"Why do you look like you got run over," were the first words out of Jessica's mouth.
With her, I could not expect any differently.
"Come in. Are you here for the money?" I asked as I walked into my room to retrieve it.
"Have it." I stretched my hands out to her and she collected it.
"Oh. Thanks, but I didn't even come here for that. I came to visit," she stated, then headed into the sitting room. "Everywhere is boring, and I just said, 'hey! Why don't I visit Anne', So here I am." She plonked down on the sofa.
"What if I wasn't home, what then?"
She shrugged her shoulders and looked away. I took my time to admire her; she was a pretty girl- gray eyes, blonde hair, pink lips-her family must have really good genes. But, beneath that beauty, there was something else, something I had seen one too many times.
"Why are you sad?"
"I'm not-"
"Please, do not lie to me. Why are you worried," I asked, infusing a bit of authority into my voice to let her know I wasn't just asking.
"Danny and I are having problems." She sighed and then relaxed into the chair in an attempt to seem calm. Though, the twisting of her fingers and the bounce of her legs said otherwise.
"Your boyfriend. Do you want to go into detail?"
"He's been distant lately, and I'm scared. What if he decides he doesn't want me, want 'us'? And yesterday, Polly, one of my best friends, said she saw him with Lexie, and that they were really close and laughing, and he seemed different from when he hung around me."
"I think I see the problem here. And it'll actually be your fault if the relationship falls apart if you are not careful."
"I don't understand."
"Well, I'm not saying teenagers know nothing about... relationships? But they don't fully understand what goes in and out of a relationship. Forget that," I said. "Instead of making judgement based on what your friend saw, why don't you ask Danny. Ask him the reason for his closing himself off from you.
"Try that, if it works, all well and good, and if not, then..."
For a while, she didn't say anything, just kept staring out the window. Her body was now more relaxed
YOU ARE READING
The Librarian, Her Lover, And Everything In-between
RomanceI stood with one foot pressed against one rung of the ladder that stood braced against the huge shelf, while the other foot went in search of another rung on which to balance my weight. Never again would I climb a ladder, I promised myself, but for...
