Peach Kisses

Chapter 23

Tying up the ribbon nicely, Kate smiled at the gift she had wrapped for Jordan. It would be their third month of dating each other and Kate thought to give a gift after all the sweet and nice things he's done for her.

It's been a good couple of days since she's last gotten to spend time with Jordan, him being busy with studies as he had a few other advanced classes than her for the next semester.

Giving the gift another glance, Kate smiled excitedly, she could already imagine the smile on his face once he opened his gift. Just as she was to call him, her phone had already begun ringing with his caller id popping up on the screen.

"Hey, I was just about to call you!" Kate beamed.

"Oh, uh, hey listen, are you free today?" Jordan asked, sounding a little off which made Kate's smile worry a little.

"Yeah. I was actually going to call and ask you to go out and eat with me." Said Kate, picking at the hem of her shirt, "Is there something wrong?"

"That's great then, I wanted to go see you too." The smile on Kate's face widened heartily.

"Let's meet up then! At Aldini's?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you there." Jordan's answer was quick and clipped and Kate was just about to say goodbye when the call suddenly ended, surprising her a little bit.

 That's odd.. She thought, looking at her phone.

Jordan never ended the call so abruptly before, even when he was in a rush. Not wanting to jump to conclusions or start to overthink, Kate shook the thought off and got ready.

But as she got dressed up, every time she'd catch a glimpse at the gift she bought for Jordan, the more the pit of her stomach bubbled in uneasiness. She didn't know why but for some reason the gift was making her feel like something just wasn't right.

Maybe it was just her overthinking things, Kate thought dismissively as she picked up the gift and left to drive to the restaurant where Jordan would most likely be waiting already.

Just as she thought, the man was already there seated in one of the tables in the outdoor section of the restaurant. She waved gleefully when he spotted her approaching and she smiled gratefully when he pulled up a chair for her.

"Wow, it feels like forever since we've been out on a date. We haven't spent time together in a while." Kate mused with a soft smile, remembering her first date with him at Aldini's despite it being a friendly date.

"Yeah.." Jordan nodded, chuckling a little airily.

Noticing his skitting tone, Kate's eyebrows furrowed in concern and she frowned at him a little, "Hey, you okay? You sounded a little off when you called earlier but I thought that was just me. What's wrong?"

Kate's concerned expression only made Jordan grumble some more, his eyes nervously averting hers and glancing down at his hands on the table. He wasn't sure how to tell her, but he knew he should. He must.

So with a deep breath, Jordan decided to just rip off the band aid in one go, "I don't want to do this anymore."

Kate blinked, just staring at Jordan blankly, "Sorry what?" She asked, thinking she misheard.

Biting his lip, Jordan looked at her and the seriousness in his eyes made Kate stiffen and she realised she hadn't misheard him, "I don't want to do this anymore, Kate." He repeated the words that made her heart throb and clench but not in the good way it usually does around him.

Kate turned silent, her body suddenly feeling heavy and her ears ringing. Her face contorted in confusion and hurt and shock as her heart started to pound inside her chest painfully.