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Strangely she wasn’t worried about her bills. Come what may, she’d take care of it. In that moment, what hurt the most was realizing how much she’d actually come to care for him without realizing it. In that moment they shared, it all fell into place. Now she realized it had all been a lie.
Her bills would be fine, but she wasn’t sure her heart would ever be again.
Justin sipped from his wine. Kelly sat across from him, going on about shopping with her friends. They were out to dinner at her favorite French restaurant. It was quiet, romantic. The gentle glow of the candles on the table set her hair under soft tones and lit up her eyes. Kelly was a beautiful woman, kind.
As Justin smiled at her, swirling the wine in his glass in a lazy motion, he wondered when he’d stopped being in love with her. It was a terrible thing, but everything happening had snapped him out of whatever rock he’d hidden himself under. Work, life, the demands on his time and attention. He’d never stopped and thought about himself, about his happiness, about how he felt about… well, anything. Tallah had been a fire. She woke him to his own life. Now that she was gone, so was the only joy he’d felt in… Justin did his best to mask the sigh as he realized that sentence ended in years.
How had everything gotten so out of hand? Things had been simple. Well, simple, but not what he needed. Not what he wanted. Tallah had been what he wanted, and now that was destroyed. She’d never have him, not after this.
So, instead, Justin sipped his wine as he thought about a life with Kelly.
Tallah sat in the reception area of a new office and tried to keep her leg from bouncing. She’d received a call from this company requesting she come in for an interview. After a few failed interviews she realized she’d have to give up on any sort of a corporate job and began looking for work doing what she had been. This, though, was with a very prestigious company and the work was just like what she’d been doing for Justin. She didn’t feel confident going in with only a couple months experience, but they had called her in, so she wasn’t about to say no.
During the interview, she expected some uncomfortable questions about why she left, but he never asked any. By the end, he just smiled at her and asked, “Can you start Monday?”
Tallah was so overjoyed that she laughed. “Yes, of course. I’d be happy to.”
They shook hands and as he closed her file and stacked some papers he asked, “Did you have any questions for me?”
“Well to be honest, I was surprised to receive your call. I don’t remember having put in an application.”
“Oh, no, you didn’t. You came highly recommended by Justin Gilmore. He’s a friend of mine.”
“Is that so.”
He gave her a little smile. Her tone had betrayed her, she knew he heard it, but he was smart or kind enough to let it go. “Yes. Spoke very highly of you. I guess it’s to our benefit that you left his employ, huh?”
“I’m sure he and his fiancé will get along just fine without me.”
“Oh,” he said, surprised, “you haven’t heard, have you. No, they broke up. He kept it quiet to avoid any news in the tabloids, but yeah.” He clicked his tongue against his cheek and drummed a quick rhythm with his fingers on his desk.
By the time she got home she found herself thinking about Justin. She didn’t want to, but damn him, he snuck into her thoughts like a snake. Why would he have recommended her for the job? A guilty conscience probably. The same for breaking up with that woman. Guilty conscience. Had to be.
She paced around her home unable to settle herself. If his guilty conscience was that bad, enough to help her find another job knowing she didn’t want to talk to him, and breaking up with his fiancé without telling Tallah about it, did that make him such a bad guy? What if it wasn’t just out of guilt?
Her heels clacked against the floor of her kitchen as she slowly paced. Finally her eyes fell on the card he’d sent her. She never brought herself to actually throw it away.
Picking up her phone she dialed the restaurant. When they answered she said, “Yes, I’d like to order some soup for delivery.”
Justin took a deep breath and knocked. After a few uncomfortably long moments, the door opened and Tallah stood there looking understandably surprised. “I got your soup,” he said.
She gave a small smile. “Did it help?”
“A little.”
She stepped back, opening the door wider as an unspoken invitation. He bowed his head and stepped in, his heart beating fiercely. His fingers were numb, and he found himself flexing them repeatedly to try and get the blood flowing.
“I’m sorry,” he spurted out. “I never meant to hurt you.” He turned around to face her. She stood, arms crossed casually over her chest, her face still but pensive. When she didn’t say anything, he decided to plow on. There was nothing to lose at this point.
“It was unexpected. You were unexpected. At first, I panicked. I was so drawn to you it was terrifying. I didn’t know what to do.”
“So you were an ass.”
“I was an ass. It was the only way I could think to hide how I felt.”
Tallah walked around him to her couch and sat down. “Well, it worked. All the way up until you kissed me.” She patted the other side of the couch.
With a sigh he steeled his will to continue and sat down. “That, too, took me by surprise. It wasn’t planned. I don’t want you to think I had any master plan. I never felt for anyone what I do for you. Did for you.”
