Page 19 of Protect My Heart
‘So what’d you tell her?’
‘I didn’t give her an answer yet. But I can’t keep waiting. I need to call her back.’
‘I think you should have dinner with her. She probably just wants to see you again before she leaves. As a friend.’
‘Yeah, maybe that’s all it is.’
‘Hey, I need to go. I’m going to be late for a meeting.’
‘Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot you’re still at work. I’ll talk to you later.’
‘If you decide to see Mia, let me know how it goes.’
‘I will. Bye.’ I end the call, still not sure if I should agree to have dinner with her. Maybe Mia only sees us as friends, but I still see her as more than that, which means having dinner with her could be a bad idea.
Looking at my phone, I find her number. My finger hovers over the screen. I need to do this. I can’t keep waiting. I need to give her an answer.
Chapter 5
Jason
My heart thumps faster as Mia’s phone rings. I’m nervous, but I don’t know why. We’re just talking. It’s not a big deal, or it shouldn’t be, so why am I nervous? I wasn’t this way last time we talked, but I think that’s because I was too shocked that she’d called to be nervous.
‘Jason,’ she answers, sounding out of breath. ‘Hi.’
‘Hey, are you busy? I should’ve texted first. Asked for a good time to call.’
‘Now is fine. I had a counseling appointment, but he cancelled. So how was your week?’
‘Good. Hey, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I had a lot going on this week with work and baseball and getting ready for graduation.’
‘I understand. When I was teaching, it was always crazy this time of year, but I loved it, sending the seniors off to whatever adventures awaited them. There was so much hope and excitement in the air. Or maybe that was just me feelingthat way.’ She laughs a little, and I feel myself smiling. I love her laugh. I’ve missed it.
‘It’s not just you. I feel that way too. It’s exciting to see kids I’ve watched grow up go on to graduate and start a new phase of their lives.’
I’d love to keep talking to her about teaching and all the other stuff we have in common, but that’s not why I called. I need to get an answer to the question that’s been on my mind all week. Just as I’m about to ask, Mia starts talking again.
‘So how’s the baseball team this year?’
‘Not great. We have a game tomorrow that I’m sure we’ll lose.’
‘Tomorrow? What time?’
‘In the afternoon, but we’re supposed to have rain so I’m guessing it’ll get delayed until later.’
‘Oh,’ she says, sounding disappointed.
‘Is something wrong?’
‘No, it’s just that we talked about having dinner and I thought maybe we could do it tomorrow, assuming you want to go. Did you make a decision?’
‘I wanted to talk to you about it first. I’m a little confused.’
‘About what?’
‘When we said goodbye in Chicago, we agreed we wouldn’t see each other again. I’m just wondering what changed your mind.’
‘Could we talk about this in person? It’s not something I want to do over the phone.’
