Chapter 23 Episode Twenty Three
Chapter 23 Episode Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Three
Diana’s POV
Calum had been gone for three days now and I missed him more than I thought possible. Every night I slept in my small bed alone and wished I was in his arms instead. The mansion felt emptier without him even though I was still busy with work
Madelyn had been giving me extra chores to keep me occupied and I was grateful for the distraction. If I kept my hands busy then I didn’t have to think about how much I wanted him to come home
It was late afternoon and I had just finished cleaning the second floor when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text from Kieran
Hey, you’ve been ignoring me for three days. Are you okay?
Guilt stung my heart
He had texted me every day since Calum left and I hadn’t responded to any of them. Not because I didn’t want to talk to him but because I had promised Calum I would stay away
But Kieran was just being a good friend. There was nothing wrong with texting him back, right?
I typed out a response. I’m fine, just busy with work
His reply came immediately. Want some company? I’m kind of bored
I hesitated. Calum wouldn’t like it if I invited Kieran over. But Calum wasn’t here and I was lonely and having a friend around didn’t seem like such a bad thing
I’m at work right now
I know where you work, remember? I can come by and we can just hang out for a bit
I bit my lip and looked around. Madelyn had gone to the market and wouldn’t be back for at least an hour. Lily had the day off, so basically, house was empty except for me
What harm could it do?
Okay, but just for a little bit
Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang and I opened it to find Kieran standing there with two cups of coffee and a bag of pastries
“I brought provisions,” he said with that easy smile of his
“You didn’t have to do that”
“I know but I wanted to.” He stepped inside and looked around “Man! This place is huge, you clean all of this by yourself?”
“Mostly….There’s a head maid who helps but I do most of the work”
“That’s insane” He followed me to the kitchen and set the coffee and pastries on the counter “You work too hard”
“What choice do I have? I’m the one who needs money right?”
“For your sister,?”
I froze “How did you know I have a sister?” He raised his brows at me ljke I’d gone crazy
“You mentioned it the other day, when we had coffee, remember?” He pulled out a chair and sat down
“You said you were working hard for someone who depended on you…and the time is ticking”
Had I said that? I didn’t remember telling him about Amaryllis but maybe I had let something slip, we did talk about thag day
“Yeah. For my sister” I acknowledged
“How old is she? You didn’t get to tell me much about her that way…lots of other stuff buried it down” I laughed
“She’s nine ”
“And she’s not with you?”
“It’s complicated” I didn’t want to talk about this “Can we talk about something else?”
“Sure” He opened the bag of pastries and handed me one “Tell me about yourself, then. What do you do for fun?”
“I don’t really have time for fun”
“That’s sad, every one deserves a fun time here and there” He took a bite of his pastry “What did you do before you came here? Before college?”
“I survived mostly, moved from place to place, worked whatever jobs I could find…you know..”
“That sounds really lonely”
“It was.” I sipped my coffee “But I’m used to it.”
“You don’t have to be used to it anymore.” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand “You have me now, and I’m not going anywhere”
Something about the way he said it made me uncomfortable. Like he meant more than just friendship
I pulled my hand back gently. “Kieran, I told you. I can’t…”
“I know, I know. You’re involved with someone.” He held up his hands “I’m not trying to push you into anything, I just want you to know that I care about you as a friend and if you ever need anything I’m here”
“Thank you”
We talked for another thirty minutes about nothing important. About his classes and my classes and the ridiculous drama that always seemed to be happening on campus. It was nice having someone to talk to who wasn’t Calum or Lily
But then he asked a question that made my stomach drop
“So what’s the deal with you and Professor Blackwood?”
“There’s no deal….I thought we already established that?” I groaned, he paused
“We did? I though what we agreeed on was that…the rumors of sleeping with him for grades was false, but you two being involved was a possibility you refused to admit”
“Even if there was, which there isn’t, it would be none of your business”
“You’re right, It’s actually not my business” He stood up and walked around the table to stand in front of me. “But I worry about you. He’s your professor and your boss, that’s a lot of power he has over you, don’t you think?”
“He doesn’t use his power against me”
“Doesn’t he? Because from where I’m standing it looks like you’re trapped. You can’t leave your job because you need the money. You can’t drop his class without affecting your grades. So if something is happening between you two, you don’t really have a choice in the matter do you?”
“That’s not true”
“Isn’t it?” He reached out and touched my face gently “You deserve better than sneaking around with someone who can’t claim you publicly”
I stepped back away from his touch “You need to leave”
“Diana….”
“No, you need to go…. Now”
He stared at me for a long moment then nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry if I overstepped
“You did”
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I won’t. And even if I do, that’s my choice to make.”
He walked toward the door but stopped before leaving. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re making a mistake. But I’ll respect your decision.”
Then he was gone
I stood there in the kitchen feeling shaken. How dare he come into my workplace and question my relationship with Calum. How dare he act like he knew what was best for me
But a small part of me wondered if he was right. Was I trapped? Did I really have a choice in any of this?
No. I pushed those thoughts away. I chose Calum
I wanted to be with him, the mate bond made it feel right even when everything else was wrong
I cleaned up the coffee cups and pastries and went back to work. I needed to finish the third floor before Madelyn got back
But I couldn’t stop thinking about what Kieran had said. About power and choice and being trapped
That night I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and missing Calum so much it hurt. I wanted him to come home and hold me and tell me everything would be okay
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I picked it up immediately and saw a text from him
Coming home tomorrow. Miss you so much, Diana, cant wait to be back
I smiled and typed back. Miss you too, cant wait to see you
My stomach fluttered with nervousness as I remembered the last time we spoke, he said he wanted us to talk
Okay
Get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow
I put my phone down and closed my eyes. Tomorrow Calum would be home and everything would be okay again
I just had to make it through one more night alone