Page 92 of Our Little Moments

Nate left half an hour ago, but I’m still waiting by the building for Adrian and the girls. I really, really hope they have good news. I was so close to bawling my eyes out when I was in the room with them, but I knew they needed comfort and stability more than sympathy.

As I wait for them, my phone rings. I know it’s either Derek or my parents calling, so I pull it out and answer.

“Hey, Stella.” Derek’s tone is so different from the last few hours of hell we just went through that I practically get whiplash.

“Hi, Derek. What’s going on?”

“You’re not going to believe what I managed to pull together.” He chuckles and goes on to explain what happened since we last talked.

He was at work a few days ago, helping a group of his students train their magic, when he accidentally slipped out my name. Of course, everyone got curious and asked if he knew what I was up to as one of my close friends. When he mentioned that I wanted to go into a new direction, some of them offered to help. Through their connections and network, they managed to find a stage that’s available for me to put on a concert next month. They even managed to pull together a team to help with everything.

All that’s left is to make the announcement. Make it official.

God, there couldn’t be a worse timing.

“This is all great news, Derek,” I tell him after he explained everything.

He stays silent for a few seconds. “What is it, Stella?”

“Nothing,” I say a little too quickly.

He chuckles but there’s no humor in it. “Come on, Stella. I don’t want a repeat of what happened all these years between us. Can you please tell me what’s wrong? I can tell you’re not as happy as I expected and you can tell me whatever it is that’s going through your head.”

I sigh heavily and my eyes start tearing up. “I’m really happy about this, Derek. Really, really fucking happy. It’s just the timing of your call that’s not the best.” I chuckle lightly to cover my sniffling.

“Oh.” He pauses. “What happened?” he asks gently.

“You remember the people I told you about, the friends I made here?”

“Yes, of course I do. They brought you back to life when I couldn’t.”

I laugh so I don’t cry. “Derek, if you say things like that to me, I will start crying.”

He chuckles. “Okay, I’ll stop. But it’s still the truth.”

I smile, my emotions all over the place. “Yeah, it is. Anyway, one of the people they’re closest to had a, um, health issue this morning and we’re waiting for news on that.”

He stays silent. “Fuck, Stella. That’s awful. I’m so sorry, I wouldn’t have called if I knew—”

“Derek,” I interrupt. “It’s not your fault. Besides,Ipicked up the phone.”

I can practically hear the gears turn inside his brain. “Well, if that’s the case I can try to see if we can push it back, but then that means—”

“Derek,” I say firmly. “You don’t have to do anything. You are doing so much more than necessary for me right now. I’ll see how things develop here and we can decide where we go from there. Give me a few days and we can decide how we move forward then.”

“Well, call me back to update me on how everyone is doing, alright?”

I smile at the worry in his voice. He never met them yet he wants to make sure they’re fine becauseIcare about them. “No problem, I’ll text you when I have news.”

“Great. Well, take care of yourself, Stella. And make sure they take care of themselves too.”

I grin. “Of course I will. Have a nice day, Derek.”

Just as I knew I would, I get back to my apartment to find out I have 204 notifications from him.

Chapter 37

Adrian

---