Page 87 of Strings

I take my plate and head toward the couch. There’s an iPhone on the coffee table.

“Hey, I think you left your phone in here.”

Sebastian rounds the corner with his sandwich. “No, that’s yours.”

“No it’s not. I smashed my phone, remember? I didn’t have anything this high-tech.”

He sits down on the couch next to me and blows lightly on his grilled cheese as I criss-cross my legs under me.

“Yeah, I know that. But I took the liberty of getting you a new one and having it delivered. That’s who came to the door when you went to take a bath.”

My mouth drops.

He holds up his sandwich as he talks. “I couldn’t have your number transferred over, but I wrote down your new number and programmed it in my cell so you can’t avoid me. I put my number and the number for the Sym in your new phone. I hope you have your family and friends’ numbers written down somewhere. Sorry about that.” He takes a big bite and wipes his fingers on a paper towel.

“Did you just apologize to me for buying me a new top-of-the-line phone and setting it up?”

“Oh, and I bought Eminem’s latest CD for you too. And Yanni’s greatest hits.” He smirks. “I didn’t know what else you liked. I also downloaded the Kindle App. You can read as many books as you want to now. I bought youPride and Prejudiceagain so you’d always have it. And since you didn’t get to read all the books in high school that you wanted to, I bought youWuthering Heights, To Kill a Mockingbird,andThe Great Gatsby. They’re the only ones I could remember reading off the top of my head. I figured you might like to have them as well.”

“Sebastian…”

“The point is, I didn’t want you to be without a phone.” He takes another bite of his grilled cheese and I feel the tears in my eyes again.

I stand and rush over to my purse. “How much do I owe you? Can I write you a check?”

I start to pull out my wallet and he scoffs. “Don’t you dare. You aren’t paying me anything.”

“But this had to cost a small fortune. I don’t want your pity.”

“Talia, you’re insulting me. Please let me do this for you. I want to. I can afford it, trust me. And this has nothing to do with pity. This is me ensuring I can reach my fake girlfriend when I need her and when she needs me.”

My heart pounds in my chest. “What the ever loving fuck, Bash?”

“What?” he asks, astounded.

I grip my hair in my hands. “First you come find me today, reassure me, drive me home, cook me dinner, and then you buy me a brand new phone…andbooks?” I shout and start to pace.

“Are you mad? Did I do something wrong?”

There’s another knock on my door. I swing it open forcibly and it slams into the wall. “What?” I shout, not even seeing who it is.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry. Am I interrupting?” Cherese is standing in my doorway, looking like I scared the crap out of her.

I reach my hand out to her and grab her wrist. “No. I’m sorry. Come in.”

“Are you okay? Hi, Sebastian.” She waves to him on the couch as he wipes his hands and immediately stands.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I didn’t mean to.”

“She meant to yell at me. How are you, Cherese?”

“I’m good.” She cringes. “I heard what happened today. You’re the talk of the building. Everyone is saying you’re a hero.”

“What? Why?”

“I guess Mercer had some kind of anxiety attack and he’s crediting you for saving him.”

I feel like I’m going to hurl.