Brave Enough To Love Again

Chapter 17

Eden

He was gone.

The feeling of shame washed over my body. I began to doubt my decision of sleeping with him. However, my gut was telling me that he was a good guy, so I forced myself to give him the benefit of the doubt. I walked around in my apartment to look for clues.

He wasn't in my apartment anymore because all his things and clothes were gone along with his shoes. There was a slight chance that he had left to get us breakfast since there was little to no food in my fridge. So I decided to take a shower and give him some time. However, despite my extra long stay in the bathroom he still hadn't come back.

What time was it anyway?

I looked at the clock on my bedside table and was blown away by what it said. 2:45 pm. What the fuck? How was it already that late in the day? He could have left hours ago or ten minutes before I woke up. There was no way I could find out at what time he actually left, so all the waiting had been in vain.

Then it hit me. My phone! Where was my phone? I looked in my clutch first, which I had with me the night before, but it wasn't there. I tried to remember where I left it. There were two possibilities, I either forgot it in the jazz club or it was somewhere in my apartment because I hadn't taken it with me in the first place.

I began to methodically search my place, inspected the usual spots where I normally left my phone, but it was nowhere to be found. Out of desperation I went on all fours despite my aching body and crawled around looking under my furnitures as well as under my bed. Panic was starting to fill my body and I was close to tears. Why? Why the fuck did this have to happen? It dawned on me that I had to have left it in the club and I was pissed as hell about it.

Disappointment was a freaking understatement for what I felt in that moment when I realized I couldn't check for any messages he might have left me. I really hoped he had called to explain why he just left because I didn't have his number to confront him. It hadn't been necessary to actually call me after I gave him my number because we always met in front of my apartment and spent the days together till late at night, sometimes even until the wee hours.

Hurriedly, I put some clothes on and went out to buy a new phone that had my old number. I immediately checked my mailbox and was happy when I realized that there was a message from an unknown number.

"Eden, I'm really really sorry I bailed on you like that. I didn't want to wake you. I would have loved to stay with you, but something really urgent came up and I have to deal with it right away. I'll call you."

Keane's voice seemed hurried and distracted, but I was relieved to know that he didn't just leave without a reason. After saving his number, I was glad to have some way of contacting him if anything came up. Not that I would call him for no reason, but a tiny part of me itched to dial his number to hear his voice.

This was not how I wanted to spend my last day of vacation. He was supposed to be there with me. I had hoped for another fabulous day in his presence, but was left alone and frustrated instead. The voice of reason in my head kept arguing with me to Keane's defense, saying that he clearly had something important to do, and I should stop behaving like a spoiled child. The other part of my brain reminded me that he never actually said when he would call, just that he would. That dimmed my mood because the prospect of waiting for an indefinite period of time was demoralizing.