Page 20 of Crash and Burn

"There's nothing going on with me and Grant," I said.

That much was obvious now.

"I'm taking off, too," I told Mason, exhaustion filling every pore. I felt weary. Drained. Lifeless. "You mind closing up?"

"No worries." Mason patted me on the back consolingly. "He's never mentioned her, you know. It's probably not that serious."

"I'll see you tomorrow," was all I said in reply.

I grabbed my bag from the back and wandered out onto the street in a daze.

I'd been misreading things this whole time.

Grant was a friend.

Nothing more.

6

Arough, moist tongue licked a stripe down my hand.

I flicked my fingers to shoo Mittens away.

A thick, heavy tail thumped against my hip repeatedly.

I rolled over on the bed to stare up at the ceiling.

A warm, furry body tucked itself against my side, curling into a ball and beginning to purr.

I gave in and brought my hand down to scratch Mitten’s ear.

Okay, so she was a demon most of the time, but every so often that cat acted as if she actually liked me.

Or maybe she was just checking to see if I was dead, ready and willing to eat the face off my corpse. Cats did that, right?

I'd been huddled under my blankets for hours. I couldn't muster the energy to get out of bed.

Thank god today was Monday and I had the day off. I was allowing myself to wallow in misery for as long as I liked.

I couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't stop seeing it behind my closed eyelids.

That woman, Missy, with her lips firmly attached to Grant's.

I buried my head in my pillow and groaned. The image haunted me.

Not to mention,raw food? What kind of person went out to eat raw food at midnight? That was the time for greasy fries from a sketchy street vendor or a juicy sausage from a hot dog cart.

Or pancakes from a homey, familiar, twenty-four hour diner.

"Meow?" Mittens asked, poking her head up from where it had been resting on her paws.

"I'm moping," I told her, my voice muffled by the pillow. "That's what people do when they get their hearts broken."

But it was my own fault in the end, wasn't it? I had no claim to Grant. I had no right to be jealous. I could have told him how I felt long before now.

I'd waited too long. He was with someone else.

I lifted my head from the pillow and heaved a sigh.