Veiled

Part 7

Chapter 7

He could see her freeze out of the corner of his eyes, but he wouldn’t take his words back. If he were right, she didn’t like the idea of being friends just as he wished they could be more.  It was odd, being around her for such a short period of time and already knowing that he wanted a relationship with her.  If he were being honest with himself, he would admit to the fact that Cece was his type.  Even when he had taken the safe route with Abby, Cece had been the one that drew his attention.  He never would have acted on it, or let anyone know how he felt when he was with Abby.  Now, he didn’t have to worry about that.  Abby was happily engaged to a man she adored, and Paul was very much single.

The thought caused him to pause in his eating and frown down at his plate.  “Are you dating anyone?”

She hesitated.  When the hesitation went on longer, Paul glanced away from his plate and stared at her.  She blinked, and her tongue came out to wet her bottom lip.  “Yes.”

“Oh,” he mumbled while pulling his hand away from hers.  He didn’t cheat, whether it was the girl or he who was dating.  “Well, that explains it,” he said with a laugh.  “Why didn’t you just tell me that to begin with?”

“I, um, I—

“Look,” he said, standing to his feet, “I understand that we didn’t start off liking one another, but that isn’t an excuse to lie.”  Realizing he still clutched his fork in his hand, he dropped it to the table.

Just as he started walking away, she called out his name.  He kept walking, but as he reached the threshold of the kitchen, he glanced back at her.  Her eyes darted away from him.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he answered.  “Maybe I’m overreacting.”  He paused for a moment.  “Hey, now, when all things are said and done, we really can just be friends.”

This time, when she called out his name, he didn’t stop until he was safely outside.  A light rain fell from the sky, but it was refreshing more than anything was.  The sky was dark with only a few stars mixed in.  It was a beautiful night, but that didn’t make him feel better.  Why he was so upset about Cece seeing someone else and lying about it, he had no idea.  It wasn’t as if he held a claim on her.  She was her own person, a person who obviously wouldn’t be happy with him.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped away from her door and into the light rain.  His red car stood out in the dark like a beacon, and the thought made him laugh.  Wasn’t that the reason why he had purchased the car to begin with?  He wanted women to be attracted to him, and if that meant buying a fancy car that could only fit two people that was what he would do.

He reached his car and ran a hand over the hood.  That was who he was, not who he wanted to be.  Come tomorrow, he was trading his car in.  What was it that his stepfather said?  You can talk a big talk, but can you walk the walk?  Tomorrow, he wouldn’t just think about being a new man, he would prove to himself that he was.  He didn’t need Cece to make him feel changed.  He only needed himself.

Jumping into his car, he started the engine.  He eased the car out of her drive.  The old Paul would have sped, sending dust and rocks flying.  That wasn’t him though.  His car drifted down roads as his thoughts bombarded him.  Maybe he had been too hard on Cece.  Maybe he drew conclusions where they shouldn’t have been drawn.  There were too many maybes, maybes that would have been answered if he had stayed.

He couldn’t stay though, not when he knew her face would be filled with pity.  She would say nice things to him, all while letting him down gently.  He had been there before; he didn’t need to experience it again.  Shaking his head, he looked around, noticing for the first time where he actually was.  He banged his head against the steering wheel while looking up at the house in front of him