Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I shrugged. “That’s up to him.”
Derek turned quiet.
“All he has to do is apologize.”
“For what, exactly?”
“You’re on his side… Got it.”
“I’m not on his side. I just don’t understand what he needs to apologize for.”
“You only heard his side of the story.” I hadn’t told Derek what happened.
“I don’t know what his side of the story is because he hasn’t said anything to me about it.”
I turned to look at him.
“Daisy told me.”
I felt the disappointment hit me hard.
“When I try to talk to Dad about it, he won’t say anything. He doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Yeah, I know how that is.” I didn’t want to talk about being a doctor anymore. I didn’t want to talk about Catherine anymore. I just wanted to be left in peace.
“Talk it out and move on.”
“I’ll move on when he moves on.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He needs to stop sticking his nose in my business. My life is my own—and he has no say in it.”
He turned quiet again and stared at my laptop on the table. “Look, I know you’ve been in a rough place for a while now, so I know that you aren’t quite yourself. Because my brother wouldn’t think or act this way if he were in the right state of mind. You would see that Dad is just trying to help you.”
I dropped my gaze.
“I know you know I’m right. You want us to leave you alone and let you drown, but we’re never going to do that. We let you float on a raft for a while, but now we’re going to teach you how to swim again—because that’s what families do. This probably isn’t the right thing to say and I don’t want you to misinterpret what I’m trying to convey, but as a family, we’re unanimous about this. We all agree with Dad—because all he wants is the best for you. This life, what you’re doing, it not the best for you.”
I stared at the table as my lungs drew breath, as I felt a blast of depression hit me harder than it ever had.
“It’s time, Dex. It’s time to move on.”
15
Sicily
Dex turned into someone I didn’t recognize.
His warmth had turned to ice.
His humor had dried up.
His gorgeous eyes had dulled like a burned-out Christmas light.
He wasn’t the man I’d met, the man I’d looked forward to seeing every day at work. Something had changed his identity, had changed his foundation, and turned into him a lifeless version of who he used to be.
It broke my heart.
I tried talking to him a couple times, but all he did was shut me out.
I stopped trying.
At the end of the day, he packed up his things then shook hands with Matt. “It’s been fun.”
I turned in my seat and watched them.
“We’re going to miss you, man.” Matt shook his hand. “You’ll be hard to replace.”
“I doubt that,” Dex said. “Cleo will find someone a million times better.” He turned to the girls and said goodbye.
Wait, was he leaving?
Cleo wasn’t there, so I didn’t ask.
After Dex said goodbye to the rest of the staff, he just walked out…without saying a word to me.
What the hell?
Cleo had talked about my working for him at his practice, but that never came up again. And then he just left without saying goodbye to me, like we had never been friends, like we had never had a connection, like he didn’t hold me outside the elevator when I cried my eyes out.
I was pissed.
I left my desk and went after him. “Excuse me? I don’t get a goodbye?”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
“What the hell, Dex? You barely say a word to me for two weeks, and now you’re quitting? Did I do something to offend you?” It was unprofessional to yell at someone in the lobby when I was on the clock, but I couldn’t control my hurt.
He turned around and faced me, one hand gripping the strap of his satchel. With dead eyes, he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I just…it was too hard to say goodbye to you.”
I smiled softly.
He came closer to me. “Take care, alright?”
“Wait, why are you leaving? Are you going back to medicine?”
He shook his head. “Medicine isn’t for me. I got a job in a lab.”
“I… Why?”
He shrugged. “It was time for me to leave.”
That wasn’t a sufficient explanation at all, but I didn’t press further when it was clearly pointless. “I…I’m really going to miss you.” It just tumbled out of my mouth with no filter at all. This might be the last time I ever saw him, so I didn’t play it cool.
His eyes softened slightly as he took a breath. “Yeah…me too.” His brown eyes lightened a bit as they looked into my face, but a moment later, they were dull again. “You’re going to do great here. They’re lucky to have you.” He turned away again.