9
Blue
I’ve beenat this little cafe for about thirty minutes now, sitting, sipping on coffee, staring out the window, trying to distract myself by watching people walk past the window. In actuality, I’m too deep in my own fucking thoughts to concentrate on anything else. I glance at my watch. Katie should be here soon. Her class got out thirty minutes ago, and I’m not too far away from campus, so I only have to sit here a bit longer, patiently waiting for her to get here.
Patiently waiting? Maybe not.
I’m already anxious, and the coffee I’m sipping on is only making me jittery as fuck, wringing my hands together, twisting my lip ring just so my hands have something to do so I’m not tapping the table. If my knees aren’t jumping up and down, then I’m stretching my legs out under the table or leaning back in my chair.
Fuck, I need her to hurry up and get here. I’m pretty sure anyone watching me barely keep my worry and anxiety in check is wondering if I’m going through fucking withdrawals.
I finally see Katie walk by the window heading towards the door. I sit back in my seat and let out a breath, relieved to finally see her. I never thought I'd see the day when I’d be glad to see her again.
I watch her as she approaches me, looking like money and cute as usual. Her high ponytail swings behind her as she comes towards me, dressed in a teal blouse that flows around her and ties in the front, paired with white pants. Her cheeks are rosy, her lips are glossed up, and her eyes are bright. It’s easy for me to stare at her and admire how pretty she is. Whenever I lay eyes on her, I’m taken back to how tightly I was wrapped around her manicured little fingers.
But that doesn’t help me ignore the fact that she cheated on me. It’s been months since I saw her with that other dude, but the betrayal has stuck around for a hell of a long time. I thought I’d be over it by now, but I still feel it in my chest as she gets closer to me.
When she gets to the table, the perfume she’s wearing fills the space around me, the very same one that used to make me pull her closer to me. She knows just how much I liked smelling it on her. Little does she know it doesn't have the same appeal anymore. It just reminds me of what we had, how happy we were and how she ruined it.
But she looks happy to see me, sitting down with eagerness in her eyes, but there’s worry mixed in, and it throws off the chipper smile on her lips.
“Blue,” she says as she sits. “What’s the occasion? I wasn’t expecting a call from you. I definitely didn’t think you’d ask to meet up.”
“I wouldn’t call it an occasion, really. It’s more like a situation.” I tell her, straight up.
Her face tightens just a bit as she slides the menu sitting on the table in front of her to the side.
“Okay then,” she says cautiously, the optimism falling from her expression, but to her credit, she’s still smiling. “What’s going on?”
I let out a breath before I speak.
“I need to know if you’ve noticed anything off about Kam lately,” I start. “Has he been off? Or has he been acting differently?”
Now the smile on her face drops just a bit, and her eyes widen slightly, but it’s only for a moment before she puts herself back together to feign ignorance. If not for me staring into her face like a hawk, I would have missed it, but that tiny little expression told me so much.
“What do you mean?” She asks anyway.
I lean forward with my elbows on the table, and her posture straightens.
“How’s he been acting?” I ask her. “Has he been tense? Antagonistic? Obsessive?”
Her eyebrows furrow and settle low above her eyes as she hears how I’m trying to categorize Kam’s behavior. But something in her expression tells me I might have hit on something.
“I can’t really give an answer to that,” is what she tells me as she shakes her head just a bit. “Ever since he’s been playing house with Megan, I haven’t seen much of him. I’ve seen him maybe three times since he’s been to Chicago, and each time I do, he’s further up Megan’s ass.”
Her tone is sour, like Megan’s name leaves a bad taste in her mouth, and her lip pulls up as she talks about them. She’s not good at hiding her feelings about their relationship. It’s all in her voice and right there on her face. She used to love Megan, but it’s clear that’s no longer the case.
“You sound bitter about them,” I point out, looking her directly in her face, so I notice her frown deepen.
“I’m not bitter,” she retorts. “He's just so wrapped up in her I don’t see much of him these days.”
Her sentence makes my hair stand on end, and I fixate on that. There’s more there.
“So when you saw him the other day, did he seem off?” I push.
She stares at me for a moment, but I can see her trying to figure her answer out.
“He seemed normal until we got back to his and Megan’s place,” she says, and I sit back in my chair. “I don’t know. He seemed agitated to see you there. I don’t think he was expecting it.”