well.
“Nope, no man in my life worth talking about.” Again, that wasn’t really a lie. Charming wasn’t worth talking about. I was trying to have a break from thinking about him anyway.
“Are you sure?” Piper said, pinning me with a stare. “Is everything okay with you?”
“Yep. Everything’s fine. I just figured we were overdue for some girl time.”
She didn’t really seem convinced, but she let it go.
“So I brought us a movie.” I put down my plate and reached into my bag. “It’s about zombies.”
“Warm Bodies?”
I nodded. “Any movie that combines brain eating with romance is a must see.”
She laughed. “That’s gross.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Piper,” I said seriously, “but if I was a zombie, I would totally eat your brains.”
