“Shit,” Olive said for about the fiftieth time as she reread the text messages from Stella. A canyon would be worn into her floor soon from the number of times she’d paced in the living room. She’d texted her back, but Stella didn’t seem to be up yet.
Today looked better than yesterday. This was how it always was when she had a down day.
She ticked away the minutes until she could reasonably expect a response. She got out of the shower and finished getting dressed, checking the screen at least seventy more times.
“Fuck it.” Olive swiped across her phone. She waited as the phone rang over and over.
Stella answered on the fourth ring. “Good morning, Olive.” She sounded muted, but not like Olive had woken her.
Olive paced back and forth in her bedroom. “I’m so sorry to call so early. I fell asleep early last night, and I didn’t get your texts.”
“It’s okay. I was at the gym. Just got back. I just saw your text.”
“When are you working?” Olive braced for Stella’s answer. She needed to fix this today.
“I have to leave in a couple hours. Why?”
Olive sat on the couch, elbows braced on her knees. “Can I take you for breakfast. Please? I need to explain and apologize.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
Olive nodded as if Stella could see her. “I really do.”
“Can you meet me at Silver Diner? It’s on my way to work, and—”
“It’s got good gluten-free food.”
Stella’s voice shifted as if she might be smiling now. “Exactly. In an hour okay?”
“Of course. I’ll be there.”
Olive scrolled through the rest of the messages on her phone. A bunch from Derek asking if she was having a down day—how did he always know? And several from Lindsay.
LINDSAY
We need to talk.
LINDSAY
Are you really so self-sabotaging you can’t even answer my calls anymore? I’m just trying to help you.
LINDSAY
After everything I did for you, it’s really sad to see this is who you really are.
She did what she should have done months ago. She swiped to block her number. Nothing good came of seeing anything Lindsay wrote to her. She needed to make better choices.
The irony of the “better choice” being begging her fake girlfriend to take her back over scrambled eggs had not escaped her.
Olive hustled to get Gus settled, giving him a short walk. She was so distracted she did the walk before diffusing her hair, which meant long curls of icicles hung off her head when she got back. She did the best she could with her hair and then ran out the door.
YOU ARE READING
Fly with Me: a novel by Andie Burke
Romance(Books you want to read but don't want to buy) A sparkling and steamy Sapphic romance, Fly with Me by Andie Burke is filled with sharp banter and that sweet, swooping feeling of finding "the one" when and where you least expect it. A one-way ticket...
