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Alex
ONE MONTH LATER
Istand on the sidewalk looking up at a very closed restaurant as a cold November breeze blows through the block. The hem of my dress flutters around my thighs and I fumble around trying to hold it down while at the same time I dig my phone out of my clutch. Dark drapes cover the windows. Am I in the right place?
My fingers fly across the screen as I type out a message into the group chat.
Alex
Are you sure this restaurant is open? How close are you?
Savannah
It’s open. Just go inside.
Meghan
We won’t be long.
Isn’t this how people die in horror movies?
For all of two seconds, I contemplate waiting for them on the sidewalk, but I forgot my coat in my rush out the door. I’d have taken my time getting ready if I knew they were going to be this late. They were up my ass about how important it was that I was on time and I’m never late.
Ready to do battle should anyone try to attack me, I walk to the restaurant entrance and pull the door open. I half expect the door to be locked, but it comes away from the frame with ease. As I step inside, the door swings shut behind me, causing a draft to sweep through, flickering candles that cover the floor.
My mind can’t comprehend what I’m looking at, or why the restaurant I’m supposed to be meeting my friends at is filled with candles.
Surely this is a fire hazard.
I take a tentative step forward before coming to stop at the sound ofhisvoice. He’s haunted my dreams forweeks.
“Hi, princess.”
The deep timber rolls over me like a wave, and I close my eyes at the memories it evokes inside of me. It’s been thirty six days, seventeen hours and a handful of minutes since I last saw him.
I don’t want to be here.
I don’t want to see him or talk to him. I’m not strong enough.
My feet move of their own accord, as I turn and walk out of the restaurant and down the sidewalk. The cool breeze I wanted to get away from a moment ago is like a balm to my heated skin.
“Alex. Please, Alex, come back.”
I keep walking until I don’t know where I am, and I can no longer hear the pleading yet hopeful note in his voice. My phone buzzes in my clutch, but I ignore it. It seems I can’t trust anyone. They betrayed me and sent me into the lion's den with a man they know broke my heart. Were they just willing to ignore how he left me? How he fucking broke me?
They might, but I sure as hell am not.
I walk until my feet start to hurt and then I take a cab home. A bottle of wine and a movie that will make me feel anything but broken are just what I need.
It's been hours since I left the restaurant. Goosebumps have formed on my exposed skin but I’m not really aware of them, my mind lost in having seen him again. Maybe it was stupid of me to expect him to leave me alone, but I certainly didn’t expect him to be sitting on my couch when I walk through the door. He stands as I close the door, wiping his hands down the front of his jeans.
“I used my key.” He looks nervous, like he’s not sure how I’ll react.Good, let him be on edge.
I guess that explains how he got in, but it doesn’t really explain why he’s here. My shoes get kicked off by the front door before I move down the hallway to my bedroom. He follows behind, averting his eyes as I pull my dress over my head and change into my pajamas.
“Why are you here, Sebastian? If it’s to return the key, you could have given that to Cooper.”
He leans against the door jamb of the bathroom as I wash my face, his arms folded across his broad chest. I want nothing more than for him to envelop me in his arms. I turn to the rail, almost aggressively swiping the towel up to dry my face.
