Page 53 of Right Where You Left Me
I go through the motions of sanitizing my station, moving slower than I normally would because I really don’t want to know what Liam is here to tell me. Was I right? Is he here to brag? To tell me that he’s taking Emma back to Pittsburgh? My stomach is twisted in knots, but I take a deep breath and steady myself. I’ll let him say his piece and then he’ll be gone and if he isn’t taking Emma away I can go back to trying to figure out how to get her to forgive me for being a raging bitch to her the other day.
We make eye contact and I cock my head toward the back room in the shop. “We’ll have privacy in there.”
“Lead the way.”
I shut the door behind us and he leans back against the wall, looking me over. I squirm under his gaze and look at the boxes we have stacked in here that need to be unpacked. I’ll have to remind Peyton. “So.” I say and let the word linger between us.
“I want to talk to you about Emma.” He says.
I wouldn’t be able to hide the pain on my face even if I tried. I don’t want to talk about her with him. He got to see all the parts of her I wished for. He was married to her for almost a decade and knows her so much better than me. How do I compete with that?
He uncrosses his arms and holds them up placatingly. “I know that you two broke up, and Emma told me about the fight that led to it.”
I nod. She said he was still her best friend, it would make sense that if she were going to talk to someone about it it would be Liam. And if River was telling me the truth, my poor little elf left our apartment so broken… he would have seen her and known we weren’t okay. “What about it?” I ask softly.
“I wanted to clear the air between the two of us. It seems there was some sort of misunderstanding between you and Emma that had to do with me.”
“That’s a little presumptuous of you.” I snark at him.
He rolls his eyes. “She told me everything, Sage.”
I look down at my feet, toeing the ground. “Fair enough. I was a bitch about it, I let my insecurities and fear get the best of me. What else is there to say about it?”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “That’s not why I’m here. I’m not going to tell you you were right, or that because you hurt her, I’m angry with you. I’m here to tell you that she and I aren’t holding feelings for each other. There is no unrequited love on my end. Yes, we were married. Yes, I loved her so much and still do, but Sage.” He shakes his head. “Our marriage wasn’t— She only thought she loved me the way she was supposed to. The day she realized who she was, what her truth was? Shebloomed. I had never seen her shine like that before. And now, after having time to think about our life together it’s clear that she and I are just platonic soulmates. She’s my best friend and always will be, but she never once loved me the way I know she could love you. The way she talks about you, Sage, is something straight from a movie. You need to know that.” He gives me a sad smile. “I hope that you two are able to get over this hurdle, because I know you two are something special. I could tell just from the way she looked at you in the parking lot at the diner.”
“I know that.” I say sharply. “I know that she’s special and incredible. I know that I fucked it all up okay? I was being… irrational.” I growl out. “I plan to apologize. I’m just—” I shake my head. “I’m scared she won’t forgive me, I wasn’t very nice about it…”
Liam shrugs. “Won’t know until you try though.”
“Yeah.” I murmur. “You’re right.”
“Well, I said my piece.” He says pushing off from the wall. “I really hope you guys work it out.”
“Thanks.” I say and try to smile at him. This man that although loves my Emma, is working for us, not against us. “Emma is lucky to have you in her life.”
“She’s lucky to have you too, Sage.” He looks over at the wall across from us and smiles. “Atreyu fan?”
I turn to look at one of the many band posters we have hung up back here and nod. “Kick ass band.”
“I listened to them all the time growing up.” He gives me one last smile, and taps my shoulder on his way out of the back room, leaving me there alone with my thoughts. I do plan on apologizing to Emma. I need her, this past day without her has shown me that. I look at the time and groan. Piper has me helping her this afternoon and I need to leave soon so I’m not late. I’ll just have to brainstorm a way to show Emma just how sorry I am while I’m making coffees for the next few hours.
“Excuse me? I’m sorry, but this was supposed to be a half-sweet vanilla latte.”
I stare blankly at the broad, bearded man in front of me holding onto a to-go cup that says “Sarah” on it. “Sir… Is your name Sarah?”
His brow furrows. “No?”
“Then I’m sorry to inform you that that drink is not yours.”
“Oh.” He says, his cheeks turning a bright pink.
I hand him the cup full of his latte and grab the mocha he’s holding and give him a wan smile. “No worries. Happens way more often than you’d think.” Usually by obnoxious old people, but the guy clearly feels bad so why add to his torture by making him feel worse.
I remake the mocha and call out the name again, getting back into the grind of making drinks and taking orders. Piper is working in the kitchen, finishing up whatever Emma had prepped before she left for the day. My chest hurts thinking about that. My elf was in here earlier and if I wasn’t such anass I could’ve been here watching her work. Instead I told Piper I couldn’t come in until after Emma’s shift ended because I’m a chicken shit coward and I need more time to figure out my apology.
Piper comes out to join me after a while and the two of us work in companionable silence. She’s been pretty tight lipped today, even though I told her about the fight and the break up. Which is out of character for my nosy sister, but I’m grateful. I don’t feel like talking to her about it while we’re here. But maybe she can help me plan my apology.
“Hey, Piper?”
