Page 21 of All Tied Up
I shook my head. “No. I believe you. I just … something must be wrong with my phone service.”
“What about that brunch? Or did you have anotherengagement?”
Brunch. With him.
I wanted to go back to my apartment, curl up on my bed, and wallow. Forgo the attempt at holiday cheer. It hadn’t been working anyway.
But I had to do something about my state of mind. Another drunken night alone, texting a man who was ignoring me, would not happen again.
I nodded. “That would be nice.”
Getting out and living was a step I needed to take. One that would lead to moving on with my life. At least I hoped it would. One day.
He beamed at me. “Excellent. I was eighty percent sure you were going to turn me down.”
My laugh was forced and fake, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“I haven’t eaten yet. I was going to just pick up something after I stopped by the bookstore,” I told him. I had no appetite, but I needed to eat.
“Perfect timing. Looks like fate took over for me,” he replied with a flirty grin.
I didn’t try to smile back, but nodded my head once. I didn’t much care for fate. It had a way of screwing me over. Like right now.
Taking a bite of the only gluten-free option available at the place Thurston had brought me to, I tried to act like I cared about his week at work. At least he liked to talk about himself. I wasn’t required to say much or answer any questions. Remembering to nod and appear as if I were listening was a challenge though. I was getting weary from listening alone.
We’d not even been here thirty minutes, and I was bored to tears. The gluten-free French toast was good at least. Although I wasn’t going to be able to eat much of it. My stomach had shrunk from my lack of eating the past two weeks. As had the rest of me. I’d had to take off my jeans and put on a sundress because they were too big.
“That is, if you are free that weekend? Jellie mentioned that you normally spent Christmas with her family in New Hampshire, but I wasn’t sure how long you stayed after the actual day,” I heard him say and realized I had no idea what he was talking about. I’d zoned out. He was watching me with anticipation, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to be saying.
Had he invited me somewhere? If so, I was busy. Very busy, sitting in my apartment alone. Writing—or trying to write. There was no way I was going anywhere with him. This was punishment enough. I wasn’t mentally ready to attempt dating of any kind.
“I, uh—”
The sound of an alarm went off, startling me and jerking Thurston’s steady gaze off me to look toward the kitchen, where it seemed to be coming from. Talk about saved by the bell.
“Fire!” a man yelled as he came barreling out from the kitchen entrance. “Everyone, out!”
Dropping my fork, I grabbed my purse and quickly jumped up, not waiting to see if Thurston was coming. Other customers were hurrying for the exit, and more alarms joined the first one, making it impossible to hear anything else. I made my way behind the first rush of those leaving before glancing back to see Thurston carrying his breakfast sandwich in one hand and his cup of coffee in the other. Apparently, he didn’t want to leave his food behind. There were more shouts to move quickly and away from the building as we were pushed into the others on our way out.
“Come this way,” Thurston shouted behind me when we were finally outside, then turned right.
I followed him down the street a short way before the fire department sirens began to blare.
I should have stayed in today.
“My apartment building is four blocks this way and then a right turn and two more blocks,” he told me when we were far enough away that he didn’t need to shout. “You could come up for a cup of tea if you want. I just got a tree yesterday, and I was going to decorate it today. I’d love the help.”
Nope. That was absolutely not happening. I wanted nothing to do with decorating his tree or seeing his apartment. The universe had handed me an out, and I was taking it.
“Thanks, but I’ve got a bit of a headache after that, and I need to get to work. I’m very behind on my manuscript.”
His flash of disappointment was brief before he was smiling again. “Well, we can just plan on finishing our date another time,” he replied.
No, we can’t.
“Go get your phone checked out and give me a call or text when you have some free time.”
“Okay,” I said, knowing that day would never come. “Should we go back and pay?” I asked, realizing we’d not received our check before we were evacuated.
