The Exception(55)

The next morning as I was in the kitchen sipping on some coffee and wallowing in self-pity, Jane walked through the door.

“Good morning, Drew.” She brightly smiled.

“Hey, Jane.” I glanced up at her. “Why are you here? It’s your day off.”

“I needed to check on some things in the pantry. I’m heading to the grocery store today, so I want to make sure I don’t forget anything. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You can’t fool me, Drew. I know when something is wrong.” She walked over to the coffee pot and poured a cup of coffee.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Does this have something to do with Jillian?” she asked as she took a seat next to me.

“I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing each other anymore.”

“What? Why?”

“Her life is complicated right now, as she says. The day I met her on the plane was her wedding day and she had just left her fiancé at the altar. It’s a long story.”

“I see. So she’s not ready to jump into another relationship yet. That’s understandable. Just give her some time, she’ll come around. You are a very hard man to resist.”

“She’s on a self-discovery journey and I’ve known that. She made it very clear when we first met on the plane. I was trying to be careful and respect that, but I moved too fast. I lost her, Jane.”

“Give her some space. Let her discover herself and then she’ll come back to you. I know she will. Patience is a virtue, Drew.”

“Patience is something I don’t have when it comes to her. I feel destroyed inside.”

“That’s because you love her. Love hurts. You’ve never truly been in love, so this is new to you. If you love her that much, then you’ll let her go. Let her do what she needs to do. Isn’t her happiness all you want?”

Taking the last sip of coffee from my cup, I sighed as I looked over at Jane.

“Yes. I just want her to be happy and live the life she wants and deserves.”

“Then there you have it.” She patted my back. “Sometimes letting go of the things we love is the hardest part of life. But if she was meant to be yours and you were meant to be hers, you’ll find your way back to each other. Don’t lose yourself in the process, Drew. Stay strong and hold on to that little bit of hope.”

“Thanks, Jane.”

“You’re welcome. I’m off to the grocery store. I’ll see you in the morning.”

****

Jillian

I was a horrible person. I knew what I said would hurt him. The look of sadness in his eyes stabbed me straight through the heart. A wound that was so deep, I hated myself. I lay in bed, exhausted from all the tears that fell last night. Had I not said what I did, I would be wrapped up in the comfort and safety of Drew’s arms. Instead, I was alone. Which was what I wanted, right? Fuck if I knew what I wanted anymore. This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen. I was in no position to fall for a man and Kristen wasn’t supposed to be dying. My life had changed in the blink of an eye, and now, I found it was too much to handle.

Climbing out of bed, I showered, got myself dressed, and looked at my phone, debating whether or not to call my father. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Drew said about everyone deserving a second chance. Was I really that much of a cold-hearted bitch that I couldn’t at least let my father apologize to me? My mind went back to the conversation I had with Ano, the one where he told me that I needed to be fearless to continue my journey. Was I scared to let my father apologize to me? The deeper I searched into my soul for answers, the more confused I became. Dialing his number, I took in a deep long breath.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Dad, it’s Jillian. I was told you wanted to talk.”

“Jillian, thank you for calling. I had hoped you would.”

“If you want to talk, meet me at The Lake in Central Park at three o’clock.”

“I’ll be there. Thank you, Jillian.”

“See you soon.” I hung up before he had a chance to say anything else.

I had two hours before I had to meet my father in Central Park, so I headed to Kristen’s and Noah’s apartment. I needed to talk to her and warn her of our father’s intentions.

“Hey, you.” Kristen smiled as I walked through the door.

“Hey.” I kissed her cheek. “Are you and Noah busy?”

“We’re just going over some wedding stuff. Are you okay?”

“I need to talk to you about something,” I spoke as I set my purse down and took a seat on the couch.

“It sounds serious,” Noah spoke as he walked into the room.

“I guess you can say it is. There’s something I haven’t told you yet,” I spoke as I looked at Kristen. “Friday night, at the charity event, I ran into my parents.”

“Shit. What were they doing there?” Kristen asked.

“Apparently, they were invited. Who knows? The whole night was a clusterf*ck with them. Anyway, things were said and there were a lot of raised voices. I told our father about our relationship and I also told him about your illness. He wants to meet you.”

“Fuck him!” Noah shouted.