Page 46 of Revere: A Legacy Novel

The first time Cara had suggested Catherine meditate as a way to relax or soothe her anxiety, she laughed. She literally thought the woman was joking.

What in the hell was meditating going to do for her?

Truth be told, Catherine didn’t know how to meditate. She wanted to make a joke out of something that confused her because that was easier than admitting she didn’t know how to calm her mind and body. Certainly not enough to get into that kind of a state.

Yet, Cara pushed.

Catherine learned.

Now, she meditated often. A few times a week, or more, if she was having particularly stressful things piling up on her. She took thirty minutes, or sometimes an hour if she could afford the time, to sit on the stool in front of the window, and clear her mind. It was her, the stool, the sky, and silent thoughts.

One breath … two.

Inhale, one, two, three … exhale.

Catherine was back to college for what should be full-time classes. Instead of the five classes she could have taken, she opted into four. It was still a lot, and she wasn’t getting home until after supper most days. Add in going out nearly every night to deal when she was called, and she couldn’t find time to open a damn book to study.

Although, even if she did, Catherine couldn’t say she actually wanted to.

To top it all off, there was Cross.

Or rather, a lack of Cross.

Catherine hadn’t known what to expect after she left his penthouse the morning after their hookup, but radio silence for a week definitely wasn’t it. A call, maybe, or a text. Then again, she had no one to blame for that but herself, considering she was the one who left with only a note behind.

That was kind of shitty of her.

She hadn’t known how to deal with the morning … not after a night like that. So, she opted for the easy way out. A coward’s way out, sure, but easy.

A knock on her apartment door made Catherine’s eyes pop open. She wasn’t even sure she had heard it properly, as when she meditated, she often heard nothing at all.

A second, more persistent knock came a second time.

Catherine didn’t move from her stool when she called out, “Yeah, it’s open.”

Michel, her older brother, popped his head in with a grin. “Too lazy to open your door, or what?”

“Get in here and shut up.”

“Hey, be nice.” Michel stepped into the small apartment and closed the door behind him. “I brought you—”

Catherine only saw the flash of a white doggy bag with her favorite restaurant’s logo on the front and she squealed. “Yes, you are the best brother that ever existed when you’re not being a shit.”

Michel laughed as she scuttled off the stool like a mouse. Catherine stuck her tongue out at her brother when she snatched the bag from his outstretched hands. He only shook his head while she fell onto the couch and opened the bag.

A cream cheese bagel, a perfect cheese omelet, and a hot coffee tucked into the corner. Catherine sucked the scent of the food in, and sighed. She pulled the coffee out first and took a huge gulp of the sweetened, hot liquid.

“Oh, my God,” Catherine groaned.

Michel fell into the couch beside her. “I was in the neighborhood.”

She pulled out the bagel and licked a bit of the cream cheese off the side. “Oh?”

“Gabbie had a … thing.”

“What kind of thing?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” her brother muttered.