Two Wrongs Make a Right

“One look at the open cadaver of someone who suffered from poor nutrition and you’d eat clean, too.”
“Yuck,” she says. “I’ll pass. I prefer to live in ignorance.”

It’s a Capricorn thing, right?”
Another winning smile sneaks out. “Ha! You caved and looked yourself up, didn’t you?”
“No.”
I might have. Briefly.

Jamie slowly lowers my phone. He blinks. Then blinks again, before he dabs the corner of his eye. That’s when I realize what’s happening.

My heart drops to the floor.

“Jamie? I made you cry. I’m so sorry—”

It’s taken me too many days to realize what you were asking wasn’t easy for you to ask, but it was necessary to care for someone you love. What you asked for hurt, but just because something hurts doesn’t mean it’s wrong—it just means it’s hard. What I should have said was that while it was going to hurt to wait, I understood.

That’s a lot of words for what I’ve meant to say since I started writing this, so I’ll say it now: I love you and I’ll wait for you. However long it takes.

Always yours,

Jamie

Her words echo in my head: It’s the things that went unsaid, rather than the things we did say, that have hurt the most.

When we’re hurting, we need to lean on our friendships.”

Any interest in coffee and catching up?

“I would never break your heart, Bea. All I want to do is protect it.”

My heart squeezes. Jame. She called me that in the car, too, and I thought I was dreaming as my head spun and I briefly wove in and out of awareness

“Because . . .” He clears his throat, and a new blush heats his cheeks. “I wanted to get the tattoo with you, but I wanted to show you later, when it’s not angry and red—I have very sensitive skin, is the thing.” He sighs. “What I mean is . . . That is . . .” His eyes search mine. “I wanted to reveal it in a more . . . intimate setting.”