Journey (3)

Chapter 53

mastermind - taylor swift 

"Kyla's back in Chicago?" I repeat. Connor and I are standing in the doctor's lounge in the middle of our shift, and he is showing me a text on his phone.

"That's what she says," he tells me, nodding. "She's back, and she wants to talk to me. If I'm being honest, I want to talk to her, too."

I knew that this was coming. I knew that I couldn't put off the inevitable. I knew that Kyla would come back, and that she would have a lot of questions that required a lot of answers. 

"Okay," I say, nodding. I don't really know what to say in this situation. I don't know what he's looking for. "Are you asking me?"

"I'm just telling you," he explains. "I'm going to see her. And I want to tell you, because I don't want you to think that it's anything other than what it is. I'm just going to talk to her."

"I know that," I say, nodding. "Believe me, I'm not going to jump to conclusions again. I already learned my lesson this time. I won't make that mistake again."

"I just wanted to make sure that you know what's happening," Connor tells me. "Because I don't want there to be any miscommunication."

"There isn't," I tell him, confidently. "You don't have to worry. I know what's going on now."

"Right," Connor says. "I guess that we should probably get back to work before someone realises what's going on between us."

"Good idea," I say, nodding. "I just have to put something away, so you go ahead. I'll be a few minutes."

"See you later," Connor says, as he leaves the room.

I hardly have a second to myself before the door opens again. "Tessa," a voice says, and I look up instantly. Maggie smiles back at me.

"I'm just about to get back to work," I tell her. "I was just putting something away. I'll be out there in a minute."

"It's fine, take your time," Maggie says, still smiling. At least I know that it's nothing bad. "It looked like you and Connor were having quite an in depth conversation in here, weren't you?"

"Not exactly," I lie, shaking my head. "We were just talking about a patient. Nothing important."

"So, how long have you two been dating?" Maggie asks me, the abrupt question coming from seemingly nowhere.

I freeze. "How do...how do you...know that?" I mumble, confused. "I mean, what makes you think that?"

"Other than the fact it's extremely obvious, you just got very defensive about it a second ago," Maggie says, sarcastically. "So, like I said before, how long have you two been dating?"

"Since the airport," I tell her, defeated. I don't really have a choice but to tell Maggie the truth. She knows, somehow.

"That's what I guessed," Maggie says, nodding as though she's completely confident in herself. "So, you're hiding it from everyone? Not going public? Why is that, exactly?"

"I think you can probably figure that one out," I say, shrugging. "What do you think people here would say, if they knew what was going on between us. You know how people talk."

"Fair enough," Maggie says, nodding approvingly. She seems to take this excuse. "But what's your plan? Are you going to keep it a secret forever?"

"No, not forever," I tell her. "We will tell people, but just not right now. We're going to wait a few weeks. Just until people forget about the whole thing at the airport, and Kyla."

"So, now that I know your secret, you can tell me the honest truth about what actually happened at the airport," Maggie asks. "I knew you weren't telling me the full truth when I first asked you. Now I know why."