#chapter Fifteen
She didn’t cry. Not on the drive home. Not when she got in the door. Not even when she stripped down and crawled into the shower, where she curled into a ball on the floor and stayed there until the water ran cold. It would’ve been better if she’d been able to sob and scream she thought as she got out, shivering, and dried her hair with a towel. But all she had was a sick and twisting emptiness in her gut and a throbbing ache in her chest.
In bed, she thumbed open her calendar to check her week’s schedule. The number of dates was too daunting to think about just now, especially without her spreadsheet to categorize them neatly. On her phone it was simply name/location/time, name/location/time until she had to close out of the calendar before she started to have a panic attack. She had something schedule every day, sometimes more than one. How long could she keep doing this?
Maura closed her eyes, willing herself to let go. Let go. Let him go, she told herself fiercely, hating herself for holding on so tightly to what no longer served her. Ian does not love you.
Not enough.
Her phone vibrated with a message, the notification a small red one like a single devil’s horn. She almost didn’t bother to check it. If it was from Ian, let him wait on her for once. Let him wonder if she was going to answer. But, just as there was really no way she’d have been able to deny him his kiss in the parking garage, it was unrealistic of her to expect herself not to read his text.
It wasn’t from Ian. It was from Daniel. Maura stared at it for a long moment, trying to figure out if she were disappointed or relieved.
Hey. I was wondering if you’d like to get together for dinner and a movie sometime this week. I’d love to see you again before I leave. Give me a call.
Maura looked at the clock. Though the day had seemed to last forever, her late lunch and the argument after with Ian lasting a million years, it wasn’t even nine pm. Still early enough to call someone, especially if he’d asked her to. She dialed.
“Daniel,” Maura said. “Hi. I’d love to go to dinner with you.”