Never Let Go

Chapter 9: Pink Valentino

I stop off at the library on my way home to get Maya some books. I only own one of her favourites which is To Kill a Mockingbird, so I've come to the library to see if I can find Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. I purchase one more book that I think she might like and head home.

I walk through the house and find Katie in the kitchen, looking through some shopping bags that are scattered around the table.

"I see you've found your way home." I raise my eyebrows.

She looks up and smiles at me.

"Hey." She lowers her eyebrows when she sees I'm holding books. "More books? You'll be needing another bookshelf soon."

"They're not for me." I say, placing them down on the table. "They're for a patient."

"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Did you have a good night last night?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Yeah." She nods and tucks her hair behind her ear.

"I panicked when I woke up this morning and you weren't there. I thought something bad might have happened."

"Sorry." She frowns. "Me and Amanda had a lot to catch up on and we got quite drunk. She's been through a lot the last few days. She broke up with Jonathan and she got into a terrible state. I ended up going back to hers because she wanted me to stay with her."

"You sent me a text at 3am, Katie." I make a face. "Why didn't you reply to my texts before that?"

"My phone died. I was only able to text you when I charged my phone up at Amanda's. I'm sorry it was so late."

I sigh and run my hand through my hair.

"I saw beer cans in the bin. Who did you have over last night? Wes?" She asks.

"Yeah, but he wasn't here for long."

"Mmm." She makes a face.

"What's all this?" I ask, looking at the shopping bags.

"I took Amanda out for lunch today to cheer her up and we went shopping." She grins. "Look how cute these heels are." She smiles as she takes a box out from one of the bags. "I just couldn't resist. They're Valentino."

She takes out a pair of pink heels from the box with a beaming smile on her face.

"How much were they?" I make a face.

"Michael." She scoffs and drops her smile. "That's all you have to say? It's not like I can't afford them. You know I love designer shoes. When do I ever get the chance to get a pair like these?"

"Is that a dig at me? Because I can't afford to buy you designer stuff?"

"No." She rolls her eyes. "I'm just saying I wanted to treat myself. What's the problem?"

"The problem is I don't want to be talking about designer shoes." I shake my head, beginning to lose my patience.

"So, you don't like them? I'm not taking them back." She protested.

"It's not about that!" I raise my voice.

She gives me a look and I instantly regret getting angry.

"Sorry." I sigh, trying to calm down. "I mean, I want to talk about us. I can't just ignore what's happening between us and talk about a pair of designer shoes. That's not important to me - You're what's important to me. I want us to talk. Please?"

She sighs and puts the shoes down before folding her arms.

"Ok. What do you want to talk about?"