We sit in the spring sunshine at one of the cute little Parisian-style black and white tables on the sidewalk outside the bakery. We love coming to this local bakery. Mainly because it’s only around the corner from our apartment but also because it reminds us of the little French patisseries we indulged in when we traveled together to France. Our grand European adventure through France, Spain, and Italy after we graduated from college was so much fun.
I love everything French, especially French pastries, and our bakery makes the most amazing chocolate croissants.
I press my lips together trying to hold back my joy at seeing our waiter heading toward us with three large coffees and three chocolate croissants. Soon after I'm biting into the flaky sweet pastry and reaching the decadent, still warm dark chocolate filling. Food for the soul. I’m feeling better already.
One mouthful of croissant in and I launch into telling the girls about the texts Luke sent me this morning. In between sips of coffee and more bites of croissant which shower me with crumbs, I finish up by telling them how he wants to meet me in person.
“What a jerk,” Jasmine interjects. “He should be begging for your forgiveness, not trying to justify his actions.”
Absolutely what I was thinking, I feel vindicated for my angry texts earlier this morning.
“Especially when it’s taken him so long to even say sorry,” Lily says as she leans my way to give me a reassuring side hug.
Again I'm reminded how lucky I am to have Jasmine and Lily as friends. They're always so supportive. The girls listen to me complain some more about Luke, helping to soothe my frayed nerves. The coffee and chocolate are also working their usual magic.
“Can I see the texts?” Jasmine asks as she licks excess crumbs from her fingers. I reach into my bag to get my cell out. Oops, I forgot to turn my ringer back on after my shower this morning.
I switch it on now, and the message icon lights up like a Christmas tree. I’ve missed twenty-four messages.
What the hell has happened? In a panic I scroll to view my messages.
I can’t believe what I'm seeing. There is one text from my high school friend, Madison, and the rest are from Luke.
I scroll down to see the first of the new texts from Luke and it simply says sorry. But then so does the next text and the next one. All the texts from him say sorry. I don't know if Luke thinks this is cute but to me it's just spam and incredibly infuriating.
“You are not going to believe this,” I say as I hand my phone over to Jasmine. Lily glances over her shoulder as Jasmine begins scrolling through the texts.
They both start laughing. I don’t see what's so funny. Jasmine is laughing so hard she can no longer form words. I’m not impressed by this breach of support.
“Is this seriously the best you got in support? Cause I’ve got to say, you laughing hysterically is not helping,” I announce sternly.
Lily restrains her laughter long enough to say in her defense. “This is kind of cute. Sending you sorry messages. It shows he really means it.”
What are they crazy?
I roll my eyes at the absurdity of her comment. “Hey, whose side are you on and what happened to him being a jerk two minutes ago?”
I snatch my phone back and scroll through the texts. Luke is such an idiot. This smacks of his ridiculous sense of humor from high school. Really has he not matured at all in eight years. Taking me literally and sending me a hundred sorry texts is just not funny.
This has to stop now and I tell him exactly that when I reply to his latest text. Then before another stupid sorry message appears, I switch my cell off again. Sure, it’s only a temporary fix, but it makes me feel like I'm back in control of the situation.
Jasmine and Lily exchange looks. Are they smirking at me?
“Who wants another coffee or croissant?” I ask.
The good vibes from my earlier dose of chocolate seem to have disappeared. I need more chocolate. So, what if I need to do a couple extra cardio sessions at the gym this week.
It’s late in the afternoon and I'm lying on my bed when I feel ready to turn my phone back on. Well, I need to turn it back on as I promised I’d call Mom back.
The phone screen comes to life, and there's no big surprise when I see another fifty-two messages from Luke.
Doesn't he understand there is no amount of sorry text messages that could make up for what he did to me. Looks like calling Mom will have to wait till later.
Cassie:Stop! All these sorry messages are too late. You should have said sorry all those years ago instead of sending me a horrible letter. An unforgivably low act.
The letter from Luke crushed me. I don’t think I'll ever get over how deceived it made me feel. I thought he loved me enough. Remembering washes over me in a wave of sadness.
Cassie:Why are you doing this? Why now?
