LINDSEY
I wanted to be mad at him. He had, after all, ruined the family dinner. I had never eaten in such a tense environment before.
Dad had no idea about the incident and Karen had barely touched her food. Everything had gone wrong and I wanted to hate him for that.
But he had apologized.
I stared at the text in a weird state of annoyance. It felt like I wanted to laugh, like it was boiling in my core, but I was hating Adam at the same time.
“He apologizes in a text?” I finally found my reason to be mad at him. “Who does that?”
I chose to reply “No worries, but you shouldn’t treat my father like that,” instead.
It felt the least satisfying but I couldn’t just be rude.
Finally, I set the phone aside, turned on my other side and tried to catch some sleep. I was half expecting him to reply. No, I hoped he would, but he didn’t.
“Man of few words, eh?” was the last thing I thought before falling asleep.
It was Saturday, so I had to work. The sun was bright, a perfect morning to wake up to. Last night’s shortcomings were long forgotten.
After a shower and a few bites of Isabel’s perfect pancakes, I was on my way into town.
“What a wonderful day for a nice drive,” I thought, turning the radio up.
It helped that I was only working weekends, when people didn’t usually commute to work, so I had the streets to myself at 9 o’clock in the morning. I was almost sad to have to park the car and get out.
“Morning, Lindsey!” my supervisor greeted me from behind the glass counter. She was arranging the new collection of platinum rings.
“Good morning to you too.”
“Someone’s in a good mood.”
I gave her a big smile before slipping into the staff dressing room to get ready for my shift.
I didn’t like the simple combination of white shirt and black pencil skirt that we had to wear, but it seemed to be this jeweler’s signature. Modesty was his motto, and it made sense. Customers were supposed to pay attention to the beautiful pieces showcased, not at the staff. The contrast was almost poetic.
The first part of the shift was boring, as usual. Nobody was up so early on a Saturday morning to buy jewelry, which was for the better since I had to prepare a presentation for Monday anyway.
On my lunch break, I decided to go for a walk and maybe have a veggie burger in the nearby park. The weather was still beautiful and it seemed like a good idea.
“Care if I join you?” my supervisor asked.
“Not at all, Matilda.”
We walked leisurely until we saw the first food truck. I was a regular, I loved Bob’s veggie burgers, so I always got a discount.
“What can I get you, lovely ladies?”
“The usual for me, Bob. And I recommend the same thing for you too, Matilda.”
“A veggie burger?” she grimaced. Her skepticism made Bob laugh.
“Oh, you’ll love it. Just try it. You can buy something else if you don’t like it,” I insisted.
“You should pay this one for promoting your brand, Bob.”
With our delicious goodies in hands, we headed for the park.
“Ooh, that bench looks good. Just enough sun,” Matilda suggested. Before I could answer, my attention got pulled towards a man jogging in our direction.
“Is that Adam?” I asked out loud.
“Who’s Adam?”
As he got closer, I could see it was him.
“Could you excuse me for a minute?” I said and headed his way. “Hey! Adam?”
He looked as surprised as I was.
“Lindsey,” he acknowledged me, removing his earphones.
“What are you doing here?”
“Running.”
“It’s across the city from where you live.”
“I run a lot.”
I squinted. Was he serious?
“Across the city worth?”
He just shrugged.
“Want to go for a coffee?” My mouth, it had done it again. Why couldn’t I wait to process the words first?
His eyebrows shot up and he looked spooked for a second.
“Uh... No, I don’t drink coffee when I run,” he said, then visibly grimaced at the stupidity of his words.
“Right. You can just say no,” I snapped back. I was annoyed again.
“Then, no. Aren’t you busy with your friend anyway?”
“She’s my coworker. And I am on a break. I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.”
“Coworker? Work? Why?”
“Jesus. You’re a smug prick.”
He took a step back. I was surprised by my own rudeness just the same but I kept going nonetheless.
“So, if my father is wealthy, I am not allowed to work or something?”
“I see that you’re in a permanent feisty mood. I’m not your man. Gotta go.”
Before I could say anything, he put his earphones back on and left me in the middle of the alley.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shake the embarrassment. “God, I made an ass of myself again.”
“Who’s Mr. Handsome?”
Matilda’s voice startled me.
“What?”
“New boyfriend?”
“What? No! Why would you say that?” Why couldn’t I just say he’s my step brother?
“Dunno. Just saying. I thought I saw sparkles so I made a guess.”
“There were no sparkles. I don’t even like him.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Her skepticism irritated me; about my relationship with Adam, about the veggie burgers. What was wrong with this woman?
“I’ve decided. I’m not a veggie burger person,” she said, squinting at the most delicious food she had ever held in her hands.
“You’re crazy,” I concluded and turned my back on her. I didn’t need that sort of negativity right now.