BXBX NOVEL Chapter 250 - Sorry, I Can't
Claire's phone rang in her pocket, and she took it out and when she saw the caller she hesitated for a moment then she swiped the screen;
''Leo? '' she guessed he must have called because of Tiana and Nicklaus;
''Claire? Did you hear what happened? I heard that Tiana was hospitalized because of the news; ''
''Yes, I just left the hospital now. It's sad, she doesn't want to wake up, the doctors say there's nothing wrong with her, ''
''Damn, I'm almost there, can you wait for me? Have you left? ''
Claire's hands which were about to open her car hung in the air. They had not spoken, neither had she seen him for three weeks now, Leo tried contacting her but when she didn't respond to his calls, he guessed she wanted to give him space, so he quit.
Today, she only picked the call because of Tiana; she didn't expect that he would ask her to wait. Her hands trembled and she fisted them.
To hell, she wanted to see him badly; she had missed him so much that right now, every pulse in her body was telling her to agree but her sense of reasoning was saying otherwise. She took in a deep breath and opened her lips to reject him; this was for the best, seeing him now would bring back all her suppressed feelings,
''Sorry, I can't. ''
There was silence on the other side for a moment before Leo spoke;
''Please, I've not seen you for a while, let's just meet today, I promise I won't do anything rash, I've missed you. ''
Claire's heart fell into her stomach and her eyes blurred. His words broke every stronghold she had against him and she couldn't bear to refuse him anymore.
''Okay, ''
''I'll be there in a minute, thank you. ''
Her hand holding the phone dropped to the side as she leaned her head against her car, would she ever be able to overcome this? If she saw him now, she would fall back right in, what would she do?
Claire heaved painfully, should she tell him she had feelings for him?
No, no, she can't do that. He has moved on, if she did, it just meant that she wanted to destroy a relationship and that was being unfair on Hazel's part. And for the most part, he might have fallen in love with her.
Claire was kicked out of her thoughts by the vibrating of her phone in her hands.
''Hey are you here?'' she asked, composing herself immediately,
''yeah, just arrived, oh, I see you standing beside your car. '' Claire turned around to see Leo drive into the parking lot and park his car. She straightened herself quickly and put a smile on her face as she walked towards him;
''Claire; '' Leo called, his Adam's apple bobbled as he watched her approach him; he missed her so much, so much that he wanted to close the gap between them and hug the living life out of her, but he held himself back.
''Leo, it's been a while. '' Claire smiled brightly as she stood in front of him. He wore a new hairstyle, some of his hair covering a portion of his forehead, making him look irresistibly hot, how did she not realized the Greek god of a human that had been by her side all these while?
Leo gazed at her face, and he smiled;
''Yeah, it's been long. It seems you're doing great. ''
Claire nodded, a pain in her throat; ''I'm great. What about you? '' She asked blinking as the setting sun behind him flashed on her eyes. She wouldn't tell him about the sleepless nights she had, the times she would cry herself to sleep. Times she would lock her phone away and give a guard the key, telling him not to give it to her even if she asked just so she wouldn't call him. She wouldn't tell him that,
Leo beamed; ''I'm fine, I'm doing well; '' he wished that was the case. To think he had issues with Hazel now because he couldn't stop thinking about her. He had tried to touch her intimately but aside from kissing, he couldn't go further, no, not with Claire in his mind.
Claire hesitated for a moment and then she asked; ''what about Hazel? '' her smile was fake but she didn't know if he noticed, she couldn't make it feel real anymore, it was already her reality.
''she's good, um, are you busy later today? '' Leo asked. Claire's fingers clutched her purse, she wanted to say yes, but her body was saying otherwise, she bit her lower lip as she shook her head, knowing that she was treading a road of no return.
''We could go for a drink later if you don't mind? '' Leo's heart raced, what was he even doing? He couldn't believe he was actually asking her that and worse of all he couldn't believe his eyes when she nodded with a smile.
''come pick me at home, just coming from work, need to shower and rest. ''
''Alright, I will. Let me rush in to see Tiana ''
''Yeah, see you. '' Claire licked her lower lip as she watched him go into the hospital to see Tiana. Even when she knew she was doing something wrong, she couldn't deny the happiness coursing through her. The truth was that she wanted to be around him. She wanted him to hold her, to hug her, even if it was for a minute, she wanted him badly, and it was making her crazy.
Maybe she should be selfish? Just this once, she would let herself be selfish.
Swallowing hard, she entered her car and zoomed off to home. She showered and rested then dressed up for the outing.
She packed her hair up in a ponytail. She applied her red lipsticks and smacked her lips. She was putting on jeans and a shirt, not anything flashy, just normal. She was already beautiful so he would look good in anything she wore.
She heard a car pull up in front of the house and she stepped out. It seemed he went home because he was putting on different clothes from what he wore earlier.