“Thank you, that would be awesome. I will see you tomorrow then.”
“Great, thank you, Jace. This has been brilliant. I will see you tomorrow. Bright and early in the morning!”
I turn and continue to walk away with my head in the clouds, and my thoughts darting everywhere. Since I’ve finished a little early, I might even go to Addie’s work to meet her there. See if she needs anything. She hasn’t said anything as yet, but I sense that there’s some unrest there. I don’t know how much she’s enjoying it these day
s, which must be hard for her because she has always been a workaholic, but just like everything, we will work it out. We have faced greater challenges and come out the other side. We can face anything together.
“Jace?” This time the voice is different, but it grabs my attention just as hard. “Do you have a moment?”
“Luci?” I narrow my eyes with confusion. “Is everything alright?”
I know she isn’t too keen on Addie and me, I don’t know if she ever has been, and we haven’t crossed paths since I’ve been back, I guess I kinda just assumed that her friendship with Addie would always be separate to her and me. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement, but it has been working… until now.
“Yeah, sorry, this isn’t something to do with Addie. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Right.” We can’t just continue to stand here awkwardly. “Do you want to go for a coffee?”
“Er, yeah that might be a good idea. I think we need to have a chat.”
We walk towards the nearest café in silence. I don’t know what the hell is going on in Luci’s mind, but all I can think about is the last time we crossed paths. She yelled at me, telling me that I was toxic, that Addie and I could never work. Her words were the ones which sent me running in the opposite direction.
Of course, it worked out well in the end, I won’t deny that, but I’m still anxious.
We end up in a café and I head to the till to buy us both a coffee. Luci’s eyes flicker towards the window over and over again as if she’s searching for an escape. It wouldn’t surprise me if she jumped up and ran.
But she doesn’t. And by the time I get back to the table, her eyes are focused only on me.
“Thank you for this, Jace, I really appreciate it a lot. I know this is awkward…”
“It doesn’t have to be.” I smile wildly, trying to make her feel comfortable. “It can be okay.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I’m hoping for here. I want to make things okay again.” She sighs loudly, sadness flickering across her face. “It’s got awkward because of what I’ve said.”
“Honestly, Luci, I don’t blame you. I know you only had Addie’s best interests at heart…”
“But I told her that you cheated, and now I know that you didn’t…”
“Luci, I was focused only on the band anyway. I neglected Addie without even realizing it. If we weren’t growing apart then you saying that would never have left me behind.”
Luci looks a little blown away, like she hadn’t considered it that way. “I still should have talked to you…”
“Luci, we were all young and stupid. I’m sure it would have ended badly anyway.”
“But then I interfered again. I called you all those names…”
“Luci, it’s fine. I get it. I understand it. I’m not mad. It was a mess, Addie and I were both confused about what we wanted. I needed to leave for us to figure out what we wanted. You didn’t do anything, you never caused anything. It was Addie and me all along. You don’t need to blame yourself for anything.”
She smiles weakly at me. I can tell that she isn’t too sure about my words, but that’s okay, she will get there. Maybe this is the start of an unexpected friendship. I wouldn’t mind that at all.
“I have wanted to say sorry to you for a long time,” Luci continues. “I just haven’t had the courage. Plus, I suppose a part of me wanted to check that you and Addison were going to work out.”
“You still weren’t convinced?” I smile cheekily.
“I guess not. But it really does seem like you’re solid now. I haven’t seen Addison so happy before.”
I sip my coffee and peer over my cup at Luci. I wonder if she will know more than me about Addie.
“Has she said anything to you about her job? She doesn’t seem too happy about it, but she hasn’t said anything yet. I don’t want to talk behind her back or anything, I just want to help her…”