Page 81 of Don't Leave Me

“Who are you meeting at 5?” I blurted out, the filter between my brain and my mouth suddenly nonexistent.

Fuck.

He paused, putting his hands on his hips. “How did you know I had a meeting at 5?”

“This morning I was up early and I was in the kitchen and your phone was just sitting there, and I was curious so I took a harmless look at it, and I saw that you’re paying $14,500 for something at 5 PM,” I explained quickly - I could feel myself shaking.

Michael heavily sighed and looked down at the floor. I couldn’t tell if he was mad or if he thought this whole thing was just really, really funny…like I apparently did as I started to giggle inappropriately, covering my face with my hands.

“Hana,” I heard Michael say loudly over my odd laughter – I finally stopped when I heard his voice, embarrassed as hell.

I looked up at him, catching my breath, shaking my head at myself. He looked thoroughly unamused and concerned.

“I’m sorry,” I groaned.

He eyed me for a moment before he spoke. “It’s okay, Hana,” he said softly.

I felt my mouth drop open. “It is?” I questioned.

He smiled and nodded. “Yes. I should have deleted that text; I figured you’d peek at my phone at some point. You ruined the surprised though,” he shook his head at himself as he walked towards me and sat down on the bed beside me.

I was completely astounded. “What surprise?” I asked eagerly.

He sighed and shook his head. “I was going to give it to you tonight, but I think I’m going to wait a little bit,” he narrowed his eyes at me, as if searching for my reaction.

“What? Why?” I questioned, suddenly pouting.

“Just trust me, Hana,” he implored.

I figured I would leave it at that. He wasn’t mad at me for snooping and he hadn’t frantically ran away from me after my odd, inappropriate behavior.

“Okay,” I agreed, already forgetting about it as I smiled and got excited to go to Emily’s.

“Okay,” he repeated, standing up as he continued to dress himself.

After we finished getting dressed, I happily kissed Michael goodbye and decided to walk the 1.5 mile to Emily’s apartment. I still needed to expel my unwanted and embarrassing energy. My frozen legs hurriedly led me to SoHo as I trotted with glee, taking in the beautiful New York afternoon and not really registering that it was only 35 degrees out; my mind was too focused on how beautiful and amazing the city was, how much I loved Michael, wondering what the hell the surprise was, wondering when I would ever have time to paint, and I wonder if my parents are doing okay, was I supposed to interview that Broadway performer Saturday or Sunday? It took me a quick 20 minutes to finally get to Emily’s apartment and I was entirely too excited to surprise her with my presence – I was already giggling and talking to myself as I turned the corner to her building, the customers sitting outside of a Starbucks giving me weird looks and smiles.

I knocked on Emily’s door, impatiently waiting as I looked down at my phone. I heard muffled chatter inside before Emily opened the door with her bright, widened blue eyes.

“Han!” she exclaimed, looking surprised as she held her robe closed tightly in front of her.

“Hey Em,” I gave her a curious smile –what’s she still doing in a robe at nearly 3 in the afternoon?“Are you busy?”

She looked around, as if making sure someone wasn’t listening in on the conversation.

“Adam’s here!” she whispered, a wide smile on her face.

My mouth dropped open. “Oh! Shit. Okay, um…I’ll come back later,” I shook my head, starting to walk away.

“No, no, no. He’s in the shower. He’s leaving soon,” she explained, taking my hand. “Come in,” she insisted.

Emily had her couch and TV all set up with bookcases and shelves lining the walls, a touch of Emily’s girly and stylish personality showing with fresh flowers, cute knick-knacks and Vogue magazines. Mismatched pillows sat on the grey couch, a chevron-patterned rug in front of it, and end tables with more magazines sat on each side of the couch.

“It’s looking good in here!” I mused as I looked around.

“Thanks,” she smiled, hopping on the couch and I soon followed.

“So how’s it going at Michael’s? Are you all settled in there?” she asked eagerly with wide, curious eyes.

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