Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“All right, one peppermint-mocha-latte coming up.” He smiles as he takes a seat beside me.
“What did you get?” I ask.
“Just a green tea. I’m a simple guy when it comes to coffee and teas.”
“Are you a simple guy when it comes to using mobile devices?” I counter with a bit of a biting quip. “Because you do know how they work, I’m pretty sure. And you have had my number for the last five years.”
Craig sighs and looks down at his lap. “All right, you want to launch right into it, huh? Okay.”
I can see he’s not eager to get into this conversation this early into our…date…or whatever this is right now, but I’m starting to feel things inside for him that I haven’t felt in years, and I have to hear what he has to say before I let him unleash any more of his incredible charm on me. I may have already gone against Marissa’s advice and met up with him just like she told me not to, but that doesn’t mean I completely disregarded everything she said.
I’m still hesitant. I want to know why he ghosted me and what he has to say for himself before I give any more of myself to him.
Or at least, that’s what I’m trying to do.
“Well, Daisy, would you believe me if I told you it was all my parents’ fault?”
“Really, Craig?” I scoff. “That’s what you’re going with?”
He sort of laughs and sort of sighs at the same time, then shrugs. “I know, I know, it sounds incredibly lame, but at the same time, it’s kind of the truth.”
“How?” I ask.
“Craig! Daisy!” one of the baristas calls out, jolting us both out of the moment. Craig rolls his eyes and quickly gets up and brings our drinks back to the couch. I can tell by just feeling the cup that mine’s way too hot (as they usually are at coffee shops), so I set it on the table beside us and give him a look for him to keep going.
“Okay, so…this is hard for me to say,” Craig continues, taking a deep breath. “So try not to get too mad at me.”
“I’ll try.”
“My parents…are snobs. And you know this.”
“Well…” It’s true, but I don’t want to just come right out and say that.
“It’s okay, Daisy, they are.” Craig nods, as though we’re sharing in a secret only a handful of people know. “And my parents never particularly liked your mom, the fact that she never re-married, or how she…behaved sometimes.”
Yep, Craig was right. I’m finding it pretty hard not to get mad at him right now.
“How she behaved?” I ask. “You mean how she’d get drunk for most of December, you mean?”
Craig’s not even looking at me now, but he nods. “Yeah. They were okay with me dating you for a while, but when it was approaching time for me to go to college, they started not being okay with it.”
“You mean…they didn’t want us dating?”
“Right,” he replies. “And just to be clear, I fought them on that. I told them I’d date whoever I wanted, and they could fuck right off!”
I snicker. “Yeah, that sounds like you back then.”
Craig chuckles too. “But then they gave me an ultimatum.”
“What ultimatum?”
“Either I break up with you, or they don’t pay for my college, they don’t let me live at home – they would basically cut me off, Daisy. I’d be completely screwed. My entire future.”
My head kind of goes on autopilot: I can’t stop nodding slowly over and over as I process everything he just told me, and my eyes are just sort of staring vacantly off into the distance at the red and green Christmas lights hanging around the window of the shop.
I can feel him waiting on me. He must be anxious – wondering what I’m going to say – but I’m not going to rush my response just for him. After all, he kept me waiting and wondering for five years.
Finally, I look up. “Your parents aren’t just snobs, Craig. They’re assholes.”
There’s a pause, then Craig bursts out laughing. “Yeah, you’re right about that one.”
“So why didn’t you eventually call me or text me or something once you were away from them? Once you were at school? Or once you had graduated?”
“Honestly? I was afraid to.” Again, he lowers his gaze. “I knew how excited you were to go to prom. I was too. I really wanted to see you in that dress. And I just didn’t want to hear you all mad at me for screwing things up so badly. So I just…”
“Ghosted me?”
“Yup.” He shrugs, giving me the I-was-an-idiot look. “But hey, now I’m back, and somehow the universe brought us together again. And maybe, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me–?”
“Excuse me everyone!” a barista dressed as a reindeer calls out from behind the counter. “I’m very sorry, but we will be closing in five minutes! Thanks for coming in to join us tonight!”