Contract War

Chapter 9

2 weeks after the wedding

"Turquoise?" Derek squinted in the dark.

I was currently sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor with a tub of vanilla ice cream and a big tablespoon. The lights were off and I felt peaceful in the dark...it wasn't pitch black though...that would just be creepy.

Derek sat down next to me with a tablespoon similar to the one I held and grabbed the tub of ice cream from my hands.

"What are you doing?" I stared at him.

"I'm not letting you finish all this ice cream on your own." He scooped some and put it into his mouth, lowly moaning in delight.

I know, right?

"What happened this time?"

"What do you mean?" I tried to act as if I didn't know what he was asking about.

He gave me a look that said 'Stop pretending you don't know anything and nothing's wrong, you're not very good at it' .

I sighed in defeat.

"Phil's not answering my calls or replying my texts,"

"There it is. I knew it had something to do with lover boy." He spoke with a mouth full of ice cream.

I rolled my eyes and snatched the ice cream from him.

"Well? Are you going to at least give me some sort of advice?"

He chuckled. "I thought you said you didn't take advice from people like me, but if you really need some words of wisdom then I guess I do have something for you,"

He paused dramatically and I motioned for him to continue.

"Give him some time."

I groaned and dragged my hand down my face in annoyance.

"How much time do you men need? It's been 2 weeks for crying out loud,"

"Exactly. It's only been 2 weeks, give the guy a break Tu,"

I dug my fingers into my hair, frustrated like never before.

"Isn't 2 weeks enough?"

"Turquoise, the woman he loves got married to another man. Now tell me, how would you feel if he got married to another woman and there was nothing you could do about it? Just put yourself in his shoes and stop thinking about yourself!!" His voice was more than an octave higher by the time he finished talking.

Tears pooled in my eyes and I fiddled with my manicured thumbs.

"I'm losing my mind Derek," I heard my voice crack. "Every time I close my eyes...every time I go to sleep, I see him lying right beside me but then I open my eyes and he's not there. I'm scared that he might never come back to me and he'll just pick up and leave."

Derek put his arm around me and pulled me toward him, I laid my head on his shoulder as I sniffled.

"I'm sorry Tu. I didn't mean to yell at you,"

"No you're right. I should probably give him some more time."

He held my hand, interlacing our fingers.

"What were you doing up at this time anyway?"

He snorted. "Look who's talking,"

"Hey, what did I do?"

"You're the one sitting on the kitchen floor, eating ice cream at 2 in the morning."

"Touché, but seriously, why were you awake?"