Hooked

Chapter Thirteen: Memories

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Chapter Thirteen: Memories

"Sophie, baby, call me. We need to talk."

"I didn't mean it, Soph. Baby, I love you. Call me back. You took me by surprise, and I just wasn't thinking. It took me a while but I realized that it doesn't matter. We can figure something out. Call me, Sophie, baby, I need to hear your voice."

"Sophie Thwaite, answer your phone. I know you're in South Carolina. Don't bother denying it."

"Dammit, answer your fucking phone! This is ridiculous. You're acting like a child."

"Answer me or we're done and so is your fucking fishy secret."

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

I let the door to the cafe swing shut behind me. The little bell chimed, and a young waiter looked over to see me enter as I walked to the line near the counter to order.

"How may I help you?" he asked, squeezing behind the bar. The swing-door moved back into place and drifted back and forth a few times before going still.

"A medium--," I began, and a light and familiar voice came from the back room.

"Morning, Sophie! Your usual?" Corinna entered the room with her classic white smile and finished tying her ebony hair into a ponytail. She was so striking, tall, and lithe that I couldn't believe she wasn't modeling across the country by now. I had been coming here on the odd occasion recently, and she had an incredible memory of every customer's order to add to her beauty.

"Please," I said, and my lips tilted into a returning smile. The young waiter seemed a bit curious of our familiarity, but he stepped to the side as Corinna took control of my order and sidestepped behind the counter. I didn't believe I had seen him here before; perhaps he had been newly hired, or changed his hours to the morning.

"Jared," the tall barista called, balancing two paper coffee cups in one hand as she crouched down to the pastry case. "Run to the back for me and check the phone. I think I heard it ringing."

With a swift nod, he disappeared almost silently. Corinna told me she'd bring me my order as soon as she finished, and I glanced around the cafe to locate a table.

It had been a month since the day I visited Roxanne in the hospital. The time had passed both quickly and slowly for me as I found my daily routine in Chalance, and, for the most part, things were going well. I'd bonded with the girls and made my own hand of friends at CU, and my old boss from Portland had offered to let me do my work from here -- giving me back my steady income and the security I had before I left home. There was only one major issue.

Adrian.

Since the marking incident, my thoughts had been strung out by every emotion known to man. I tried limiting how much I thought of him at first -- which had been a complete, utter failure if I were to be honest -- and then resolved to work on my self-control around him until I decided what to do next. I had no idea how to go about this situation, and a strange restlessness had begun to grow inside me ever since I had gotten those voice mails from William about a week ago. Voice mails, which should have alerted me, but I was too settled here to want to move again so soon, and especially now that I had Adrian. No one would believe Will's story anyway.

A coffee cup and a small Danish were set before me, and Jared's presence at my side brought me out of my thoughts. He asked evenly, "Can I get you anything else, ma'am?"

An endearing Southern accent tinged his voice. I smiled as I shook my head. "No, thank you. This is all."

As my fingers wrapped around the warm cup, I realized he hadn't left my table yet. I looked up curiously to see his face twisted with indecision, before he seemed to make up his mind.