Page 78 of Heartbreaker

Chapter 31

Ashley

“I know you said that he should call you when he’s ready, but why don’t you just go see him?” Taylor sits on the chair in front of me, the shop has been so busy today that it’s nice to finally sit down. I know I haven’t been myself all day, and she would pick up on it straight away too.

“He’s not ready to talk to me, going there might just make it worse for me.” I look out the shop window, just watching the people walking past getting on with their day.

“I know that, but I really think that you should see him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this before.” Taylor leans closer to the table and takes my hand in hers. “You haven’t stopped thinking about him all week, and I bet if he saw you then he would talk.”

Maybe she is right, maybe if I stand in front of Jackson whatever he is scared to say to me, maybe he can say it. “Fine, once we close, I’ll shower and go over to his office,” I tell Tay. The main reason I said yes is because I know that I won’t hear the end of it until I go, or Jackson comes to me, and who said that only guys can make the first move.

“I can close up, so get your sexy self up those stairs, get dressed, and go get your man back.” Taylor pulls me off the chair and starts pushing me out the door, and this right here is why she is my best friend. I haven’t once moaned about Jackson, or said anything about how I’m feeling, she just knows that I’m missing him.

I miss the way he makes me smile, the way he hugs me and all I want to do is stay in his arms all day. I miss him so much that I haven’t been able to sleep all week, just hoping that he will knock on my door, but nothing.

I don’t even know what I’m going to say to him when I do see him. We have a lot to talk about, and at the moment I don’t think he’s ready to talk about it and I’m not ready to listen, but there is one thing I know. I miss him.

Getting out of the shower, I grab a dress, even though the weather is getting a little chilly now, I still like to wear my dresses. It’s around November when the trousers pop out for me. As I get dressed, I talk to myself as to what I’m going to say to Jackson when I see him. I’m hoping that just seeing me he will miss that much all the words will come out of his mouth without me saying anything to him.

Leaving the house, I walk up the road a little and wave down a taxi that says it’s free and give him Jackson’s work address. I’m hoping he’s still there. I never really asked him what his hours were, but I suppose his job doesn’t really have set hours in the office. I shake my head to get the thought out of it, I can’t jump to conclusions about his job, I need to hear it from him.

Paying the cab driver, I walk into the office, giving the lady behind the desk a smile. She looks at me up and down, stopping at my leg tattoo then her eyes move up again. “Hello,” she greets me.

“Hi, I was hoping I could talk to Jackson,” I say giving her my best smile. She doesn’t really look like a woman I would want to mess with.

“He’s out.” Again her eyes wander over my tattoos. I watch as she narrows her eyebrows together. “Are you Ashley?”

“Yes, Jackson’s…” What am I at the moment, girlfriend, or his ex-girlfriend?

“His girlfriend.” Well that answers that question for me then, I laugh to myself.

“You don’t happen to know where he is?” I ask her, I have no idea if she knows what his job really is, but she looks like she keeps his books together.

“He had a meeting.”

“Please…” I pause as I remember she didn’t give me her name.

“Lindy.”

“Please, Lindy, I really need to talk to him, I’m not sure what you know about us…”

“I know that he was stupid, and that he’s acting like a baby not talking to you.”

So, Jackson has told her more than I thought, good to know.

“I’ve given him time, and my friend said that maybe if he sees me then he will talk to me, I hope she is right otherwise I’m about to make a right fool of myself,” I say, and a nervous laugh escapes me. Lindy’s eyes focused on me, and I plead with her to tell me.

“He’s at the Milton, should be in the bar.” She gives me a look that I’m not sure means ‘go get him’, or ‘be careful with what you see’. That must mean he’s with a girl, breaking their heart.

I go to leave but stop in my tracks and turn to Lindy. “Can I ask you something?” She gives me a nod. “Do you know what Jackson does?”

“I do, and you would think I would leave, but that idiot is stuck with me.” She starts laughing.

Licking my lips, I’m not sure how to say the next part without sounding like I’m judging his job. “Does he hurt their feelings?” I ask almost in a whisper. I know that if a girl is one hundred percent in the relationship then it’s going to hurt no matter what, but is he mean about it?

“That boy is a lot of things, but…” She stops talking, then looks behind me as though someone is coming. She takes in a deep breath. “Come with me.” She nudges her head, and I follow her into the office behind her. “I know what he’s like, he will fight with himself until he figures out how to explain everything the best way, but there is one thing I won’t let people think of him.” She sits down as I look around the office, this place is so Jackson, God, give me five minutes in here, and this place would be so much more than white walls. “That boy wouldn’t hurt anyone.” She gets off the seat, and points to it for me to sit, and as I do she leaves.

Turning to the screen, I see I’m on the website, but it’s the page I couldn’t get into. What is this page? Scrolling down I see a name.