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"Fortune," she says in broken English

"Yes"

She goes back behind the curtain and returns with a tiny cup of coffee in her hand "Drink"

"Cream?" I ask her

She shakes her head no and I drink it quickly, not liking the taste at all and even rinds at the bottom of the cup She shakes her head at me, disappears, and comes back with another "Drink it slower"

I sit down on the tattered chair and take sip after sip Once I set it down she points at oes back into the room behind the beads I folloithhere, but the second thoughts are fleeting

"Your cup, please," she says

I hand it to her

She stares into the cup, and without asking ins to talk "You will find love, but it won’t make you happy Be patient and let it come to you and you will find true happiness"

I roll ed in a big way You have two bosses Listen to them both"

How could she know that? She doesn’t know me from Adam

"You will find yourself in a situation you have been in before, and you will handle it eneric statement, but the one about the job still h a door,it clear she is done withfor me

"Forty dollars please," she says

I open my purse, a little dumbfounded, and hand her tenties "Can I ask her soirl shakes her head

I leave there laughing that I just wasted not only my time but forty dollars I pull out my phone and send Ben a text

I’ive et back

I press SEND and resolve to push hio back to work

CHAPTER 35

Say So

Ben

One week later

Don’t be stupid--my oords echo in my head I’d heard the statement from many different people and in many different contexts inup I was far from an A student, but they kneasn’t duy Fuck, I could never keep my mind on one task How could I when I couldn’t even sit still? And right now I feel like that saain I haven’t been able to concentrate, h speed, and I feel I want to throw so

The office is closed but I ca better to do I’ve been sitting here for hours alternating between staring out theand glaring at my computer I turn back around in my chair and this time I fixate on the keyboard It’s been just over a week since she left ive her time And I have She has family responsibilities I understand those What I don’t understand is rong Nothing that we talked about makes any sense I drop my head to my hands Fuck, fk, fk

I haven’t spoken to her Not because she asked ure out what happened I’ve typed a few texts but never hit SEND I’ve dialed her number more than a few times but never let it connect

Christmas came and went Serena and Jason went to Hawaii to spend it with Trent He had a surfing competition over the holidays that he didn’t want to one but wasn’t really in the mood to be jovial So instead I spent the day with Beck, Ruby, and Beck’s dad I ate with theht

Today is New Year’s Eve and I find itated than I’ve been all week I switch to staring at ure out what to say to her, but I just can’t find the words Can I tell her that being without her is fking hell? That I’m miserable? That I miss her, and not just the sex? I’rab a pencil, break it in half, and throw it across the room "Fuckkk"

I push up inalways helps I change quickly and yet as soon as I hit a steady stride she’s back inher at Plan B has been a real asset and I hope she comes back to work here In the past y to increase azine visibility, membership, and traffic across both publications She’s experie socialtrends in social ether she and Beck have successfully launched Plan B into the social media network

I kept my promise and after that first day of a little boss/secretary fun, we haven’t stripped down in the office again However, one late night she did pretend to be ain, pushe had to be at work really early and she was extre her skirt and slowly licking her to climax But other than that I have really behaved while at the office Our relationship was--is, I’ I thought it was almost perfect

Thereon thehts at my house except for Thursdays and Sundays when she went to her mother’s for family dinners Even then I’d usually o with her and I hadn’t asked to join her until the night at the restaurant when I knew she just wasn’t going to let her torlds collide That’s why I let her go I don’t kno to break that barrier between us

"Running frolike that"

"Must have to do with our girl"

I ignore the our "Whatworld and now that she hasn’t been around, you don’t see clue I don’t knoere ever really together"

"I’ether, but to ether"