10. Kate
What was that?
Elias had definitely seen her, but he’d ignored her.
Which meant he was hurt, even a week after they’d slept together.
She was surprised. Elias seemed like the kind of guy who’d have one-night stands all the time. Sure, he’d told her he didn’t bring people back to his workshop, but part of her had thought he was lying.
Apparently not.
And now she felt awful.
‘Is everything okay?’ Hugo asked. He clearly hadn’t been paying attention to who she’d been paying attention to. That was one interesting thing about Hugo. He was good at giving you his full attention, but only when it suited him. And while she’d been ogling Elias, he’d been distracted by something on his phone.
‘Uh, I have to go. I’m sorry. Can we reschedule?’
‘What? You’re the one who set the date for this catch-up.’
‘I know. But I totally forgot I have to go have a blood test.’
‘You can do that later though, can’t you? Pathology places don’t take appointments, so you could go anytime this afternoon.’
Damn. Why did he know that?
‘Uh, it’s a fasting blood test, so I can’t eat until it’s done, and I’m starting to feel a little light-headed. It’s lucky I skipped breakfast this morning. And I remembered before I drank any tea.’ She jumped up. ‘I’ll see you later.’
‘Wait. I’ll go with you.’
‘No, no. I don’t want to waste any more of your time. And you said you didn’t want to be involved with any of the pregnancy stuff apart from being a donor, so you coming to the pathology lab would make things confusing.’
He frowned. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes. Sorry again.’
She ran outside, looking both ways out on the street.
There he was. Heading down the hill.
Wait.
What was she doing?
Was she actually going to see Elias now?
Why?
She knew why. She couldn’t forget the guy. And she didn’t want him to hate her more than he probably already did.
She strode down the hill, inspecting each building she passed to see which one he entered.
There. The gallery. She could see him on the other side of the window. He was facing the other way, so he hadn’t noticed she’d followed him.
Her heart started pounding, and she paused outside the entry. What if he didn’t want to see her or listen to her apology?
But she was here now. She might as well follow through.
She pushed open the large imitation temple door that was the gallery’s entrance.
And somehow tripped in the doorway, falling forward. Right into Elias’ chest.
‘What the hell?’ he said, startled.
She felt his arms wrap around her to stop her tumbling to the ground, but he quickly loosened them when she righted herself.
‘Sorry.’
‘What are you doing?’ he asked, bewildered.
‘I… I tripped,’ she said lamely.
He pressed his lips together, but his eyes sparkled. ‘I would have thought doctors would need better coordination than that.’
‘Usually.’
He looked at her silently, and her mind went blank.
‘I… uh… I want to apologise if you were upset by my… sudden departure last week.’
‘Why would that upset me?’
‘You seemed upset just now.’
‘When?’
‘At the café.’
‘Were you at the café?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘You know I was.’
He looked like he was going to argue but then sighed. ‘Fine. I was at the café. But the only reason I didn’t come and talk to you is because I didn’t want to make things awkward between you and your boyfriend.’
‘He’s not my boyfriend.’
‘Husband, then.’
‘He’s not my husband either.’ God. How was she supposed to describe Hugo? Saying he was her sperm donor wasn’t any better. ‘He’s an old friend. A platonic friend.’
‘Is that right? Does he know that?’
‘Of course he does.’ She wanted to prove it by telling him how Hugo didn’t want to be involved in her future baby’s life, but that definitely wouldn’t help.
‘Well, either way, you didn’t have to come all the way here. You clearly have stuff to do.’
‘How’s your exhibition going?’
He stared at her for a moment before answering. ‘It’s going fine, but please don’t feel like you have to make small talk with someone just because you did something you regret.’
‘I don’t regret it,’ she blurted. And then she internally cringed. Why did she say that?
He tilted his head to the side. ‘You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.’
‘I’m not lying. But my life right now is… complicated. I don’t want to drag you into it.’
‘More complicated than having most of your family in jail?’ he joked.
‘Well, not that kind of complicated. This is a different kind.’
‘You want to talk about it?’
‘Not really.’ She shook herself. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. I’m just making things worse.’
‘Do you like me?’ he asked.
She hesitated for a moment. ‘I do.’
‘Are you in another relationship, married or otherwise?’
She shook her head.
‘Then what’s the problem?’
She looked at him miserably. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him the whole truth.
‘I’m… I’m about to be really busy. It’s the reason I took some time off this month. Once that time is up, I won’t have time for relationships or socialising.’
‘For how long?’
Oh, about eighteen years.
‘For longer than I want you to wait. I’m sorry Elias. I’m a mess, and I need to leave you to live your own life.’
She reached out and stroked his arm before turning and walking away. He didn’t try to stop her.
She walked back up the hill, crossing the road so she didn’t have to see Hugo again if he was still at the café, and headed back to her car.
That was horrible. Why did Elias have to run into her at that exact moment? And why did she have to follow him? It probably would have been better if he’d thought she was dating Hugo so he could have moved on.
Now she’d just made things difficult.
And her zen had completely deserted her.