Tired of Waiting

Chapter 8

I sat down on a barstool, suddenly overwhelmed.

"Wait so this is the guy that left you nine years ago?" asked Kristopher who was still so very confused with all this information.

"Ten, actually," I said a little more bitterly then I intended.

"Cindy, I know you must be upset with me right now, but I didn't just leave you for no reason," Greyson said pleading forgiveness with his eyes.

I lost it after he said that. "No! You don't understand. Do you know what Sylvia has done to me all these years? Of course not. You haven't been here for me! Now you expect me to forgive you?" I bellowed, silencing all of the tavern.

"Now is not the time to talk about this my dear," Greyson countered back with a calmer tone, "We should go somewhere else to discuss this."

"No. You left me, alone. You don't get to call me dear, or decide when or where we discuss this!" I shouted, and noticed I was standing, though I didn't know when I had stood up.

"Do you think it didn't hurt me to leave you behind?" he asked his voice rising.

"Oh really? If it hurt you so much, then why didn't you ever come back for me?" I asked back, tears threatening to spill out.

Greyson's eyes moistened and he began to apologize, but I stormed out the doors before I broke into tears. I went around to the side of the bar and slid down the wall, leaning against it. It wasn't long before I was bawling like a newborn. Kristopher slowly walked around the corner and slid down next to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me in a warm embrace. I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes, until I finally began to calm down. I sat there in his arms and was washed over with a feeling of exhaustion. Kristopher took a deep breath in and pulled me away to look into his eyes.

"Are you going to be ok?" He asked with a tenderness in his eyes. I nodded and took a deep breath and pulled away from his warm embrace.

He stood up and helped me up afterwards, and we walked to our horses.

"What do you say we call it a night?" asked Kristopher.

"That is the best idea I have heard all day," I replied with a smile.

We walked our horses to an inn and reserved two rooms. We went our separate ways to our rooms and even though it was only five or so in the afternoon, I flopped on my bed and fell right to sleep. I slept like a rock the whole night.

I woke the next morning just as the first hints of dawn peeked through the mountains. I sat up and rubbed the last bits of sleep from my eyes. I looked down at the blankets and wondered at what point of the night I had gotten covered up. I shrugged it off and stood up. I stretched out my stiff back and grabbed my stomach, after it had given me a friendly reminder that I had skipped out on dinner the night before. I finger combed through my ratted hair and pulled it into a ponytail. I grabbed my sack of belongings and straightened out my wrinkled clothes. I walked out of the room and searched for where Kristopher's room was. I found it at the end of the hallway and gave it a soft knock. I heard some muffled noises and the door opened up, revealing Kristopher in top notch appearances.

"Do you even sleep?" I asked looking him up and down.

"Occasionally," he said sarcastically, and smiling his cheeky smile, "How are you feeling today?"

"Better, thank you. And thank you for what you did yesterday. It really helped to have someone be there for me for once," I said giving him a tender smile back.

"Anything for a friend," he said, "So are you hungry?"

"I am starving!" I whisper shouted, "Why didn't you wake me up for dinner last night?"