Chapter 125: Can’t Find Joy
It was Friday morning and Emily walked through the city streets.
Headphones in her ears as she listened to an upbeat song. The happy tune was an attempt to cheer herself up after another disappointing night. The source of her disappointment being that Derek Haven had not shown up once again.
It was not working. In fact, it was failing dismally. Emily could not seem to get her mood out of the dark place that it was in, no matter how hard she tried. Not even the current song that she was listening to helped. It was one about sunshine, rainbows, and all things good, but it was not enough to cheer her up. On the surface she might have looked passive, but internally her mind was at war.
He does not owe you anything. A part of her hissed. He was just a client at the diner, it said.
But the other part of her disagreed? Yes, he does. He owes me an apology. I need to confront him and talk about it.
And that was where the problem was. She could not confront someone who was not there. She could call him since she had his number, but Emily highly doubted that he would pick up.
Afterall, he had no reason that would make him answer a call from her. Just as he had no reason to keep coming back to the diner.
Which was why it had been so easy for him to stop. To just abandon everything without warning. Leaving her blaming herself for the unfinished business that she had with him.
She should have confronted him way before he up and left for good. But Emily, ever the mother hen had just taken one look at him. She had seen the too loose suit, that awful beard, and the lines under his eyes. And she had instantly gone into nurturing mode. Then she had nurtured him right out of her life.
Just when it looked like he was gaining a bit of vitality back. He had disappeared.
And part of her truly believed that it was what she deserved. She’d had a chance to get her closure. And she had wasted it, making sure that a man who was her former boss was back to looking like the person that she remembered, instead of just a shadow of his former self.
An absolute waste of a good opportunity.