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I turned around and found Dani walking toward me from our small lounge. Her attire matched her demeanor; all business, from her designer black pants suit, to her blonde-bobbed hair in a slicked to her scalp ponytail. Her eyes squinted as they scrutinized me from head to toe. She stopped in front of me and her mouth turned down.
“I’m glad I caught you. I haven’t seemed able to reach you by phone. Would you mind going for a coffee with me around the corner? I would love to catch up with you.”
My mouth went dry as I stood in awe and envy of her strength. I fell under the power of her intention as I watched her put on her coat, readying herself as if I had already accepted her invitation.
I still tried to protest. “I just got back from a long—”
“I spoke with Gregor, and he assured me you could take the time,” she said with a slight curve of her lips.
I sighed in defeat. I had been thoroughly ambushed by her.
“Okay.”
I followed her out the door and down the street to the local chain coffee shop, where I ordered a plain coffee and she purchased a caramel latte. After we collected our drinks, we sat down in a two seat-table near the back.
“I had a speech prepared, but now that I see you, I can’t bring myself to say any of it,” Dani said. She took a sip from her cup. “I will say that I’m upset you went back on your agreement with me.”
I glanced at her through my lashes. “I had… I dropped the charges. Declan hasn’t come back to my office. The locks have been changed at my apartment. I haven’t needed to do any deliveries at work, so I didn’t think it was right wasting David’s time….”
“Making sure you’re safe is not a waste of time,” Dani interjected. “It’s important to me. You’re important to me and Jonas.”
Jonas. The mere mention of his name had my pulse racing.
“I don’t understand how or why. You barely know me. And Jonas and I are not together anymore.”
“I don’t need a timeframe to care about you,” she said softly.
I looked down at my cup in shame. “Even though I dropped the charges?” I asked, just above a whisper.
“Even though you dropped the charges.” She covered my hands with hers. “I’m more upset that you disappeared, and I wasn’t sure how you were doing.”
She moved her hands back to her cup. I watched her take a sip, not knowing what to say next.
I finally said, “You may not need a time frame, but Jonas does… did. We’re not together anymore… We’re friends.”
Dani’s actions hadn’t been that of someone who didn’t care. She had gone above and beyond for me. I had avoided her to keep her away from all that was going on between Declan and me.
“I would hardly call it friendship when you refuse to take his calls for weeks, and asking you to spend time with him doesn’t mean he’s asking for a timeframe,” Dani said in his defense. She blew out. “Jonas has been miserable, to put it lightly. The time he had you around was pulling him out of all that. He was positively shining when you were together.”
I swallowed hard. “I was happy with him, too, but that’s not possible now.”
“Well, I won’t lie,” she paused.
My face fell.Like me.
Her eyes clouded. “Jonas has pride, and yes, he has tried to move forward with Melissa….”
My heart shattered inside me and I found it hard to focus on what Dani was saying. Jonas had moved on from me, just as I had expected him to do. Just as I had pushed him to do.
“She can try to manipulate him,” Dani was saying. “But it won’t work, especially after that trip to Connecticut. I was sorry I wasn’t able to go, but I understand you did. His mother was always cold to him. And, well, his father was demanding and controlling. He’d tried to shape Jonas into a miniature version of himself. Jonas thinks he’s become him, but he hasn’t. Maybe even because of you, he’s hasn’t. Melissa can’t give him what he needs.”
I lifted my face to meet her eyes, which were staring intently at me. “What is that?”
“Love and compassion. Someone to care for,” Dani said. “He has my love. And Paul’s. But… do you love him?”
Yes.That was the answer she seemed to want to hear above all else today.
“I do. He knows how I feel. I told him I loved him. I thought I did, anyway. But he was right. We haven’t been together long enough for that.”
