Twenty-Four
Much to my surprise, Zach doesn’t come by the night of the goat heist…or the next day.
I’m starting to worry about three things.
One, he doesn’t care that I stole Marshmallow.
Two, he doesn’t care about me anymore.
Three, my building manager discovering that I’m harboring a stolen animal.
My patience and heart are both wearing thin. I can’t keep up the façade any longer.
I miss him like a writer misses their pen. Every day I reach for my phone to text him something funny or random, and every day I remember I can’t.
So instead I text myself, hoping one day I can show him all the funny things I thought of while he wasn’t around to appreciate them.
One day…
I let out a heavy sigh.
“Stop doing that,” Zoe complains.
“What?”
“Sighing. It’s annoying.”
“I can’t help it. I’m in worry mode, and I sigh a lot when I’m at this point.”
“I know, and it’s annoying, so stop it. He’ll come for him. I know he will.”
My teeth sink into my bottom lip. “Just him?”
She eyes me. “He’ll come for you too. I have a feeling.”
There’s a knock at the door, and I stand so quickly that I almost step on Marshmallow, who’s lying at my feet.
I race over there and then straight back.
“Do you think it’s him?” I whisper to Zoe.
“You won’t know until you answer the door.”
“I’m scared.”
“Do you want me to open it?”
I shake my head. “No, no. I can do this.” I smooth out my shirt and blow out a breath. “I can do this. I can open the door and say hello and explain. I can do this.”
“Then fucking do it!”
“Shh!”
As calmly as I can, I march to the door and pull it open, a smile plastered on my face.
I’m disappointed by what I find on the other side.
“Son of a bitch.”
