She ran off on a mission.
“I love trees,” he yelled out.
She bid on a drawing of a lone orange tree set against a deep blue sky, created by a ten year old boy named Christian. The initial bid was low but she bid three hundred dollars, nevertheless. She didn’t know Christian personally but she was glad to contribute.
As people finally started to leave, Michael finally got a hold of Angela.
“Did you buy me a painting?” he asked.
“I did.”
“Can’t wait to see it.”
“I can give it to you soon, after we get all this stuff cleaned up.”
“Your work has just begun,” he noted with a sigh.
“Unfortunately”
“Well, do you have a second to talk?” he asked, anxious.
“I do.” She took him to the kitchen area where they could have a little privacy.
“I wanted to tell you, I took your advice,” he said as he leaned against the counter.
“What advice?”
“I called my ex and had a little talk with her.”
“That’s great!” she said, truly pleased.
“I had to play a little hard ball but I got what I wanted. What I didn’t even know I wanted until you made me realize it.”
“Oh, I didn’t-”
“She didn’t want to get lawyers involved, and I didn’t either. I’ve got them for two weeks soon and one weekend a month after that,” he told her, beaming.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said with a warm smile.
They stared at each other for a few seconds and then, not being able to resist, he took her hand and drew her closer to him.
“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he told her, the steel blue of his eyes as intense as she had ever seen them. She felt a heat at her core.
“I know it’s too early for you. I know you just broke it off with Robert but I—”
“How did you know that?” She took a small step back.
“Well...your friend Krysta told me.” He didn’t want to betray Krysta’s trust but he also wanted to be honest with Angela.
“She told me how miserable you’ve been – and she was sure it wasn’t about Robert.”
Angela was speechless.
“I don’t really want to go from one man’s arms and jump right into someone else’s,” she explained.
“You still feel guilty about us?”
“Well, this break-up wasn’t just about you,” she told him bluntly.
