Karma's Kiss

Chapter 27: Stupid Decisions

*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*

Antonia brought her car back to the condo and got aboard with Maverick to meet up with Raven and Jynx. She smiled as she buckled her seatbelt. "Thanks for doing this with me, Mave."

"Like I said, no problem." He returned her smile and pulled out of the parking lot. "But you know she isn't going to blame you for anything, right?"

"I know, but she's gonna be devastated." She sighed and rested her head on the window. "I hate that I'm the reason she met her."

"Toni." He took her hand, and she looked at him in surprise. "She might have met her anyway. Sometimes, you can't prevent things from happening." She chewed her lower lip for a minute and then decided to ask the question she really wanted the answer to.

"What happened with Julia? Do you think that could have been prevented?"

Maverick chuckled, kissed the back of her hand and let it go. "Fair enough. Honestly? If you hadn't done such a good job of shutting me out when your mom died, yes, it would have been prevented. It took her almost three years to convince me to date her."

"Oh." She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. "I shut everyone out, not just you, but I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." He shook his head. "Not for that. I didn't realize how bad things were for you with her. If I had, I would have worked harder to get you to talk to me."

"So what happened?" Antonia suddenly felt lighter and happier than she had in a very long time. She had believed he had just forgotten about her and moved on, but hearing he hadn't gave her a sense of relief she didn't know she needed.

"After we broke up, I distanced myself from everyone. I blamed all my friends at college, especially Julia, for how things went with us. I stopped going to class, stopped everything. I failed the semester." He sighed, and she realized he was taking the long way to Nola's so he could tell her the whole story. "Julia was the only one who kept coming around. She would show up every day, apologizing and asking me to forgive her. She convinced me to go to the school and ask if I could repeat the semester I failed over the summer and they agreed. She gave me all her notes and helped me study for the tests and exams."

"So she was buttering you up?" Antonia rolled her eyes. Of course, she was. Julia had set out with one goal, and she was determined to achieve it.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it, I guess." He shrugged. "She put up with a lot though. I talked about you all the time." He laughed. "Looking back, I can see that I really annoyed her with it, but she stuck it out. When your mom died, and I came back for the funeral, I decided that if you gave me even one hint that there was half a chance that you might take me back, I was going to stay."

"But I didn't."

"No. You didn't, and I went back to New York. This time, I threw myself into my studies, determined to graduate and do what Dad wanted me to do: join the Secret Service, move to DC and hopefully, forget about you. Once again, she was there, and after another semester, I finally agreed to date her. I figured if she was so determined, I might as well give her a chance."

Antonia swallowed and then nodded. She was as much to blame for what happened as Julia in the end. "Thanks for telling me."

He grinned at her. "All you had to do was ask. Now, where am I going again?"

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"Wait, wait, wait! Park here." Antonia said excitedly as Maverick hit the brakes.

"Why?" He pulled in behind a truck and parked. "It's the next street."