Mending Heart |18+|

Chapter 22

Charity

"Make somebody happy today. Mind Your own business." – Ann Landers

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Beep! Beep! Beep!

I groaned, extending my arm to hit the snooze button and shut off the alarm.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"It's Saturday for crying out loud!" I mumbled, still half asleep. Blinking a few times to clear the sleep from my eyes, the bright white numbers staring back at me on the screen read four-thirty in the morning.

I also had three texts from Kate.

Kate: Good morning!!

Kate: Wake upppppppp!

Kate: Please tell me you didn't forget about the 5K today.

"Fuck." I sighed, falling back on my pillows. After a good ten minutes of glaring at the ceiling in the dark, I willed myself to get up. Pushing the covers off me, I sat on the edge of my bed before I finally got up and made my way to the bathroom.

Someone, please tell me why the hell I agreed to this? Because it's for charity – duh, the annoying voice in the back of my head reminded me.

Every year, Thomas and Cooper participates in a 5K charity run for Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. It was our way of giving back to the community, and a great team outing. All of the volunteers usually grab brunch together afterward and get pretty shit-faced off Mimosas and Bloody Mary's. You might not think it's possible, but trust me it is. 

Grabbing a pair of black yoga pants and a white tank top from one of my dresser drawers, I quickly got dressed. On my way out, I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and laced up my favorite pair of running shoes before locking the door behind me.

When I finally made it to Millennium Park, I spotted Kate with a couple of people from accounting. "Hey." I greeted everyone with a polite smile. Although, there's a pretty good chance that smile could be interpreted as a scowl – oh well.

"Look who finally made it!" Kate smiled, giving me a quick side hug.

"Yes, yes." I playfully rolled my eyes. It was a well-known fact that I wasn't a morning person.

"Mr. Thomas!" Kate straightened, her eyes darting behind me. "Good morning."

Twisting my head back, I saw Ethan walking towards us. His eyes brightened noticeably when they fell on me, and my heart involuntarily skipped a beat. Things between us had been strange lately – ever since I found out about his wife, or soon-to-be ex-wife I should say.

After he cornered me in my office a few weeks ago, I stopped avoiding him like the plague and the two of us talked here and there. However, it wasn't anything like we used to. We mostly talked at work and about work-related things, except for a few days ago when he texted me and asked me to Sunday brunch.

I thought about saying yes but ultimately decided against it. I was still trying to figure out what exactly my feelings for Ethan were. There was definitely something there, I just wasn't sure whether it was worth pursuing. Especially when he was in the middle of a nasty divorce.

The two of us were talking – which was an improvement – and I was willing to see where it went, but I wanted to slow down.

"Good morning everyone." Ethan smiled, unscrewing the cap on his water bottle. "And Kate, please – I told you to call me Ethan."