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It takes us almost an hour to find the building. Once we do, I feel awkward sitting on the bench outside the entrance waiting for her. The word stalker comes to mind, but I push it away as fast as it appears.
That’s not what I’m doing. A stalker watches and waits. I’m just waiting. And I plan to approach her, something a stalker won’t do.
“What time is it?” Jones asks, knowing that I memorized her schedule.
“We have about five minutes before her class ends.”
“And what if she doesn’t come out this way? What if she takes a different door? Are we going to do this again tomorrow? The next day?”
“I don’t know, damn it,” I growl at him. He’s been questioning everything since I told him about this last week.
“I just don’t want you to be disappointed again, that’s all. Look, I’m here for you, man, whatever you need. You know that. But this, this isn’t normal. I like Chloe, always have. What she did to you, how she left, that was shitty, but there has to be a good reason. What if she doesn’t want to be found?”
That thought crossed my mind once. I brushed it away with all other thoughts of Chloe that night when I drowned my sorrows in a bottle of whiskey I stole from the bar. Why should I care what she wants? She obviously didn’t care enough about me.
“It’s not her decision, Jones. She didn’t leave me with much of an option. If she knew me at all, she would know that I would show up eventually. Well, today is that day—”
“And there’s your girl,” he interrupts.
Whipping my head in the direction of his stare, I don’t question the surprised look on his face. I should have. It would have saved me so much heartache.
Chloe, her hair pulled high on her head in a ponytail, is walking right toward us. Her eyes focused on the ground, she’s oblivious to us sitting here, staring at her. Quickly shaking my head at Jones, we watch in awe as Chloe walks past us and up the steps.
Once she’s safely inside the building, I let out the breath I was holding.
“Dude, is she—”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“But—”
“No, Jones. I can’t talk about this right now. I don’t know what to think.”
“I get it man, but if I were you, I would chase her down. You’re losing your opportunity the longer you sit here. What if it’s yours?”
“What if it’s not?” I counter, my blood boiling at the thought. “What if that’s why she left? She cheated on me and couldn’t face me to tell me the truth.”
“Dude, you know there was no one else.”
“Do I? Because last I checked, we were always careful. I still have a half-empty box of condoms in my nightstand.”
The same box I’ve had since before I met Chloe. We only made love a few times, but I always made sure we were protected. Something like this, a baby, could destroy her life.
Jones and I sit in silence for a few minutes before he stands. When I make no move to follow him, my eyes still glued to the doors Chloe disappeared behind, he nudges me in the shoulder.
“I can’t yet. I need a minute,” I say.
“Take all the time you need. I’m going to head back to the car if you need to talk.”
Nodding, Jones disappears from my peripheral and I’m alone. Again. Alone with my thoughts. A million thoughts that I wish I could ignore.
A baby? A baby that could be mine but probably isn’t. She would have told me. I would have been here for her, to help her in any way she needed. We could have gotten married. Not because of the baby, but because we loved each other. That was the plan anyway.
To get married, have kids and grow old together.
It seems she’s decided to do that without me. Jones didn’t say anything, but I’m sure he didn’t miss the glimmer of the diamond draped on her left hand in the sunlight. It wasn’t exactly a tiny rock.
“Hey, man. She’s gone.”
