Chapter Sixteen
JULIE
I’d said something wrong. I must have. One minute he was messaging with me, and the next he fell silent. And I’d sent two texts with no response. And then tried calling. Maybe I’d said the wrong thing, or made him uncomfortable.
Maybe he finally figured out that he can do better. Literally any woman would be better. Slut.
I rubbed at my head, wishing the voice would stay away.
“You okay?” Sally asked, leaning around her computer.
For once, I didn’t just soldier on.
“Migraine. I think I need to go home.”
She pulled a face. “That sucks. What about the report you’re working on?”
I hit save on it, and shut down. “It’s up to date. You can upload it when they’re ready. I’ll go let Mrs Davis know I’m going.”
I grabbed my bag, and shoved my mobile inside. “Sorry to leave you in the lurch.”
She shrugged. “Feel better.” Yeah, like she cares.
I stopped by Mrs Davis’ office on the way out, and received a much warmer wish of good health from her, and then I stepped out onto the street. The cold air took my breath. Winter had definitely arrived. Now I just had to walk home.
I’d been walking for a few minutes when my phone rang in my bag. Of course it had slipped to the bottom, so I rummaged for it, and drew it out just as the call dropped.
“Dammit!” The missed call alert said MyBiker. No! I debated calling him back, and then I faltered. Why was he ringing me now, when he’d avoided me for hours?
I decided to grab a coffee for the walk home, and stepped into the blissfully warm coffee shop down the street from work.
When my phone rang again, I was just waiting for my drink, so I answered it.
“Are you okay?” Adam demanded, the instant the call connected. I chewed my cheek.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
I heard him groan. “I was worried when I saw you’d called, especially when you didn’t answer my call back. If you hadn’t answered this time, I’d have been coming to look for you.”
I picked up my takeaway cup, as the barista pushed it in my direction, and headed for the door.
“I’m on my way home.” Why did I tell him that?
“Jesus. There is something wrong. Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”
I groaned. “I don’t need to be picked up. I’m fine. Look, I need to go. I’ve got my hands full, and I don’t want to drop anything.”
I heard him protesting, as I swiped the ‘end call’ button, and shoved the phone in my bag. Was I being a bit petulant? Maybe. Was I feeling like myself at all? I really wasn’t. I felt strange. Edgy. Overwhelmed.
By the time I reached my house, I was practically dragging my feet. It wasn’t normally an exhausting walk, but my mind was full of worries and questions, and confusion, and it felt like it was sapping me of all energy.
As soon as I let myself indoors, I pretty much dropped my bag in the hall, and shuffled out of my coat, dropping it as I walked. My half empty coffee cup went on the table in the living room, and I curled up on my sofa. I wasn’t ill. The migraine had been a lie. But I didn’t feel right. I hadn’t for so long.
The doorbell rang, while I pressed my face into the cushion, and berated myself for pretty much everything I’d ever done in my entire life.
I ignored it. They could go away. I wasn’t expecting deliveries, and that meant whoever it was didn’t matter.
A fist thumped on the door several times. Dammit. I ignored that too.