Page 71 of The Thorne at My Side
"Nothing, she was perfect. She is perfect, I just, I'm not what she was expecting."
"Really? Aren't you the total package?"
I laugh as I sit down on the sofa with her. I pull my tie out of my pocket and start to slide the silk through my hands. I don’t want it to remind me of Maggie’s hair but it does. "Some might say that, but I'm not sure this girl would."
"So she broke it off with you?"
"Not exactly."
"I'm so confused." Elle says as she stuffs a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
"I am too, Elle," I say and reach over for some popcorn of my own.
We sit in silence for a few minutes while the period drama Elle is watching plays in the background.
"What are you going to do?" Elle asks the question we both want the answer to.
"I'm not sure. At this point I’m going to sleep on it and see if an idea comes to me in the morning."
"Well, remember what Mom always told us, honesty is the best policy, except in politics."
We share a laugh and after one character challenges the other to a duel for kissing his sister, I turn to her. "You know I'm not going to die because your honor is in question."
"My honor has been questionable for a long time, you're off the hook."
I laugh and stand up, "I'm headed to bed."
It is a fitful night of sleep as I toss andturn, replaying the hurt in Maggie’s face and not knowing what to do with the information that she is also TalkShopGirl.
CHAPTER 20
Theories Involve Broken Thumbs
MAGGIE
"Good to see you last night?" I read out loud because maybe I’m dreaming. "Good to see you last night? What the actual fuck?!”
I toss my phone onto my bed and flop down into the comfy corner of my chair. The SMS Connect phone is sitting on the coffee table staring up at me blankly. Taunting me with it’s silence. Constantly reminding me that DCFox never showed.
Instead, Austin Thorne walked in with his sexy, stupid, glasses, hint of tantalizing man cleavage, and then texts me the next morning sayinggood to see you last nightand nothing else.
"Why even bother with that text, Austin Thorne?" I say out loud. "Was it good to see me? Why did you have to interrupt the first night of the rest of my life? What if DCFox showed up while you were sitting at my table, saw you, and then bolted? And why hasn't he texted? Fuck! I just want to know why this is happening to me. I'm supposed to be writing speeches for the presidential candidate of the century but instead I'm sitting here in my PJs sniffling over a text. Aaahhh!" I scream into a pillow.
My heart stops as I hear the familiar woosh of an iMessage being sent off to the satellites. I jump up and lunge for my phoneon my bed and see that my iPhone did a voice to text of my rant and sent it to Austin.
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit," I repeat as I try to figure out how to unsend it. Instead three dots appear. He read it. He's responding.
Then the three dots disappear.
Then reappear.
"Spit it out!" I yell at the phone.
Ping.
"I bet those PJs are hot," I read out loud as the message comes through. "UUGH! What a turd!"
I lock my screen and then stuff my phone under the pillow before heading to the shower. Hopefully between the shower running, the bathroom door being closed, and a feather down barrier, Austin won’t get a voice to text rendition of my next rant.
