Page 53 of The Art of Deception

I narrow my eyes at him. “This is my wage you’re taking away here, Brent.”

He scoffs. “Then maybe you’ll learn to work and not be a Chatty Cathy.”That smirk, I want to wipe it off his face.“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I scrunch up my face as I unwrap my apron, throwing it down on the checkout bench, then storm to the locker room mumbling under my breath. Moving to my locker, I open it, grab my bag, and reach in for my cell to see if there are any messages from Greta. There’s a text from Xander instead.

My stomach flips.

I dream of him every day, without fail. I miss him more than words, but I’m still so undeniably fucking angry at him. I take abreath as I swipe the screen to open the message.

Xander:You’re still my girl, Tomi.

I pull my lips in to try and stop the smile forming on my face. I haven’t gotten a text from him in a month, though he has sent me two bunches of flowers in the last two weeks. Even so, I thought he’d move on, that he would forget about me, while I dream about him constantly all the time even though I tell my head to forget about him.

I don’t even know how to comprehend forgiving him.

I’m still angry as fucking hell.

All I know is I miss him.

And I hate that I fucking miss him.

My finger hovers over the keypad for a moment, and I start typing.

Me:I’m not your girl.

I hesitate over the send button.

I go to push it, stop, and then groan out loud.

“Ah, fuck it!” I hit send, and with it, I stand, tapping my foot impatiently as the little ‘read’ sign comes up, followed by the three bouncing dots. My stomach flutters as I impatiently wait for him to write back.

Xander:Yes you are.

I giggle, tears forming in my eyes as I blink them away.

I don’t reply, leaving it just as we did over a month ago.

Sniffling, I grab my shit and head off to relieve Greta.

On my way home conflicting emotions swarm through me, rattling my already unsettled stomach. I’m pissed at Brent for sending me home early, but hearing from Xander has lit something in me. I’ve been moping about for the last monthwith my tail between my legs, hating him but missing him. The dueling emotions wreak havoc on my body as I try aimlessly to get through each meaningless damn day.

But knowing he’s still thinking of me has melted a little piece of my frozen heart.

I might be broken.

I might be weak.

But that message has perhaps mended a tiny crack.

I don’t know how.

I know why.

But even so, I can’t allow myself to get trapped in his web again.

All I know is no matter how hard I try, I can’t get Xander out of my head.

And when I do think of all the good times we shared, the flooding nightmare that he’sactually Alexcomes soon after, and the tidal wave crashes over me once more.

---