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Chapter 3
Part II cont’d
April | Present Day
Inoticed her from the moment she brisked out of the building of our therapist’s practice. Witherspoon rocked a camel wool coat with her purse clutched between her arm and the side of her body. She turned for the trashcan just outside the door, tossing something inside before taking off toward the street again. Her hair followed behind in the air, blowing in the wind. Her face was set in a moue as she stopped once off the curb to wait for a truck to pass. The high heels of her green, suede, red bottom slingback shoes pounced on the pavement, owning her swift pace.
I sat back, blowing out a deep breath as she crossed the street for the coffee shop. This could go wrong orterriblywrong, I knew. It would have helped if I knew what the hell I was doing. I’d just have to wing it from an honest place. That’s what I felt swell in my spirit after my prayer this morning.
When Witherspoon crossed through the door, I waved my arm high to catch her attention. Then I pointed to her coffee in front of me. With a reluctant smile, she began my way.
“Should I be concerned about what’s inside?” she proposed soft and femininely as she shouldered out of her coat.
“I don’t think so.” I considered it as I looked at the coffee I’d copped for her when I arrived. “I asked the kid at the register about your regular order. He said he had me.”
She pulled hand sanitizer from her purse and squirted some into her palm. “And the muffin?”
I felt like a damn idiot smiling. “Iremembered that. Warmed with butter on the side.”
“I hope it’s still warm.” Her comment was cold as she grabbed the plastic cutlery packet for the knife. Witherspoon wouldn’t look me in the face.
And my stupid ass couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Things went quiet for a minute and I started to lowkey spiral. When Witherspoon glanced up and caught me eye-hustling her, I couldn’t look away.
“It’s so beautiful out.”Thatwas a major fuck up.
Witherspoon’s attention went to the window. “It’s overcast and windy—” Her eyes dropped to her muffin. She knew.
Damn…
I needed to get my shit together. I prayed hard and long about this in my morning worship today. There was an agenda I needed to execute. Taking another deep breath, I went for my tea.
“You seem uneasy, Jas,” she murmured, head still down.
“Maybe it’s because you won’t look at me for more than two seconds.”
Witherspoon’s eyes shot up to meet mine. “Maybe it’s because you’re giving weird vibes with having my shit ordered and calling me beautiful.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Before Saturday, you never paid. Before today, I didn’t know you found me attractive, much less beautiful.”
“About the second thing: if I didn’t find you attractive, Saturday wouldn’t have happened. The shit from last Thursday wouldn’t have either.” When Witherspoon rolled her neck and plucked a brow, stirring an argument, I ignored it and kept with my point. “And about that first point: I apologize.”
Her expression fell. “For what?”
“For omitting so much about my life when getting to know you. That was wrong.”
“You lied.”
“In a way,” I nodded. “I did, and I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t deserve that.”
“You didn’t. But you also didn’t deserve my transparency either. That’s reserved for a select few. My life is complicated, Witherspoon.”
“Too complicated when it comes to me, but not much when it came to Cynthia.”
“What do you mean?”
