What A Secret Looks Like | ✓

22: grayson

I hadn't had the chance to tell Tessa that Caroline called and wanted to meet up. I also failed to tell her that I was meeting Line for coffee just to hear her out, but I had no intention of it being anything other than talking. Tess was with Sephine tonight while Hayes goes to another fundraiser to broker a new deal with a supplier wanting to increase the amount of the cut they get.

Line was already there by the time I got there, and had what I was presuming to be a chai latte for her and an espresso with one shot of vanilla for me. She looks the same except her hair is pulled back in a low pony and instead of her contacts, she's wearing glasses that dim the clarity of her brown eyes.

"Hey," I greet, hesitantly sitting down across from her as she smiles at me.

"I'm sorry if this is weird? I just wanted to check in with you and see how you've been doing. I got you an espresso with a shot of vanilla cause that was your old order, and I didn't know if it had changed."

I scratch the back of my neck, "It hasn't, I just wanted to clarify something Ma messed up when she ran into you but I'm seeing someone and it is serious. I'm sorry if it mislead you or something-"

Caroline's head angles back slightly as she laughs, "No Gray, I promise I'm not here to get back together. I truly just want to talk."

A sigh of relief escapes from me, and my hands close around the cup of coffee. "So how have you been?"

"I've been good. I got my nursing degree a few months after we broke up, and I got a job at a local hospital in New Jersey," She continues to ramble and I chuckle lightly. Everything's always been easy with her. Even after the shitty way things ended, I feel like I'm slipping back into our old routine of banter.

"Line, I wasn't asking about what you've been doing, I asked how you've been. Stop overthinking and just relax," I tease, taking a sip of my coffee as her cheeks flush.

She curls her hands around her own cup of coffee as the smile on her face falls, "I'm sorry. I just don't know how we're supposed to do this. I don't know what I was thinking asking you to meet me."

I reach across the booth to rest my hand on hers, "We never actually talked about everything. There was a lot left up in the air."

Caroline looks down at my hand resting on hers, and I pull it back to my side. "I'm sorry about what I did; giving you that ultimatum was the biggest mistake, and I wish I could tell you how sorry I am."

"You shouldn't be sorry. I always thought that I'd propose eventually, but the truth is that we were fighting all the time. It was only a matter of time before we would have broken up."

She takes a sip of her latte, "I know, it's just always been a what if I hadn't said it."

"I've had the same thought over the years but-" And then we're interrupted by the last person I thought I'd see in this coffeeshop. "Hayes?"

His eyes widen with shock as he recognizes Caroline, "Is this what you've been hiding? You and Caroline are getting back together? I saw you on the street, and I came to get Tessa and Sephine's coffee orders. I thought I'd say hi."

"No," I pause shortly looking at Caroline, "We're not getting back together. We're just talking." He looks a little better than he did a few days ago, more relaxed and just better.

"Yeah, I ran into Mrs. Taylor at the grocery story last week, and I just wanted to catch up with Gray since it's been a while... I'm really sorry about what happened to your wife, I saw it on the news." And with the mention of what happened to Sephine, his face falls, but he manages to keep a slight smile.