“I know what you mean,” he whispered.
“Sorry, I didn’t bring my phone. I’ll remember to take it with me next time,” she apologized.
“Actually, we need to talk.”
Warning signals began blasting off in her brain even worse than this morning. Those words were never a good sign. Nothing good could come from saying that. “About what?” she managed to get out.
She could hear him take a deep breath. “Can I come over?”
“Of course you can come over. You’re here all the time,” she mumbled knowing it had to be bad, if he had to ask to come over.
“I have to take care of some...stuff here, and then I’ll be over so we can talk. Alright?”
She nodded swallowing heavily. Then she realized he couldn’t see her and said, “Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Bye,” he said hanging up the phone quickly.
Lexi shut her phone and tossed it back into the mess on her desk. She yanked her hair out of the ponytail on the back of her head and let her mass of curls fall around her face. Brushing them out of her face with her fingers, she could feel some of the tension release from her body.
The events from the past twelve hours were replaying in her head. Where had things gone wrong? They had been perfect at the party. God, they had been about to leave to have sex...make love until they had been interrupted.
The interruption.
What had Claire said about him leaving? That she had seen him exit the premises with some drunken blonde chick on his arm. Lexi could remember the look of disbelief in Claire and Chyna’s eyes when she had explained about the interview. They both had the same expression.
She shook her head not wanting to think about that. Her body hurt from running, lack of hydration, and chronic worrying. All she needed was a long hot shower and to chill the fuck out. No use worrying over something that she had no idea about. Everything her imagination was conjuring up was only successfully making her more worried about what had happened last night, and why he now so desperately needed to talk to her.
Taking the time to thoroughly wash away any lingering doubts, Lexi took extra long in the shower. She scrubbed every crevice washing away the sweat and grime from her run twice with her cranberry body wash. She lathered and rinsed her hair until it was silky smooth. When she cut off the water, the bathroom was thick with steam and the mirror completely obscured by fog. Typically, Lexi wasn’t the type of girl who primped, but today was not like other days.
After towel drying her hair, she blew it out until every long strand was dry. Then she pulled a straightener down until all the curls were gone and her hair hit her lower back. Black eyeliner rimmed her eyes and a layer of mascara touched her lashes. After adding a hint of rouge to her pale cheeks, she figured she had spent enough time in the bathroom. She was amazed that no one had bothered her already. With only one bathroom between four people, it was usually only a matter of time before someone came banging on the door.
As Lexi walked out of the bathroom, she did hear a knock coming from the door. She wrapped her skimpy white towel tightly around her body and scrambled towards the front door. “Jack,” she cried as she opened the door. “I thought you had stuff to do.”
He looked at her as if he were looking at her for the first time. The way her silky hair shone as the hallway light hit the strands. The way her side swept bangs fell neatly into her enormous brown eyes, which only looked larger and more beautiful from the make-up she had carefully applied. Her skin contrasted with the bleach white towel giving her a sun-kissed look. A smile broke out across his face as he took in the sight of her partly exposed body.
“It’s been over an hour,” he commented.
“Oh, has it?” she asked embarrassed even further. She couldn’t remember ever taking over an hour in the shower. “Are you going to come in?” she asked stepping aside and hugging her towel tight to her chest. She could feel it slipping out of place.
Jack stepped through the doorway allowing Lexi to close it behind him.
“I’ll just go change,” Lexi said walking swiftly towards her bedroom. Jack followed behind taking a seat in her desk chair. She turned to face him without moving to get clothes out of her closet. “So, what uh...stuff did you have to do?” she asked leaning back against her desk.
Jack averted his eyes to the floor. “I had to get things taken care of. It’s no big deal.”
“Oh,” she said lamely. Lexi sucked her bottom lip into her mouth biting down lightly. She could tell that it was a big deal or he wouldn’t have to be so secretive about it. But she was already afraid of what he might say. There was no need to bring anything else up until he was ready.
Lexi sat back against the desk, scooting over a few coffee mugs and class notes. “I thought you were going to change,” he noted once he finally spoke up. His eyes roamed her body.
“I was, but you wanted to talk to me.”
“I didn’t expect to speak to you naked,” he murmured.
“I’m not naked,” she told him pointing towards her tiny towel.
“Close enough.”
“No, it’s really not. You’ve seen me in less.”
Jack cringed away at her words. Not a good sign. “Just...change.”
“I’d rather we talk,” she told him standing her ground.
“Fine,” he muttered standing swiftly from the chair and knocking it back against the wall. Lexi jolted from where she was sitting. “So, let’s talk.”
Lexi waited. “I don’t know what you want to talk about,” she whispered her eyes cast to the floor in anticipation.
“I don’t really know how to begin this.”
“Are you,” she choked on the words, “are you breaking up with me?” She felt tears welling in her eyes at the prospect. The way he was talking that was the only conclusion she could come to. He had realized he didn’t want her after all and they were not going to be working towards that relationship. It didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense at all after what he had said to Clark, but she couldn’t see an alternative. She had been through break ups before and he was about hitting it on the nose.
“What?” he asked. “No. Well, I couldn’t anyway. We’re not in a relationship. I mean we’re together, but we’re not...you know...together.”
Lexi really could not tell the difference anymore. They had been doing everything together for over a month, and they had been intimately involved emotionally for nearly four years. How much more could he want?
“So, we’re not breaking up then?” she asked feeling pitiful.
“No, well, I dunno,” he muttered.
Lexi coughed running her fingers through her stick straight hair, and trying not to cry. “Why don’t you know?”
“It all depends on you.”
“I don’t want us to break up.”
Jack smiled a true genuine smile reaching all the way up to his beautiful blue eyes. “Yeah?” he asked his smile beginning to wane. “You might change your mind.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve made up my mind.”
“Look, Lex, I don’t want to lie to you. I told you I never would, and I want to stick by that.”
Lexi’s heart was beating out of her chest. It was almost painful as the weight of it slammed forcefully back and forth against her ribcage. He had lied to her as she had feared. She didn’t know what it could be about. Was it the blonde girl? Did he not go to the interview?
“Then don’t lie to me.”
“I don’t want to,” he said stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I have to tell you something.”
“What do you have to tell me?” she asked impatiently. “Is this about the girl Claire saw you leaving with last night?”
“Girl?” he asked confused. “No, it has nothing to do with that. She was just drunk and I was helping her out of the party and into a cab.”
“Is this about the interview?” she couldn’t help asking.