Free Spirit

six

The next week went by a lot more smoothly than I had expected.

There were significantly less late nights at the office, and I was able to actually get home at five a couple days in a row.

Mr. Alexander had also thankfully chosen to ignore whatever had happened the Friday before. We even started to work a bit better together than previously. This was most likely due to the fact that I was less bratty about having to retrieve papers for him now that I knew the reason he couldn't do it himself.
I still thought that he should just let everyone around the office know about his disability so he didn't have to hide out in his office all day, but I didn't tell him that. I think he wanted to be seen as powerful, seeing as he was the boss, and thought a wheelchair was a sign of weakness.

I also got a lot closer with Elizabeth and Lily throughout the week. We spent every lunch break together, chatting about everything that was going on in our lives. We even agreed that we should have a little girls night some time soon. I was beyond excited about this. Since Lucas and I had shared most of our friends, it became a little awkward when we split up. I stopped hanging out with them because they had been his friends first, and I didn't want to force them to choose sides. All of my own friends that I grew up with were back in Michigan, and I hadn't been able to make my own friends here in New York because I kind of jumped into the relationship with Lucas as soon as I got here. Therefore, I was happy that Elizabeth and Lily wanted to hang out with me, and there was no toxic ex to get in our way.

Speaking of Lucas, I had just gotten a text from him this morning for the time in over three months. I had been too busy to open it when it came in, so I hadn't yet read it. However, it was Friday afternoon, and I had just left work: Mr. Alexander had let all of us go home early today. So, here I was in my apartment with nothing to do besides read his text.

I unlocked my phone and clicked on our conversation.

Hey babe, it's Lucas. I've been thinking about you lately, and I want you to know that I'm sorry. I know we didn't always see eye to eye, but we were right for each other, and you know it. Give me another chance, Nadia.

I read the text over a couple of times, just to make sure that I fully understood what he was saying. I was awestruck that he was reaching out after so long, deciding now was the time to fix our relationship.

I wanted to be angry, remind him of the horrible way he treated me, but suddenly I couldn't remember the bad things.

Instead, all I could remember was the way I had someone to lay down with each night in bed. I could remember the way he would tell me how beautiful I was, even when I knew it was just because he wanted sex. I could remember how every once in awhile, he would stay up late with me, helping me study for my classes.

Maybe I had written him off too easily. He could sometimes be a complete dick, but wasn't that a trait all guys had in common?

I didn't want to be the girl that went back to her toxic ex, but I realized for the first time that I actually missed him.

I finally decided to type out a reply, hoping that I wasn't making the wrong decision.

Hey Lucas. Maybe we can meet up and talk things out or something. Let me know.

I hit send, and listened to the little noise my iPhone made as it delivered.

Not even two minutes later, I received another text from him.

Perfect, how about my place on Monday, 8 o'clock?

I briefly considered his proposal. I would feel more comfortable meeting in a public place, but it was most likely only going to be a quick conversation, so it wasn't worth the trouble of going to a café or something. Plus, Lucas had a roommate, so we wouldn't even be alone.