Invisible String

Chapter 4 - New Romantics

"Well, thank Folgers."

She snickered and looked up at me, turning her head. "You have a little something on your collarbone, Han." She reached forward and ran her thumb over the bruise-like mark, then sat back down, a shocked expression plastered on her face. "Right... you said something about getting distracted last night... do tell, please." She took another sip of her coffee, her eyes peering over the cup at me.

I sat down across from her and shoved a bite-full of eggs into my mouth. She did the same, her eyes still watching me closely.

Finally, tired of the awkwardness, I sighed and said, "Alex came over last night."

I stared at the floor as she took in a sharp breath of surprise and I tried to ignore her gaze. When I finally glanced back up, her mouth was closed and her eyes were glued to her eggs, the fork in her hand flipping them around.

"So, are you going to say something?"

"Well, I am curious as to how him coming over led to that mark on your neck." She looked up at me, disapprovingly.

"Well... I haven't been exactly 'getting any' recently. And girls have itches, too."

"Oh, honey, I know that. Believe me, but Alex? Wasn't that an awful relationship?"

"No, it was... I don't know, busy. He's a busy guy and I have stuff in my life, stuff that I consider being busy, but his was so much more than that. He's all over the place, constantly flying from one city to the other, or on tour. It was hard. But it wasn't bad. I really cared about him."

She took a bite and I did, too, letting the silence sit between us for a minute.

After I finished my food, I wiped my mouth clean and looked up at her. She, too, was done and her arms were crossed over her chest. She certainly disapproved. And that ticked me off. "Sandra, you're not my mother. You're my friend. You more than anyone should understand."

"I do understand. Sort of." She blew out a puff of air, tilted her head back and thought about what she was going to say for a second, then looked at me again, more sympathetically this time. "I mean, back then you didn't really seem that into him. Like you said, he was always gone. How can you like someone when you never even get a chance to know them?"

I shook my head. "What's your problem with him?"

"Honestly, he just seems like a skeeze. I don't know. I don't think he's good enough for you."

I stood up and grabbed our plates and bowls and set them in the sink, then turned on the water, unable to even comprehend where she was coming from. As I started cleaning them, she got up and took her coffee with her, and mumbled, "Thank you for breakfast... lunch, whatever," as she walked back to the guest bedroom.

When I finished washing the dishes, I sat down in the living room on the recliner and grabbed my replacement phone, which my carrier had dropped off early this morning. There was a text waiting for me.

Alex: I had a fantastic time with you last night ;) I can't wait to see you Saturday. It's too far away. But try not to stress about Sunday too much, k?

I debated whether or not I should text him back for a good long minute. He'd texted me over an hour ago. Finally, I decided it was mean not to say anything back.

Me: I had a great time with you and it'll be nice to see you again.

Within a minute, I got a new message from him.

Alex: I have plans for us Saturday night. So, be ready to go out when I get there, okay?

Me: Sounds like a plan. See you then.