“Exactly. Thanks, Joey, for helping me crack the puzzle.”
“What would you do without me?” There she goes again.
“A lot, actually.”
We laughed happily. Indeed, a problem shared is already half solved.
Chapter Twelve
Kevin
I stared blankly at my phone screen for the umpteenth time this morning before throwing it back on the bed. I hadn't gotten any response from Licia. She gave me her word that she would think things through.
I wasn’t asking for too much or hoping for the impossible, so I wondered why she was taking forever to decide. Right now, I doubted if she even spared a thought.
“Could it be that she just agreed to give my request a thought just so I would leave her be?” I muttered, parting the curtains to check who just drove into the premises. I didn't know what else to believe.
It had been five days already, and it was still total silence. Five days was nothing compared to twelve years of silence, though. What if she was giving me a taste of my medicine? Could she be that vengeful?
My thoughts were going haywire, and the fact that I couldn’t extricate myself from them was depressing. I would respect herdecision, whatever it might be, but she had to say something at least.
The vibration of the phone against the bed brought my attention back to it. I forgot for a second that I was lame and quickly reached for it, twisting my leg in the process. I let out a scream as I felt the bolt of pain shoot up uninterrupted to my brain. I was ready to lash out at whoever the caller was if it ended up not being Licia.
The call came in again as I was nursing my leg.
“Hello.” I tried sounding cool and immune to the pain that was still stinging in my nerves.
“Hello, Kevin. How are you doing?” Licia enquired. Her voice was already numbing the pain. I wanted to tell her how much I needed her and how I hurt myself, but I ended up saying, “I am doing great, dear.”
“That's good to know. So, I have finally made my decision,” she announced.
I felt my heartbeat rise by a crescendo.
What did she decide?
“Let's hear it,” I managed to say.
“I gave our last conversation quite a lot of thought, and I've decided that it would be cool if we could just stay friends. This is like starting the groundwork all over again.
We have grown into entirely different people from the versions of ourselves we were acquainted with years ago, and a lot has happened as well. Hence, my decision.”
I had my fingers crossed the entire time. I dreaded the ‘just friends' situation, but what she said made complete sense. A lot had changed, really. It may not be such a bad idea after all, even though it would be pure torture.
“Okay, Licia, that works.” I tried to cloak my disappointment and act like a perfect gentleman. Did this mean she felt nothingfor me anymore?I wasn’t going to push my luck. It might make things worse. I will take what I can get.
“All right, then. I would like to get back to work. I just had to tell you so you could ease up.”
“So, can we talk after you are done with work?” I had to ask. Friends do that, at least.
“Let's see how it goes. Have a great day, Kev.”
“Yeah, you too.”
A knock on the door drew me out of my thoughts. It seemed like whoever it was had been knocking for a while.
“I want to be left alone!” I screamed. I wasn't in the best mood to see anyone. My emotions were volatile at the moment, so the least anyone could do was to stay away to avoid being at the receiving end of my fury.
The door slowly opened, and Melony let herself in gently.
