"There's somebody here to see you Ms- I mean Kristen." Alison says over my phone.
Giggling, I tell her to send them in. Standing, I straighten my skirt against my legs, and walk around to the other side of my desk, feeling a faint dizziness but pushing it away to the back of my mind. After a few minutes to nobody walking in, I turn around to pick up my phone and call Alison to see if they actually made their way back here, I hear somebody clear their throat. As I turn around, I look down at my skirt again to make sure that it looks okay. Never wear such a short skirt again, Kristen, you're too self-conscious, I tell myself. Looking back up, the breath is knocked out of me. Standing in my doorway is my beautiful grandmother in her beat up old wheelchair. Her short silver hair is curly, and frizzed up all over her head, and her signature bright red lip stick looks like a three year old put it on her. Her clothes are mismatched, and her shoes didn't look like they were all the way on her feet. I wanted to smile at my crazy grandma, but I was frozen. Because the person pushing my grandma...the person standing directly behind her looking like a cowboy angel...was the man who, three years ago...meant the world to me, and more.
Looking at him brings back so many old feelings. I can feel the heat rush straight to my face as I remember all the nights that we spent together, soaking in each other's bodies...taking away what nobody else could ever have. My heart speeds up, and my breath falters and catches in my throat.
"Kristen..." His deep voice whispers, and I can see in his eyes that he's having the same reaction at seeing me.
"Hi Dyllan." I try to say confidently, but my voice only coming out in a whisper. I clear my throat and my voice comes out a bit stronger this time. "How've you been?"
"I've been good." He says, his deep voice resonating throughout the room. "Memaw here was telling everyone that she wanted to come see her favorite grandbaby, but nobody could take off but me."
"Thank you...you didn't have to though, I could've taken off to come see her." I say, smiling at my Memaw. "Hey Memaw, how you been? I'm sorry I haven't been around in a while."
She smiles at me, and beckons me forward with her right hand. I slowly walk over, looking up and into Dyllan's eyes for a moment, and my footsteps falter and I trip, almost falling on my face. I look back at my grandma and come up in front of her and bend down, making sure that I keep my knees together to keep from flashing the two of them.
She reaches up and places her hand on my cheek, "Beautiful." She whispers, her eyes shining.
Blushing, I look down at my lap. "Thanks, Memaw." I whisper.
"She's right, you know. You look amazing." Dyllan whispers, looking only at my face like the respectful man he was raised to be. "I thought maybe..." He trails off.
"What? You thought that I'd look like utter crap once I moved up here after we...broke up?" I asked boldly.
"No, not at all." He answers immediately, and I smile slightly when I see the blood rush to his face, despite the sad look that enters his eyes.
"You look really good too, you know." I tell him, and I'm not lying. His skin is just as deeply tanned as ever, his bright green eyes still as shiny and brilliant as they've always been, and his physique...mmm, don't even get me started on his tall, muscular body...I know all too well just what was behind that tight green shirt that brought out his eyes, and those loose blue jeans that grew just a bit tighter around his butt and...other things.
"It was hard after we...split up. But...I've gotten used to not having you around anymore." He whispers. "But anyways...Memaw couldn't stop saying your name the whole way here. She was really excited, kept bouncing up and down in her seat and everything. Longest drive of my life." He laughs.
"I bet...wait, you drove here all the way from Texas??" I ask, flabbergasted after taking that in. "Just for me?"
"I'd do anything for you, Kristen." Dyllan says, his voice taking a husky tone to it. His eyes show me that he'd still drop everything and take a bullet for me if I asked him to, probably even if I didn't ask him.
An uncomfortable silence overcame the room, and I looked away awkwardly. Thankfully, my eyes found a distraction, conveniently located just behind Dyllan. "Hi Isaiah." I say, and then scrunch my face up at the loudness of my voice.
"Hello." He says in his oh-so-deep voice, his eyes scrutinizing me on the ground, sliding over my Memaw, and narrowing his eyes on Dyllan. "May I ask who these people are?"
Standing up, I gesture to my grandma and smile. "This beautiful woman here is my grandma. She had a stroke a few years back and can't say much, but she can hear you and understands everything you say. She's my whole world." Isaiah's eyes flash in a way I don't quite understand, but the look quickly fades into a fierce protectiveness as they turn to Dyllan. "And this," I say, gesturing to Dyllan. "Is Dyllan, he's an old...friend." Dyllan's eyes take on a sad, pained look at my lame word for what we were.
Isaiah holds out his hand for Dyllan to shake, and I watch as they both try to strangle each other's hands. Shaking my head, I step to the side of the door and push Memaw into the room. Taking her over to my desk, I push my chair away, and her into the hole.
"Well Memaw, this is my desk. This is where the magic happens." I raise both hands and look at my organized desk.
"Yeah, magic." Isaiah laughs. "More like playing Solitaire all day long." My eyes widen, and he continues when he sees me open my mouth to argue with him. "I'm joking, I'm joking. No, I honestly don't know what we'd do without Ms. Weeks around. She's already the only one keeping Alison and I sane anymore."
My mouth drops open and I stared at him, stunned. He winks at me while a small smile forms on his lips.
The two visitors look back and forth between the two of us, and I can see suspicion forming in their eyes.
"That's what a good assistant does for her boss, Mr. Sage." I say, emphasizing our positions, and therefore relationship with each other. His eyes get a slight disappointed look in them as he turns suddenly to glare at Dyllan; meanwhile, Dyllan looks relieved and my Memaw just smiles at me. "So, anyways...I get off in about three hours, why don't I take y'all to some of my favorite spots here?"
"I'd love that." Dyllan immediately says, smiling widely at me. "And I'm sure Memaw would, too." He gestures to her smiling, nodding head.
