FATE

54. Caffe Bene

BROOKE

I knock once and open the door almost immediately, "Blake?"

He looks up at me as I enter the room, seated on the bed with his right knee raised slightly while his fingers play around his shoelaces, tying them into a knot.

"Yeah? what's wrong?", he asks as he moves to the second shoe.

"Are you going out?", I clasp my palms behind me.

"Yes, I am"

"But I checked what day it is. It's a Saturday", I say, "and you don't work on Saturdays"

I haven't been able to tell what day it is since the summer started.

He grimaces but then smiles at me, "I have something else to do today"

"What?"

He sighs and stands from the bed. He's all dressed up already, in black pants and a white shirt. He grabs a patterned tie off the bed. I cock my head and watch as he places it over his neck.

"I'm meeting some friends", he says.

"Dressed like that?"

He pauses, taking in his appearance, "It's still work related", he says, fully knotting the tie. He smiles at it proudly.

I sigh. He turns to stare at me, "what is wrong with you today?"

"I'm bored and I have nothing to do", I walk towards the bed and collapse on it.

He chuckles, "go see your boyfriend"

"Apparently, he's busy today"

"Then go see your friends", he pauses, "you do still have friends, right?"

I push myself up on my elbows, "what do you mean by that?"

He shrugs, turning his back on me to open his dresser, "sometimes, when girls get boyfriends, they don't usually remember they had friends before then so they tend to lose those friends"

I frown slightly, "I still have friends", I say.

Mandy's out of town for the summer so spending the day with her is not an option. I'd go see Carmen and hang out with her but I'm scared it's going to be awkward for us. She seems busier than usual lately and has been coming up with excuses when I ask. Mandy says it's not unusual for Carmen to withdraw once in a while so I've decided to accept it.

"Well, go see them then", he shuts the wardrobe and I move off the bed, standing in front of him.

"But- "

He glances at the watch on his wrist, an old gift from my dad that he refuses to let go off. "I have to go now", he looks up at me and says, "try to have fun today and lock the door if you're staying indoors", he adds before planting a small kiss on my forehead.

"Okay, bye", I mutter dryly.

"Bye, I love you", he dashes past me and out of the room.

"I love you too", I turn to say but I'm alone in the room and I hear the front door shut.

I walk out of Blake's room slowly, shutting the door behind me and entering my room opposite his. Summer has barely started and I'm already bored. It would be a good day to spend with Jonah if he wasn't busy with whatever it is, he has to do and it would be nice to talk to Carmen is she wasn't acting weird. I wish I had more friends but I'd like to think at least, I've made progress since I left Seattle. Back in my former school, I didn't have a lot of friends and the ones I did have- a transfer student from Germany named Mila and a boy named Darryl- I didn't talk to anymore.