Page 43 of D.I.E.T. (Did I Eat That?)

Cue the interruption. Three… two… one…

His stinking phone rang again. Ten bucks down on who was calling. I wasn’t nearly lucky enough for it to be Bette again, or even Tori or… What was his other sister’s name? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t her, either. The draw of having me pressed up against his wall simply wasn’t enough to keep him from answering.

Apparently, it was “all falling apart” or at least that was what she screeched through the phone when he answered. He managed to calm her down enough to find out what exactly was falling apart, then with guilt in his eyes, he said, “Sorry, sunshine, I have to go. But please stay.”

“Just go,” I said instead of agreeing to something I knew would be a lie. “It’s fine.”

It wasn’t fine. We were so far from fine.

Oblivious to this, he kissed me once more and rushed back out the door. I gave it ten minutes and called a taxi.

Fifteen:

The day of our—my—trip finally arrived. I couldn’t believe it. There I was, checked in at Detroit Metro waiting for my flight. People rushing from gate to gate or hustling to get to baggage claim because they wanted nothing more than to move on to their next location. The bustle of activity all around me, I should’ve been happier about it, more excited, but I’d been expecting Sinjin to be here.

Now I had no idea.

He’d left me. After a fantastic date. After a delicious meal. After inviting me back to his house and I’d accepted, he’d left me. Clearly, Vanessa was more important.

Popping in my earbuds, I hunkered down in the seat until it was time to board. I had a little while to wait as I’d wanted to make sure I got here in time to do all of the safety checks, so I showed up ridiculously early. As it turned out, Dion and Henri flew out last night, opting for a redeye flight, which meant if Sinjin didn’t show, I was flying solo down to Chile. With the music blasting in my ears, I started to sing and make a fool of myself in the middle of an airport. But I ask, who could possibly listen to “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire and not sing along? Was that even possible? Besides, it was better than wallowing in self-pity. Fake it till you make it, right?

There I sat doing my white-girl seated version of the hustle, pretending for the rest of the world to enjoy myself, until something touched my shoulder and I screamed, jumping, fumbling to keep my phone from falling to the nasty floor. Then popping out my earbuds, I turned to look over my shoulder and there stoodSinjin. My beautiful Sinjin wearing a long, woolen coat, the kind ridiculously rich business men tended to wear. A green knit scarf draped around his neck. Only his hair looked the least bit messy, but in a sexy way, like the wind outside mussed it and he’d run his fingers through it to tame it.

He held two coffees in a coffee tray with his carry-on bag slung across his shoulder. I didn’t know what to think. Should I even talk to him after what he’d done to me the last time we saw each other? The man I loved had run off to help another woman. And not just any woman, oh no, no, no… the woman who also happened to be his ex, one he’d been planning to ask to marry him. The one he’d wanted to spend his life with. I didn’t know what to do with all that information. What did it all mean?

“Please,” he said. “Take the coffee.” Bribe? Peace offering? I mean, itwascoffee. What other choice did I have? One did not simply turn down a steaming mug of joe. Even though this wasn’t exactly a mug, but a to-go cup with a lid on it. Semantics. I reached up to grab a coffee from his hand.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’m surprised you showed up today.”

His body jerked in response. “Why would Inotshow up today, sunshine?”

“Because the last time I saw you, you seemed a little preoccupied.”

“Geet, come on. That’s unfair. I—”

“I know,the merger.” God, I was so sick of hearing about that merger. I took a quick sip of coffee to avoid looking at him because I felt my eyes getting hot. But it was the coffee that was actually hot. I stuck my tongue out, waving my hand in front of it to cool it off. It didn’t matter if he saw the new tears.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I answered, though it sounded more like “I’n hine” because I kept my tongue out cooling off. When it felt okay enough to actually talk properly again, I told him what needed to be said. “Trust me, I get it. Vanessa. The merger. I don’t want you to feel like you owe me anything because you don’t. Not your time. Not this trip. If you’d rather not be here, it’s whatever.”

He fixed me with a steely stare while pressing his palm to his forehead as if fighting a headache. “Dammit, Geet. It’s not okay and no, I would not rather be anywhere else.” Then dropping into the seat next to me, collected himself, placing his hand to my knee, giving it a slight squeeze. “This is exciting, going on a trip to Antarctica,” he said.

“Chile,” I corrected him. We both laughed, easing some of the tension.

“I’ve missed you,” I said. “Probably shouldn’t tell you that. It puts too much pressure on you, but it’s true. I’ve missed you. I try to pull back, to give you your space, and then you go and do stuff like our date Saturday and I forget for a while. Then Saturday night happens and I kick myself for letting my guard down.”

As he sat there looking at me, he ran his hands through that thick hair, making me itch to run my fingers through it too. Then he sighed. “There’s been so much I’ve had to handle on my own because I can’t get a hold of Brandon.”

I hold my hand up. “You’ve said. Don’t think I haven’t been listening—because I have. That’s why I’m telling you, no anger. If you need to stay, then stay.”

“No, Brigeeta—” Oh, man, he used my full name. I might have possibly ticked him off. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need to be on this flight. I need to go with you to see your friend get married. When this merger is finished my time will free up considerably.”

“Okay,” I answered.

“Okay,” he repeated in his ‘I’m done with this conversation’ tone, yet still, he reached out to cup the back of my head, pulling me in close enough for him to bend in and kiss me. Not soft, a firm kiss to put a period on our talk in case his tone had failed to accomplish that. “But for now, let’s go get you checked in.”

“I’ve already checked in.”

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