Out of the Ordinary

Chapter 27

"A bit," I admitted after a moment.

Harry sighed. I'd just confirmed for him what we'd both been avoiding admitting to. "I just wish I knew what I could do to fix it, but I don't know how."

"Like I said... time. We just need time."

His next sigh was frustrated. "I'm so sorry for all of this."

You know when you hear a word over and over again, and you've heard it so much it no longer sounds like it's part of the language, let alone has any meaning? I laughed a little then, because the words "I'm sorry" were starting to sound really, really weird to me.

"Maybe if you stop bringing it up by saying you're sorry, it won't feel so different."

There was a pause. "You're right. I'm sorry, I-"

"Stop apologizing!"

Harry had laughed then, sucked in a breath and held it for a moment. "I was going to say sorry again."

I'd giggled. "Don't make me hang up on you."

We'd laughed together, and it was those moments, when his deep chuckles sounded over the phone line, that things didn't feel so different at all.

I wasn't mad at him any more. I really had forgiven him. But there was a strain on our conversations now that neither of us could deny. It wasn't always there. Like I said, when we were joking and laughing together it felt like nothing at all had happened. But I felt it during the quiet moments, heard it there in the silence like an uninvited guest picking up another line on our phone call. It always took us a couple of tries to get back into conversing somewhat normally, and all the while that strain waited, listening, judging, hoping for more to use for its own selfish schemes.

Each call got a little easier, and I knew things would only get better once I saw him again.

Only one week to go.

"Maddie, you're late," Julian said as I walked through the door.

I glanced at the clock over the bar, then at Mick who was standing there chewing a toothpick. "We said one o'clock," I said by way of defense.

"It's a quarter after," said Julian, totally unamused.

"That's on time for me," I said with a smile at the both of them. I pulled out a chair and sat, resting my bag on the seat beside me.

"Don't I know it," Julian said with a roll of his eyes. "Here's your check."

"Thank you." I took the envelope from him and tucked it into my bag. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Viv was waiting on one table, and Ashley was standing at the back looking at her phone. Sam had tucked himself into a booth to do the same thing. "Lunch is going well, I see."

"Slow," Julian said, glancing behind him. "Typical Monday."

That's when the door to the bathrooms opened, and out stepped the one person I hadn't expected to see.

"David," I said. There was no way of hiding my surprise.

His brown eyes went wide, and it took him a moment before a smile grew on his lips. "Maddie, hey."

He came over and hugged me, and in his arms, I was abruptly reminded why I'd been sort of ducking him for the past few weeks. Things had gotten a little weird between us at Julian's last party. Or maybe not between us, but certainly between he and Harry. I didn't know what any of it meant, or how to even approach it, or if I should even try to approach it, so in true Madelyn Freeman form, I'd decided avoiding it was my best option.