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Chapter 14
"If you stare at that phone any harder, it'll burst into flames." my grandma chuckles.
I look up from the screen and give her an exasperated look. "Very funny."
"What are you looking at anyway?"
I sigh. "Nothing. That's the problem. Jolie hasn't really been talking to me the last few days."
She arches a brow. "What did you do or say?"
"Nothing. At least, I don't think. We had lunch by her campus a few days ago and everything was fine when I left to go to work. But ever since that night, she's barely texted back and hasn't picked up a single call. I keep asking her if she's okay, but she doesn't answer the question, just says she's busy or tired. I don't know what's going on."
"But you feel like something's wrong?"
"I know something's wrong. I just can't figure out what."
"Then go ask her face to face."
"If she won't even respond to my text, then I doubt she's gonna wanna see me."
"Do you wanna find out what's going on?"
"Of course."
"Then go see her. A lot can get misconstrued through texts, but the face doesn't lie. If she's mad at you for something, it'll show. If she's upset by something else, that'll be evident too. Either way, you'll have your answer and then can go from there."
"What if...she just walks away or something? Won't speak to me?"
I ask it low, speaking that doubt into life. A million thoughts have been running through my mind over the past few days of Jolie not really speaking to me. I've replayed our last conversation in my mind a hundred times, trying to remember if I said anything stupid or insensitive, and have been coming up empty. Did I move too fast? Was our weekend too much for her? Is she just...over me? I don't know, and that uncertainty is making the decision to just pop up on her seem like a really risky one.
"If she walks away, then you have an answer there too."
My grandma's hand comes to my cheek, offering what comfort it can. But nothing can comfort me against the possible heartbreak that might be coming my way. Because if Jolie leaves me, it'll surely shatter.
Looking at the time, I know Jolie goes on break in about an hour. So I say my goodbyes to my grandma and head to her job. Once there, I sit in my car for a little while, telling myself this is a smart decision, that, hopefully, I can get to the bottom of whatever is going on, and we can get back to where we were. Or I'm going to walk out of here with much less than I went in with.
Finally, I work up enough courage to walk in, and I see Jolie at the front desk. She's looking down, at her phone, and that only makes my anxiety spike. Because if she's really not too busy to text me back, if she has that phone in her hand and just chose not to respond, then I may already be screwed. She puts the phone down and looks up, her eyes locking with mine.
And those beautiful lips stretch into a smile, wide and full of joy at seeing me. My heart squeezes in my chest and relief I haven't felt in days spreads through me. With that one smile, she's given me some hope. But then, slowly, it dims, her lips turn down and I see her throat move with a deep swallow as I get closer.
"You're a hard woman to get a hold of now and days," I say.
Really, Elijah? I internally groan. Definitely should've started off with a better line than that.
"I've been..." She pauses and then shakes her head, looking down, seeming to murmur more to herself than me. "I'm not gonna lie."
My eyebrows furrow as she looks back at me.
"I've been confused," she says.
"About...me?" I slowly ask.
"About us."
A customer comes up, and she tells them to wait one moment. "Can you stay until I go on my lunch break? I know I don't deserve for you to, but..."
I put my hand atop hers. "I'll be here."
