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Just You and Me, Once Again
Greg wrapped his palms around his coffee cup. He was eager to steal its warmth – hisentire body was numb with cold. He still couldn’t believe everything that had happenedin the past 24-hours. How could one man’s life go from gold to crap is so little time andwith so little warning?He brought the cup to his lips. He paused to allow the steam to momentarily warm hismouth before taking a cautious sip. His light green eyes scanned the bookstore crowdwith little interest. So many aimless shoppers killing time and looking for … what?Information? Distraction? Happiness? The meaning of life?He snorted in disgust at his thoughts and mumbled under his breath, “The meaning of life.” He shook his head and took another sip of his coffee before mumbling again,“Don’t get engaged. Ever.”One of the four glass doors to the store opened and caught his eye. He glanced over at theattractive woman who walked in. She paused just on the threshold and began scanningthe patrons, one by one. Her brown hair, tinged with reddish streaks, glistened withmoisture under the lights and was gnarled and tangled from the wind. His eyes shifted tothe oversized windows in the café, the day had darkened and small beads of moisturedotted the window.It was raining. How appropriate.He turned his attention back to the woman and waited for her to glance in his direction.She would find him; she had a knack of always finding him.He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure he wasprepared to talk about what happened yet. He still hadn’t fully come to terms with ithimself. Perhaps if he kept quiet, he could pretend it simply hadn’t happened, thateverything was right with his world, that Tara was still a part of his world.He sniffed and was surprised to feel moisture in his eyes.“Geez, buck up man.” He cleared his throat a second time, the sound reverberating off thepocket of silence that often happens in a room full of people.The woman glanced in his direction.Though he didn’t look directly at her, he sensed her intelligent, piercing hazel eyes onhim. He lifted a hand that felt like lead to indicate he was aware of her presence and tosignal his position.His eyes remained fixed on the dismal scenery outside.
 
Blair would tell him she tried to warn him. She would gloat, she would chastise, shewould scoff.He suddenly wasn’t sure calling his oldest, and best friend, was such a good idea.He knew she was near just by her sweet, honeyed scent. His senses welcomed the changefrom the stale coffee aroma.“So,” Blair said while pulling back the chair opposite him and gracefully sliding into thesmall space. “What’s going on?” She placed her damp bag on the floor by her feet andimpatiently swiped at the light sheen of condensation on the sleeve of her overcoat.“Not much, what’s going on with you?” He tried to curve his lips into a smile, but knewit probably looked twisted and a tad insane.“Well, that’s a scary expression,” she said with a smirk. “And stop trying to be cute, it’sannoying.”He sighed and shrugged. “Life sucks, is that what you want to hear?”“Tell me.” She crossed her legs, clasped her small, delicate hands on her lap and regardedhim with expectation.“One thing first,” he said. “You must promise me you won’t say, ‘I told you so.’”“I can’t promise that.”“Then you’re wasting your time because I can’t hear that right now, Blair.”She expelled a long, pent-up breath and looked around the café. “I’ve never understoodhow people can get any work done here,” she said while nodding to a trio of people bentover their laptops. “Who can concentrate with all of these distractions? I’d be too busywatching that elderly couple over there pretending to read but actually watchingeverything and everyone around them. Or that woman over there pretending to ignore thefact that her little girl is writing on the table. Or that barista over there who just blew hernose and then didn’t wash her hands first before making that customer’s coffee. Ew … somuch for ordering anything.” She wrinkled her slightly crooked nose in distaste.“Are you done?”“Are you ready to spill the beans?” She looked calmly back at him. Her brows werelifted, her expression tolerant, yet impatient.“It happened exactly as you predicted it would.”“I told you she was not the woman for you.”
 
“Yeah well, I thought you were just jealous.”Her perfectly plucked brows rose a notch. “I’m not jealous.”He gave her a tired look before lifting the lid of his coffee cup. He gave the liquid a swirlor two before lifting his eyes back to her. “We both know that isn’t true.”She huffed and waved a hand. “Whatever. Continue with your pathetic story.”He suddenly straightened his back and stretched the sore tendons housing his ribs. “So, Ibought the ring. Twelve thousand dollar ring, I might add.”This information was rewarded with a faint look of respect. “Nice,” she mumbled. Sheagain flicked her wrist at him. “Keep going.”“Yeah, quite a chunk of change. I hadn’t planned on spending that much money, but youknow, this ring seemed just perfect for her and it was the shape …”“Spare me the gory details. I could care less what’s perfect for little Miss Gold Digger.Did you also buy the other ring like I told you to?” She narrowed her eyes at him. Herbody had tensed and he knew she was waiting to pounce on him at the slightest deviationfrom the plan.“Of course. Though I just about didn’t. I mean, how asinine of a plan …”“It worked, didn’t it?”He lifted one shoulder nonchalantly. “I guess if you could call what happened working,then yeah, it got the reaction you predicted.”“Start from the beginning, leave nothing out.”He absently toyed with the cup in his hands and quickly ran the whole episode throughhis head, only in reverse, like rewinding a scene from a movie on a DVD player.“Give me that.” She took the cup from his lifeless fingers and without a second thought,took a long swallow. “I’m dying for caffeine and there’s no way I’m ordering anythingfrom this germ hole.”He shifted in his chair and leaned a shoulder against the iron railing next to the table. Hecould point out that she was not only drinking the café’s germs, but his as well, but heknew he’d just get a lecture and he wasn’t in the mood for any more grief.“She met me for lunch yesterday,” he began. “You know, it was a nice day so we askedfor a table outside. She thought I was a little crazy for taking a helium balloon in with us,but you know, whatever, right? I had been hinting around for weeks now that I might pop
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