[Excerpt]:
"Does it bother you?" He asked, after an incisive moment of silence.
"Does...what bother me?" I immediately returned, unable to decipher the objective behind the closed-ended question.
"The way I stare. At you." He pondered, as his dark...
I sat quietly secluded in a cornered table inside the private homestyle restaurant, my heels tapping virtuously together. I couldn't help the looming suspense already beginning to form from the sobering thought of seeing Caleb.
Offering myself a fleeting distraction, I peered blankly at the bristling flames radiating from the fireplace across from my table. The reflective heat instantly warmed my body and the fire's orange glare mirrored tiny flecks on my irises.
After summoning enough courage to reach out to Caleb, he'd surprisingly agreed to meet up with me in-person. Thus, my current nerves were a culmination of an overwhelming sense of anxiety and suspense of how today's events would pan out. The truth was, despite everything that had transpired between us, he still meant a lot to me.
Hence, for nearly all of yesterday, I had ardently gone over what I planned say to him. Yet, no matter how many times I had rehearsed the same lines, I couldn't seem to settle on the sincerest way to approach the situation within such muddied contexts. More so, I struggled to prepare a fine-tuned apology that fully addressed the humiliation I'd caused him. This included the way I'd insensitively led him on for weeks and the fight he'd had with Kendall.
In other words, there was a lot I had to take accountability for. And I planned to do just that for every last one of my wrongdoings.
After using up the couple of minutes I'd conveniently had to myself, a friendly server approached my table. She offered me a pleasant smile, then placed a vintage bottle of 1942 on the sheeted surface top.
"Refill, Miss?" She asked, already moving her hands toward my emptied wine glass.
"Yes, actually. Thanks." I responded, convincing myself that more alcohol was exactly what I needed to work through my nerves.
The server filled up my sheer wine glass a quarter-way and, after thanking her, she advanced to the patrons of the next table. Grabbing the newly replenished glass, I shook it by the stem, then opted to take a long sip.
"Sasha, it's good to see you. You look great." That accented voice crept up behind me, just as I swallowed the fair-tasting sample of wine.
Turning around, I saw Caleb's athletic physique walking towards me. He was wearing a dark button up shirt, paired with black denim jeans and leather pointed boots. On a purely objective front, I had to admit that the man looked good. As my vision travelled to his face, guilt instantly fell over me when I noticed the slight bruising still apparent from where Kendall's finite blows had landed.
Not knowing whether to stand or remain seated, I eventually decided to rise from my chair and distantly greet him. Tucking my hands awkwardly at my sides, I willed myself to wait to see what kind of energy he planned to bring to the dinner.
When he stopped in front of me and offered a grim smile, I took the initiative to take a small step towards him.
"Nice to see you too, Caleb." I returned, tapping his shoulder awkwardly while he nodded his head and took the seat across from me.
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