The Christmas Proposal - Miley Maine Page 0,49
that badly.”
“It’s okay,” I said, but I didn’t mean it. Part of me was angry at her for coming to me last night, but I knew that was unfounded. Most of it was my fault. If I hadn’t kissed her...if I had only told her to go away sooner...if I had just told Sebastian what was going on...or even if I hadn’t approached Serenity in the first place. Then none of this would have happened and neither of us would be hurting.
She gestured for me to come sit down next to her. I hesitated, but complied. In this situation, I could really use all the support I could get.
“He’ll come around eventually.”
“I really don’t think he will. If Sebastian is one thing, it’s stubborn.”
She sighed. “But he has to. You’re his best friend after all.”
“And you’re his little sister.” I turned to face her. “Look, Serenity, I care about you a lot, I really do, but I don’t want to cause a rift between you and your family. Maybe we should reconsider things.”
She caught my hands between her own. “No. I’m not budging on this. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I don’t want to lose you. I’ll talk to Sebastian; he has to understand. He’s just in the heat of the moment right now, but I know he’ll see things our way soon.”
“If you say so.” I stood. “Come on, let’s head into work early. It’ll help get our minds off of things.”
Despite what Serenity said, I didn’t really believe her. I didn’t think that Sebastian would come around, at least not anytime soon. And even if he did, I doubted that our relationship would ever be what it once was.
I found it hard to concentrate on my work that day. My mind kept going back to Sebastian and the look of betrayal on his face as he beheld Serenity and me. Would he have shown that same look of betrayal if I had come forward sooner? Were things doomed to fall apart the moment I started sleeping with her?
I didn’t have the answer to any of these questions, and it was killing me from the inside out.
At lunch, I sent Serenity out and sat alone in my office, hands trembling as I held my phone and stared down at Sebastian’s contact info. He would have landed very late last night, in the wee hours of the morning, so he would definitely be home and rested by now. I could call him. I could do it. The only question was if he would pick up.
I tapped on the icon next to his name and held the phone up to my ear, the anticipation coursing through my body.
But no one answered.
I didn’t even get one ring before the phone sent me to voicemail. After it beeped, I hesitated for a second, wondering if I should just hang up.
“Look, Sebastian,” I finally said. “I want to apologize. That’s not how I wanted things to go down and I know that I should have gone about things a different way. I’m sorry, I really am. Just please call me back. I want to talk this through; I don’t want to lose you.”
I hung up, and then texted him the same thing. Knowing him, though, he’d probably delete them right away. I’d have to try calling him again later, maybe send him a few more texts, too, but I didn’t know if anything would get through to him.
I looked up as there was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I said, knowing that I hadn’t erased the sadness from my voice well.
Serenity entered, carrying a couple of takeout boxes. She set one on my desk and then handed me a plastic fork and knife.
“Are you doing okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
“It doesn’t look like it.”
“Fine enough then. I tried calling Sebastian, but he didn’t answer. Sent me straight to voicemail.”
“Do you want me to try calling him?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. This is really something that I should be dealing with on my own. You shouldn’t have to worry about it.”
She nodded. “Okay, just let me know. I’d be fine to talk to him for you.”
“You already tried, that’s enough.” I didn’t want her to have to talk to him for me. I wanted to talk to him myself, to apologize and fix this. Because if he wouldn’t listen to me, then our relationship would never be truly fixed, at least not in any meaningful way.
“Okay.”