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Katie stared at the screen wanting to answer but knowing she couldn't. She'd made her choice. Never mind the fact it made her sick to her stomach to abide by it.
Tears streamed down her cheeks holding her finger over the reply button on the screen. After the way she’d left him, he still wanted to talk to her. He really did deserve better.
Another text came through.
A phone number.
Amber: He asked me to give you his number. In case you change your mind.
If all it took was for Katie to change her mind, she'd never have left in the first place. Even though her heart had changed, it was her plan, the demand on her time, the unbelievably high expectations of the path she'd chosen that needed to change. And she'd come too far to change any of that.
"Sorry, Amber." Katie tossed the phone onto the couch. The cushions muffled the vibrating making it much easier to ignore.
"Sorry, Isaac."
She took a deep, shuddering breath trying to regain control of her emotions and get back to work. Even after she shifted focus to her work, a little voice nagged at her. It begged her to use his number. To admit to the deeper feelings she had for him.
There's no point.
She pulled her headphones on and cranked the volume drowning out the voice.
Sorry, Blondie.
???
"She's not answering," Amber said.
Isaac's chest caved in.
"Don't worry. It could just be that she muted. She had just told me she was getting back to work before you got here."
And how Isaac and Jake got here was still a mystery. The curiosity had gotten the better of Isaac on their way over after he asked Jake where they were going and Jake told him they were going to talk to Katie's best friend, Amber.
"Is that who you texted? Are you two…?" Isaac got so excited his friend may have finally found someone for himself he almost drove off the road.
"No." Jake grabbed theoh-shitbar over the window.
Jake had refused to go into any detail before they’d found Amber in the student union coffee shop. By that point, Isaac didn't care anymore how they’d found her. He was just glad they had.
"What should I do now?" Isaac asked her.
Amber took a loving sip of her cappuccino. "Give her some time."
"How much?"
"As much as she needs." She set down her mug and leaned forward putting a hand on Isaac's wrist on the table where he sat across from her. "Listen. I've been where you are with her. She gets overwhelmed, she leaves, but she always comes back." Amber leaned back again.
"Are you sure? What if I arranged some kind of… I don’t know… grand romantic gesture or something?"
"No!" Amber sat bolt upright. "Good God, you're in this mess because she's under so much pressure. Don't go piling on more."
"Right. Of course." Isaac pressed a thumb to his temple rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. "This is so hard. I don't want to lose her, Amber."
She patted his wrist again. "The next time you see her—and you will see her—be sure to tell her that."
He would and so much more.
Chapter 42
