Until she explodes.
"Oh my God!" She pushes me, catching me off guard and causing me to rock back a step. "Oh my God. That’s how you do it. You… You…" she stutters and begins snatching up her clothes off the floor. "You don’t say the right things to calm me. Fuck, you manipulate my past to make them the right things! It’s all lies!"
"Sarah. I’m not lying about anything."
"I have to get out of here."
"You’re overreacting. Listen to me. I’m not perfect either," I call after her as she rushes from the room.
She begins shoving her clothes in her oversized purse. "How long have you known? Did you already know on my birthday when I went through Manda’s box?"
I nod and she chokes out a sob.
"Of course you did. You know you could have told me then. If there had ever been a fucking moment to tell me that you knew my life story, that would have been it. Before I shared one of the most special moments of my life with a fucking liar."
"I was worried you were going to react like…well, like this. I wasn’t ready to lose you." I toss my arms out to my sides in frustration.
"And what about now? You ready now?" she asks, snatching her keys off the table.
I step in front of the door to prevent from her leaving. "No! I’m not ready. And truth be told, I don’t think you’re ready either."
"Fuck you, Leo. You can stop pretending you know what I need."
"So what exactly are you mad about? The fact that I knew or the fact that I didn’t tell you."
"All of the above!" she shrieks, stopping in front of me.
"Please just talk to me. You aren’t being rational here."
"Bullshit. This might just be the most rational I’ve been since I fell under your spell." She pushes past me and storms down the stairs.
"Can I please have a goddamn minute to explain?"
"Sure. Build a time machine, because I’ve given you all the minutes you’re ever going to get from me."
She swings open the garage door and Johnson steps out of the guard station.
"Everything okay?" he asks.
Sarah starts to breeze past him but freezes just a few steps away. With a humorless laugh, she spins to face him and levels him with a glare.
"You son of a bitch. That was confidential! You had no right to tell him!" she yells.
Johnson shakes his head and turns to me. "I’m not getting involved in this. I highly suggest you start fucking explaining things to her."
"He didn’t—" I start, but I’m immediately interrupted.
"You know what? I’m done. Fuck you both. Aiden, you’re an asshole. I never would have told him you were gay. Oops. I guess it just slipped." She spins on a heel and walks to her car.
She doesn’t spare another word for me. I watch helplessly as she drives from the garage. I want to chase her down the street, force her to listen to me, but I have a feeling none of that would help my case. I can’t fight with her until she cools off and is ready to listen. I’ll give her some time. I don’t believe for one second that Sarah’s really done, but more than that, I’m not done. She just needs to organize her thoughts. It’s going to hurt like a motherfucker to sit back and let her figure this out. She doesn’t even have all the facts. But if it ultimately ends with her in my arms, I’m more than willing to endure.
"Well, that went well," I say to Johnson, who is suddenly enthralled with the cracks on the concrete.
"Yeah. Awesome," he growls.
"Hey. You want me to go back to pretending I don’t know or you want to bring Chris out to dinner when I iron this shit out with Sarah?" I ask and his head snaps to mine. "You might want to be more discreet on the work cell." I smirk uncomfortably and his eyes grow wide. "Oh, don’t give me that look. I learned a long time ago not to look at the pictures you guys exchange."
He closes his eyes, but a tiny smile tilts his lips. He doesn’t utter a word as he walks back into the guard station.
I head back up to my apartment and snatch my phone off the nightstand. When I turn it on for the first time in a week, messages from Sarah, Erica, and some clients flood my screen. I clear them all and type out a text.
Me: You don’t have to believe me, but that doesn’t change the way I feel. I love you. Take all the time you need. I’m ready to explain whenever you’re ready to listen.
Two days later…
"UM, WHY the hell are you not at work?" Emma questions when she walks into my apartment.
"I took the day off," I respond mindlessly while flipping through the TV channels.
"She got fired," Casey pipes up from beside me.
"You what?" Emma shouts.
"She called in sick on Monday and Tuesday, then no-showed on Wednesday. I stopped by today to see if she wanted to go to lunch only to be informed that Sarah Erickson was no longer employed by the Tribune." Casey smiles and I flip her off.
"You done tattling?" I ask before resuming my hunt for a nonexistent TV show.