JILTED || tom blyth

five

. now .

Time is moving so slowly as I anticipate my meeting with Tom tonight. I had forgotten that the winter book fair had arrived, and it had to be perfect or else. I am a coordinator and the librarian for a private elementary school. While there are not many celebrities that send their children here, I find that non-famous but extremely wealthy parents are scarier than the others. I once had a parent yell at me because she received an invoice for a book that her child had completely ruined while borrowing it. To this day, her child is not allowed in this library as per her request.

"What do you think about that, Mila?" Matisse asks as he nudges me. I suddenly have the striking realization that I was lost in thought. Matisse Douglas and I have worked together for almost three years now. In that time, we have become something like best friends. With him being the other school coordinator, we spend a lot of time together throughout the day.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I set down the box I was bringing over. He smiles and shows me a picture of an assortment of white, silver, and snowflake balloons.

"I was thinking we can get these and hand them up all throughout your space." He gestures toward the exposed beams on the ceiling. He has always been there to help me through all of the activities that the PTA come up with. They are made up of a group of housewives that find joy in telling the school staff what to do. I would complain, but they tend to be nicer to me because my dad is one of the biggest donors to Peninsula Heritage Academy. He has been since my mother started working there. They are the reasons that I was able to get this job straight after obtaining my degree.

"That sounds great, but only if they can be here by tomorrow." I am running very behind on the set up with how busy this weekend was. This and the added stress and anticipation of what tonight is going to be like has caused me to zone out all throughout the day. I still don't know what I am going to say to him. I don't know how to explain myself. "I can set them up during lunch, so we aren't too far behind." He nods. I look up at the time and my heart starts to pound. It is just about time to go.

"That's the beauty of online shopping, one day delivery. I'll stop in with some food and help you out." Lately, it has been really nice to have some company. The majority of the people that I thought were my friends haven't reached out to me since the wedding. Matisse is one of the only ones that has still been around for me. Maybe it's because we work together, and he has no choice.

"Alright, well, I'm going to head out now, do you mind locking up for me?" I say, dangling the keys in front of him. He takes them and wishes me well as I gather my things and walk out.

...

The drive home is quick as I live fairly close to the school. It is very convenient. I park in the driveway and can see there is someone sitting on the steps that lead up to the door. A part of me is concerned, but I get out of the car anyway. As I come closer, I see that it is Tom.

"Oh, how long have you been sitting out here?" I hurry passed him to open the door. I turn and offer him a hand to help him up, but he does not take it. He stands up and dusts himself off. I step inside and hold the door open for him to step in as well. I close the door behind him and lock it. I turn around and see him looking around. We had planned on moving in here together after the wedding. It is a smaller Spanish style home that my dad helped me purchase when he heard that I was engaged. It was everything that I could have dreamed of. We had started decorating together before everything and I hadn't had the heart to change anything from the way it was.

"I wasn't waiting for too long, but you used to get out of work earlier than that." He seemed concerned. He probably thinks that I forgot about him but how could I. As upset as I am that he has moved on so fast, I can't seem to express it outwardly to him.