The Lunchtime Special

Chapter 34 - Feels Like Forever

Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into weeks. With each one that passes I hope I'll think of Jake a little less, miss him a little less. It doesn't happen.

I've come out of hibernation; I'm visiting my parents and seeing my friends. They think I'm getting over him but it's all an act to avoid the sympathetic glances and assurances that time heals everything. Time is doing nothing but holding me in limbo. I miss talking with Jake, laughing with him, loving with him; even the idea of arguing with him has taken on a rose tinted hue. All I'm doing is keeping my feelings buried and living a big fat lie.

Will finally talked me into going out with he and Laila but seeing her is like picking the scab off a sore; it only opens the wound up again. Still, I do it for Will and to keep up the pretence.

I've lost weight and the only reason I sleep at night is because I deliberately drive myself to the point of exhaustion. I've forgotten what it feels like not to have an ache around my heart. And each and every single day, multiple times a day, I have to resist the urge to pick up my phone, dial Jake's number, and tell him I love him and I want him back.

As time wends its way through spring, the shop is busier than ever and I'm grateful for the work. Being opposite the railway station is a great spot to catch tourists as they come and go and more and more often, Rob and I are run off our feet. I increase the hours I offer Chloe and Laura and am considering taking on a new part timer as well. The accountant confirms what the books tell me; business is booming. I feel a sense of pride in that but have trouble summoning up sincere joy. Maybe in a year or two...

Early one Sunday, almost three months after Jake and I broke up, my phone rings.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Will?"

"It's a beautiful day; we thought we'd take you out for brunch."

I stifle a very rude word when I peer at the time and discover it's only eight-thirty. "It's far too early for brunch; call me back in a few hours."

"Come on, Mi-Mi! We're going to that place in Glenbrook you love."

"2773?"

"Yes."

I'm very tempted and give a half-hearted kind of grunt. "Meet you there at eleven," I suggest, already preparing to snuggle back under the covers.

"We'll pick you up in half an hour," Will insists.

"That's not brunch, that's breakfast," I moan. I used to be a morning person, but now – well, I don't seem to be an any time of day person, really. "Come on, gimme a break; it's my one day off in the week."

"Okay, an hour; but if you're still in your pyjamas with your hair looking like a rat's nest when we get there, that's how you're going out," he warns.

"Fine!" I snap.

"Fine!"

I poke my tongue out at my phone before tossing it back on the bedside dresser, pulling my blanket over my shoulders and closing my eyes. Three minutes later I throw it off again, getting to my feet with a muttered curse.

"Good morning," Will greets me when I open the door to him, freshly showered and dressed.

"It was until you woke me at sparrow fart," I grumble. He only grins in reply and I grumble again, already pissed at how perky and cheerful he is. "What's the damn rush anyway?"

"It's always packed for Sunday brunch; we don't want to miss out."

I want to complain again, but thinking of how great both the food and the ambience are at the popular café, I change my mind. Locking my door and heading to his car, I steel myself to see Laila but am unable to do anything about the punch my gut takes when she gives me a smile exactly like her brother's. Dammit, Mia, just forget about him already, would you? I'm sure he's moved on; you need to as well.