"Good. It's a date then." I smile at my Memaw, but when I look up at Dyllan, I can see the hopeful look in his eyes. "I mean, I'll see you in three hours. I'll meet you at my house." Walking around Memaw, I lean down and grab my keys out of my purse. "Here's my keys," I say, handing them to Dyllan. "Y'all can go to my house and get all settled in, and I'll catch a cab there after work."
"Alright, well, we'll see you in a few." He says, walking around the desk to come get my grandma. As he walked around me, I could feel the heat radiate off of him. His hand lightly brushed the small of my back, and I closed my eyes and shivered.
"Okay..." I whisper, keeping my eyes closed. I could hear them walk out, and was surprised when I felt a hand on my shoulder turning me around. I stared up into dark brown eyes, and felt my heart nearly stop.
"Who was that?" Isaiah demanded.
"My Mem-"
"You know who I'm talking about, Kristen." He interrupted, giving me a hard look.
"He's my ex." I stated simply, looking down at our feet. The contrast between our feet was ridiculous; his large shiny black boots, and my small brown ones. I wanted to giggle despite myself, but knew it would only make this situation worse.
"Kristen." He whispers angrily, putting one hand under my chin and forcing my face up to look into his eyes. "Tell me the truth."
Looking into his eyes, I know that I could tell him all of the secrets of the world and wouldn't say a peep to anybody. His angry chocolate brown eyes soon turned into gentle pools of brown, and I knew that he wouldn't force me to say anything...but he wanted me to.
"We were high school sweethearts. We got together when we were in the seventh grade, and he was my best friend. We did everything together, including losing our virginities to each other. He proposed to me the night of our college graduation, and I had said yes. Our families were ecstatic. His family had one of the biggest farms in Texas, and mine owned half the town. We were made for each other. Everything was perfect, and everyone knew that we would always be together...forever. One day, before we moved in with each other, I found out...I found out..." My eyes were beginning to water now, and I was having a hard time breathing. "I found out that I was...that I was pr-pregnant." His finger twitched against my jaw. "I told him, and we were on top of the world. We were set to be married in two months, so we didn't see the problem telling our families. So we did, and they couldn't have been happier that we were pregnant. We had the support of the world behind us. Nothing could go wrong. Until one day...one day, it did." By this point, tears were streaming down my face, and I had to stop every few seconds to prevent from sobbing.
"Baby girl..." Isaiah moved his hand from my chin to behind my head and pulled me into his chest, his other arm going around my shoulder and his mouth going to the top of my head, and kissing it lightly. His hand started to gently rub my hair, and he was whispering quiet reassurances against my hair. "You don't have to tell me, princess. You don't have to."
But I couldn't stop myself. It was the first time I'd told anyone since I left Dyllan. "I was in the car one afternoon, on my way to surprise Dyllan..." I started, taking a deep breath, and I could feel Isaiah sigh. "When- when a drunk driver pulled into my lane. It all happened so fast...I don't remember much. But I remember waking up in a corn field, and looking down at my stomach, and seeing the steering wheel smashed against it...and knowing," my breath caught as a sob ripped up my throat. "And knowing, beyond all hope...that I'd lost my baby. I lost consciousness after that, and woke up in the hospital. The nurses tried to tell me what had happened, but... I didn't need them to me. I already knew. Dyllan showed up eventually, and the doctors told him, and he broke down. I remember looking out the door, and watching him fall to the ground...and feeling like I had caused the world to fall on him. It was my fault that his whole life had collapsed in on him. My fault!" I screamed into his chest.
Isaiah wrapped his arms harder around me, and backed us into the wall behind him as he sank to the floor, dragging me with him. My arms wrapped around him, and he picked my legs up and draped them over one leg while I sat in between his two. He pulled me closer to him, and just let me sit in his lap as I cried my eyes out. When I was finally done crying, he gently pushed me back and looked into my eyes.
"You came here after that happened, didn't you?" He asks, searching my eyes for the truth. I nod. "Did you tell anybody goodbye?" I shake my head no. "Did you...did you talk to Dyllan before you left?" Hesitating, I slowly shake my head no. He takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. "Do you still love him?" He asks. I don't do anything. He nods. "I don't blame you. He looks like quite the hunk." I still don't do anything. "Right." He pushes me out of his lap, and stands up. "Well," He starts in a business-like tone, dusting off his suit. "You can have the rest of the day off. Please be back on time in the morning, just because you have visitors, doesn't mean you have a free pass to be late." He walks out of my office, but stops in the doorway. "You should tell him that you still love him." He says, and walks away.
My breath catches in my throat from where I sit up against the wall, and fresh tears stream down my cheeks. I don't know what to think anymore. I don't know what to do anymore. Do I still love Dyllan? Or have I moved on?
Fuck, I don't know what to think anymore.
Sliding up against the wall, I feel a rush of dizziness overcome me. Trying to think of the last thing I ate...I can't come up with anything. I was in a rush this morning because I was running late, and ended up just skipping breakfast. When I got to the office, I discovered that all the food and juice was all gone, and I didn't feel like asking anyone to go get anything...so I just didn't eat. And during lunch, I was too busy to go get anything, and Dyllan showed up with Memaw at the normal time that Isaiah and Alison come to make sure I ate lunch... Shrugging, I push myself off the wall, and lean down to pick up my purse. Standing up, I see black spots appear before me and decide that I need to eat before I go deal with Dyllan.
But I didn't get that far.
I only got as far as smiling at Alison before the rest of the world disappeared.
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Author's Note:
Here y'all go. Uhm... I hope y'all like it.
Sorry for the cliffhanger.
Please don't be mean.
FayAnne.
P.S. The picture is Luke Bryan, and exactly how I picture Dyllan looking.