Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Oh, I don’t know,” I say sarcastically. “I suppose taking my girlfriend to see a meteor shower would never be considered romantic.”
Josie deflates in front of me, and I don’t miss the shame in her eyes before she drops them back down again. Her voice is small when she says, “I’m sorry. That was totally uncalled for. I don’t know why this whole situation has got me feeling so out of sorts.”
I put my fingers under her chin to force her to look back to me. “Why did it end?”
“Because he chose a different life over me,” she says softly. “He decided to go practice with Doctors Without Borders, and it was a two-year commitment, and he didn’t feel I should wait for him.”
This was my worst fear when I sensed there was something between Josie and Aidan. Not just a history and perhaps even a breakup, but an actual heartbreak. I can hear it in her voice, and he broke hers at some point.
“Would you have waited for him if he’d asked you to?” I ask her bluntly. Because I need to know how close she was with this guy.
She shakes her head in denial. “No, I wouldn’t have. The three years we were together was long enough to wait. It was a matter of importance to him, and being with me for the long haul obviously wasn’t.”
“So, what did he do? Give you an ultimatum?” I ask her.
Another small shake of her head. “I gave him the ultimatum. Either stay here with me or we were over. He countered by inviting me to go with him, but that was so far from my dream of practicing in a hospital that it just wasn’t an option.”
There’s only one thing I can do at this point, and that’s to put aside any misgivings or insecurities I’m feeling. I pull Josie back into me and settle us down into the bed. I’m on my back and she’s sprawled across my chest with her head tucked up under my chin. She wraps her arms around me and once again apologizes. “I’m really sorry. I should’ve told you as soon as he walked out the door today who he was.”
I give her a squeeze. “Not a problem. I wasn’t going to let you hold your silence for long.”
“It feels good to get that off my chest.”
“So, why do you think he wants to go to lunch next week?” I ask. I also want to know why he showed up at her house, but I’m going to keep my mouth shut on that one for now.
I can feel Josie shrug. “He said he was on a break. I guess he’s just catching up with some people in this area.”
I could almost buy that reasoning if he had called her or texted her that he was back in town. Hell, even an email that he was going to be visiting would’ve worked. But to show up at her house unannounced? It implies he’s got something on his agenda other than just wanting a friendly catch-up lunch.
—
I wait until Josie falls asleep before I carefully extricate myself from her embrace. I roll out of bed and snag my iPhone off the table. Bending over, I pick up my underwear and put it on before heading into the living room.
Once there, I settle onto Josie’s couch and pull up my Facebook app. I’m not a big Facebook user, but I do have an account mainly so I can keep in touch with all of my family who tend to use it to post pictures of their kids and dogs and such. It’s truly the best way to stay involved with them, particularly since I’m traveling so much during the season.
Josie, on the other hand, is a prolific Facebook user. She friend requested me not long after she had dinner at my house on the Fourth of July. Of course I accepted, and while I don’t lurk on Facebook every day, I found myself checking in more than usual to see what Josie would post.
I pull up her profile and start scrolling through her timeline. I scroll and I scroll and I scroll, pause periodically to read one of her posts. She’s funny and witty, and her friends and family all seem to think the same based on their comments. But I’m looking for a very particular time frame, and after a few moments of continued scrolling, I finally reach her posts from two years ago.
As I suspected, there are several posts with pictures of her and Aidan together. I might be a glutton for punishment that I feel the need to know exactly how strong their relationship was. I know ultimately it wasn’t strong enough to pass the test of time, but there was a bond there, at least on Josie’s part, because she suffered heartbreak.