Make it Right

Chapter 9

You arrive about twenty minutes after. You find parking on the street and start to walk towards his apartment building. As you walk through the door to the lobby, the doorman stops you. He says, "Ma'am, I don't mean to mettle, but just wanted to give you a heads up that Ms. Lawson is up there with Mr. Jeon right now. I didn't want to you walk into something unpleasant without a warning."

You thank him for his kindness. Because you don't have access to his level without a key card, you go to the lobby reception and ask to have them announce your arrival. One of the security guards on duty calls upstairs.

As he hangs up the phone, he turns to you and says, "Mr. Jeon said he'll be down to get you shortly."

You thank him and go sit at the waiting area of the lobby. That heavy pit in your stomach starts to grow as you sit there longer. After waiting for about thirty minutes, which feels like 3 days, you walk back up to the reception area and ask to call again for you. The same security guard calls. But this time, he gets off the phone without saying word. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but he didn't pick up. I'll try and call again in a few minutes. I'm sorry about the wait."

"It's not your fault. Thank you. Can you let me know when you do get through?"

"Sure thing."

So, you go back to waiting. You feel so small and plain sitting in this huge and sparkly lobby. Another twenty minutes pass without any answer. At this point, you're sick to your stomach and can't wait anymore. You decide to leave and return to your apartment. As you head towards the lobby doors, the security guard that was helping you gets up and says, "Ma'am, are you leaving?"

You turn around and tell him, "Yes. I think I've waited long enough. Thank you for your help." You turn and leave the lobby.

You find your car and get in. Feeling confused and angry, you try to figure out what your next move is going to be. You wonder what they could be doing that he had you wait for almost an hour sitting in his lobby. With such questions, you have answers that pop up in your mind that you do not want to entertain. You think to yourself, "What if they are up there tangled up in each other in bed?" You immediately tell yourself, "He would never betray me like that, especially knowing that I'm downstairs waiting for him." Before you drive off, you decide that you'll text him.

You:
I waited almost an hour for you in the lobby.
I'm done waiting.
I'm going back home.
We should talk later.
I got a message from Priscilla asking to meet with me, and I know she is up there with you right now.

You press send and go back home. Feeling agitated and angry, you don't really know what to do with yourself. You know that you don't want to go back to your apartment because then, all you'll do is sit there and picture awful, awful things in your mind. You decide to head to your favorite bookstore and see if you can pick out something to distract you.

You make it to the shop and enter. The familiar scent of the place affords you some comfort. You say hi to the people that are working this evening and go down the aisle looking for... what you don't know. As you browse, you feel a little finger tap against your shoulder. You turn around, a little startled and see Owen, the proprietor of this store.

He smiles at you and says, "Hi, stranger. I haven't seen you around in a while. I did see that you got the Jane Eyre I had set aside for you. How have you been?"

A bit flustered you say, "Oh Hi Owen, I've been busier than usual the past week. I appreciate the Jane Eyre. Such a great story. Do you have anything else for me?"

It is clear as day that you mind is elsewhere and you look obviously upset, so he says, "Unfortunately, nothing for today. Um... I hope I'm not prying, but are you okay? You seem a little... off today."