Page 35 of Until He Confesses

In there, I stayed longer than was needed on the toilet seat and truly for the first time wondered why I couldn’t just be amused by their conversations. It occurred to me then that perhaps it was because talking about him hit way too close to home.

Eventually and as the stall beside me became occupied I rose to my feet and headed out to the sink, but just before I turned the tap on a new message arrived.

Lucas: Why?

One simple word yet it was more than enough to aggravate me to no end.

It was confirmed then that I truly wanted absolutely nothing else to do with him and so I immediately replied.

Me: To send you back your money. I want nothing to do with it.

I sent the message and began to wash my hands, and through it all, I avoided looking at myself in the mirror. When I was done but he hadn’t sent any response I returned to the table, I was in an almost foul mood that although I tried my very best to hide, wasn’t very successful in doing.

“What’s wrong?” Julianne eventually asked, but of course, I couldn’t respond, and neither did I want to.

I tried my best to contribute to the rest of the conversation until it was time to go. I checked my phone again just in case I had missed it but there was truly no new message.

Annoyed, I looked up and it was to meet Julianne’s sympathetic gaze. I was truly startled but was thankful when this time around she didn’t pry.

“We’re going shopping,” she said and grabbed onto my elbow while the remaining two men said something about some sporting equipment.

I wanted to return to my hotel, I realized, but then I was certain that if I did, I would just wallow, so I nodded, grabbed my purse and we were on our way.

14

LUCAS

Icould barely concentrate on my day. Which was no surprise to me.

When I received her message, I was a bit happier than I should have been given the nature of it. But I couldn’t help it. She had always in some form or manner delighted me despite what her mood or intention was. And experiencing this through our time together in high school had convinced me without any shadow of a doubt just who she was to me.

That seemed like a lifetime ago although I was pleased, it was a bit disconcerting to know that the same was still the case.

When I picked up my phone to reread her message for the umpteenth time, I truly had to ask myself if I was ready to let her go.

I honestly didn’t know the answer but one thing I was certain of was I didn’t want to stop talking to her, at least for the time being.

The moment I was in the privacy of my car, I sent her my reply.

Me: It’s yours.

I purposely didn’t say anything else knowing this was sure to exasperate her. My one hope was that it didn’t convince her to cut off all contact with me.

We continued driving as I headed across town to a business lunch and couldn’t help but wonder what she was currently up to. I wasn’t even aware as to whether she would be leaving the city tonight to join a different flight or if she would be staying longer. This was information I wanted to know immediately so I could adjust my schedule as needed for the rest of the day but there was currently no way to do this.

It saddened me, and this in itself was disconcerting, but I was eventually convinced in my head that there was no reason to hold back. There was no way things would ever get as serious as they once were between us but after considering last night once again, I was fully convinced that I wasn’t yet ready to let her go.

Her response soon came and this time around, it was more prompt than I had expected.

Callie: If you don’t give me the information I need, I’m going to withdraw it all in cash and bring it to you.

My eyes widened as I processed the message, and then I laughed out loud. The chauffeur and my assistant in the front both stared curiously at me through the rear-view mirror, but I couldn’t share what had amused me so immensely.

I immediately sent back my response.

Me: Please do. I’m staying at the Savoy. You’ll be able to find your way there, won’t you?

I worried about including further details like my room number. But upon further consideration, I realized that it could possibly make her ignore me altogether and instead search for a way to wire the money directly to me instead.