In-Between: A Hessa Story (1)

Chapter 25: Tessa

"Everything looks great, Tessa. Thank you so much for coming out here to meet me." Shannon says as she leads me to the door of her apartment.

"I'm so glad we could do this in person!" I reach out my hand for her to shake, but she gives me a hug.

"I really appreciate it, Tessa."

"Enjoy your time with your in-laws this weekend."

She smiles nervously, looking a little uncomfortable. "We will... Thanks!"

I can barely contain my smile as I walk back down to my car. My meeting with Shannon went great, better than great. All my hard work seems to be paying off. All the sleepless nights, all of the stress, it's all going to be worth it!

I check my phone and see a text message from my mother. She sent me a list of at least twenty things she needs from the supermarket. I plug in the address for Micheals into the GPS first so I can pick up the supplies for Heather. Lucky for me, there is a Micheals only 20 minutes from my current location.

-

"Why is everything so expensive?" I whisper to myself. The paint brand that Heather wants at Micheal's is crazy expensive. I'm going to be spending at least $100 on her birthday present, plus another $100 dollars for Hardin's Christmas gift.

"Tessa?" I swear I am hearing things, but I look up and find the last person I'd expect to see here.

"Robert...hi..." He begins to walk towards me. You've got to be kidding me.

"What are you doing here? Did you move back home?" He questions me.

"No no, I'm just visiting. It's my stepsister's birthday, so I'm just picking up some paint supplies for her birthday."

"Oh..." He stares at me. From the expression on his face, I can tell his brother didn't tell him that he met me.

"How... how have you been?" I ask.

"I've been okay. I am now the manager of the Lookout."

I act surprised. "Oh wow, congratulations. Thank goodness, the manager when I worked there was always an ass."

"Yeah, Steven... he got arrested for tax fraud and is currently serving time in prison, so I guess karma is a bitch." He laughs at my shocked facial expression.

"Oh my god, no way! Why am I not surprised though, he always acted so sketchy."

"You know Nora still works there. I see her from time to time."

"Yeah, Nora and I are still close friends."

"Nice..." This is kind of awkward, but not as awkward as I ever thought it would be.

"Why are you at Micheals?"

"My aunt's getting married tomorrow, so I'm picking up some last minute supplies."

"Oh, well congratulations to her." I give him a small smile, and he returns it.

"Are you....Um... how's Hardin?" He says uncomfortably.

"He's good. We live together in Brooklyn." I feel terrible about how I ended things with Robert. I didn't even leave him for Hardin, since it was months before Landon's wedding.

"Listen, Robert..." I begin my apology, but he interrupts.

"No Tessa, it's alright. You don't have too. I've moved on now, and I'm good."

"I never gave you a good explanation of why I ended things, and for that I am sorry."

"I know why Tessa... I always knew it wasn't going to last, but god I could hope."