Chapter Eight ♥
*
It was one thing Major to tell Dane that he could go after Bardot. It was quite another to actually do it. Dane wondered if he was losing his confidence, or if he just was worried because this was the first time that he never tried to start a serious relationship.
There was a pile in the garbage of letters that he halfway written. But that was all old-fashioned, anyways. He really needed to just… Talk to her. But what was he supposed to say? After all, it had been his fault that they were in this mess in the first place. And she been avoiding him for almost a month now. So right off the bat, things were looking a little bit ugly.
That said, he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing except to talk to her. He had to put it right. He had to make it sound like it meant something. To make it sound to Bardot like it felt in his chest. Nothing that he could think of made it anywhere close. It just made him feel like an idiot. That was how he always felt around Bardot, and only now was he starting to realize where that it always come from. At least, since she blossomed and the woman that she was.
Maybe he could try… Well, the best way to start, he supposed, was to start hello. From there, he could tell her that if they…
Everything felt so phony. It felt forced, fake, and none of it really got the heart of things. At the same time, he wasn't exactly a position where he could just come right out and say it. Could he? What would happen if he just told her right off the bat that he cared for her? Would I come back to bite them in the ass, or would she respond to it?
He let out a breath. His hand had started to regain feeling, and that only brought pain with it. His hand was an almost enjoyable distraction, though, compared to trying to understand how he was going to fix things with Bardot. If he could just figure out what to say to her, maybe it wouldn't have to be so unpleasant. But he couldn't.
This was the problem with the whole relationship, he thought sourly. If he was really being serious, was that he had to admit that there was no relationship between the two of them, and there never would be. She was smart, and she had places to go in life. He was just an idiot. And idiot, and a slut. He took a deep breath, put his face in his hands, and tried to start again. Negativity wasn't going to get him anywhere.
It took him almost 3 days, but he finally managed to put together a plan. It seemed perfect in his head:
First, he’d have to talk her into letting him spend any time with her at all. He needed time to work his way into a conversation that was serious, meaningful, and didn't feels too forced, without making it obvious from the outset.
Once he had her at ease, then he could start to work on explaining that he really wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And, the good thing was, he'd figure out just how he was going to do it. Every last step.
The problems started when he stopped the car outside of Bardot's house, and saw the front door swing open as soon as he pulled up in front of the house. Fable stepped out. This was just a repeat of what it been going on for the past month.
Every time he stopped by, Major or Fable would come out, and they tell him that Bardot didn't really want to see him. He ducked down in the car, trying to hide, hoping that Fable was just coming out by coincidence. Once she got into her car, and drove off, Dane could go in without having anyone try to stop him. It wasn't that he was afraid, but things were so much easier if he didn't have to deal with it.
If he had hoped that Fable wouldn't notice, though, he was out of luck. A knock at his passenger-side door told Dane that Fable had arrived, had noticed him, and apparently wanted to talk.
Dane rolled the window down. "Is there a problem?"
He didn't want to ask if he could speak to Bardot directly. If he didn't bring it up, and Fable didn’t bring it up, then he could claim that she hadn’t tried to stop him. All he had to do was distract her long enough.
"What are you doing here?"
"I just…" Dean tried to think of an excuse. The second of hesitation was all it took for his intentions to show on his face.
"Are you here to talk to Bardot?" Dane looked out the window, past Fable, his eyes locked on the front door the house.
"Don't try to stop me," he said, finally.
"I'm not going to stop you," Fable told him. "On the contrary, I'm gonna give you a piece of free advice. If you want to talk to her, you need to go now."
"Is that some kind of threat?" Dane tried to play it off like a joke, but neither one of them laughed.
"No," Fable said "just a statement of fact. Your window of opportunity isn't going to last much longer."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Bardot finally got her letter," Fable said. "She's going to Seattle."
"When’s she leaving?"
"Any minute," Fable said. "That's what I'm trying to tell you."
"Shoot," Dane growled. "I really need to talk to her.”
His stomach churned, and every single plan that he had flew right out the window. He had to go quickly. There was no time to hesitate now, not when he was so close. Not when he finally knew what he needed to tell her. Not when it was the choice to either tell her bluntly or lose her. He gritted his teeth, and started to run. He only hoped that he wasn't too late.