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“Sorry, nope. Not Freddie. They’re too busy.” Christopher rolled his eyes. “I was too busy watching you through the door.”
“Weirdo.” I smirked.
“Stalker,” he joked.
“Just the man I needed to talk to, though.” I pushed Christopher on the chest, making him open the door fully. I swung my hips as I headed past him and went straight to the sofa and took a seat.
“And why’s that?” He followed close on my heel before taking a seat. “What have I done wrong now?”
“Nothing. I just have some news.”
“Exciting.” Christopher turned his knees to face me and placed his palms on his knees.
“Well…”
“Out with it, Isobel,” he urged as I moved my hands to rest on his on his knees, copying his movements.
“I found you a job working in finance with Del at the hotel. You start Monday.” I beamed. “You’ll never have to worry about panicking again.” I looked up at Christopher’s pale face and I realized something huge. Could I have just made a big mistake?
CHAPTERFOUR
CHRISTOPHER
Istared at her in shock when she said that.Did she think that I couldn’t find a job without her? Is that what everyone else thought as well? That I was so incompetent at finding myself my own job? That I needed to enlist my best friend’s inner circle to help the deaf soldier out?
“I see,” I muttered. I stood up and faced away from her, staring at the wall and trying my damn, fucking hardest to rein in my temper. I tried to ignore the way that her beautiful face fell when I said that but it was hard not to remember the way that her face cracked.
“I thought… I thought that you’d be happy,” she stated from behind me. She sounded subdued in comparison to her excited chatter when she first entered the apartment.
“Happy?” I asked, repeating that word back to her. “Happy,” I mumbled, this time to myself. I turned to face her. “What do I have to be happy about Isobel?” I stared at her, needing her to see that happiness was the furthest emotion from what I felt. “You think I should be happy that I need to be treated like a child?”
Her mouth parted and her eyes widened in sadness as I spoke.
“You think I should be happy that you’re that worried I’ll go into a panic attack and hurt myself? So worried that you need to go and beg for a job for me from their boss?” I could feel my emotions begin to spiral out of control. I turned back away from her and began counting to ten in my mind. I’d never hurt her but my temper sometimes resulted in me hitting a wall repeatedly until my fingers were bloody and I didn’t want her to see me like that. I could live with Luke seeing me like that but not her.
Not Isobel.
“You should go,” I muttered. “I’ll tell Freddie and Luke that you came by.”
She was silent for a moment. “What the fuck, Christopher?” She pushed her little body in front of me and the cabinet before she poked her fingers against my chest. She was so forceful that I took a step back. “How about no?”
I gazed down at her and I couldn’t deny how feisty she looked.
“I did you a favor! The correct thing to say is ‘thank you, Isobel’.” She used a mocking tone when she said that last bit. “You are being ungrateful!”
“I’m being ungrateful?” I snapped back. “You got me a job out of pity. Why? Because you feel sorry for me?”
“Excuse me?” She fisted her hands at her sides and I knew that she wanted to punch me. “You think that I feel sorry for you.” She said it as a statement, not a question.
“Obviously,” I muttered. “I can deal with a lot of things but having you feeling sorry for me…” I stared over her head, unable to look keep eye contact and see the pity she felt for me reflect back at me. “I’m not sure I can handle the pretty girl feeling sorry for me.”
She stared up at me for several long moments and it was enough to make me fidget.
“Hey.” She reached up and gently took my face in her hands as she guided my gaze back down to her. “Look at me.” She tightened her grasp on my head as I fought to keep my eyes off her but as she forced me to gaze at her, I found that I couldn’t look tear my eyes away from her. Isobel could immobilize me without even realizing it. “I don’t feel sorry for you.”
I stared into her eyes, needing to believe her words. I needed to believe that one of these new people in Luke’s life didn’t believe I was a complete loss. More specifically, I think I just needed her to have some faith in me.
“I did it because I was worried.” She stroked her thumb across my cheekbone. “I worry about you having a meltdown and not having Luke close by. I worry about you being on your own when a panic attack hits.” She paused for a moment before she continued. “You have sacrificed so much in service of your country. I don’t want you to have to sacrifice anything more.”
