Chapter one hundred and forty-four:
Christy got out of the bathtub after soaking for nearly an hour
and a half.
She had hoped the warm water would soothe her and make her feel a little better
about the argument she was having with Isaac, but it didn’t.
She used the time to convince herself that the decision she had
made was the right one, even though she didn’t know for sure. She understood
why Isaac was so angry at her, but she also knew her own motives for breaking
the rules.
She hated fighting with Isaac. She knew he could be stubborn and
very passionate about what he believed. But sometimes she just couldn’t help
but pick a fight with him. She hated that she was confrontational by nature.
She opened the bathroom door and stepped into the bedroom. Isaac had turned down the blankets on the bed
that she had made that morning, and positioned the pillows exactly how she
preferred them.
Christy smiled at this. He was thoughtful and that was adorable.
She opened the bedroom door and found him unfolding extra blankets
and laying them over the sofa. He had stripped down to his underwear, prepared
for going to bed.
Christy watched him for a moment as he pulled a fresh pillow case
over a spare pillow.
She walked across the room and sat down in front of him on the
sofa, on top of the blankets he had just placed there.
“Ike, I’m sorry. You were right.”
He raised his eyebrows, then sat down on
the coffee table with a sigh. “Christy, you’re just saying that. You don’t mean
it, do you?”
“No, but-“
“But you’re only giving in because you don’t want to fight
anymore, and I don’t want to fight either.”
“Than what’s the problem? If neither of us want to fight, than why are we?” She asked.
“I don’t know. Neither of us are right on this one, you know that,
right?”
She nodded. “I suspected so. Can we just agree to disagree? We’re
both right and we’re both wrong?”
“Yeah,” He smiled slightly. “I think that may just be the only
option.”
“Will you come to bed?” She reached out and took his hand and
added with a smile “Will you let me make it up to you?”
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Jenna finished blow drying her hair after a lengthy shower. She
pulled her hair back into a high pony-tail and straightened her t-shirt to
cover her midriff. She walked back into the bedroom she shared with Becky,
finding both beds now made and Jen’s books neatly stacked on the nightstand.
Jenna sighed. Becky was trying way too much lately to get her to
talk to her.
She descended the stairs, and walked into the kitchen, where Zac
was devouring a bowl of cereal and Becky was arranging a bouquet of flowers in
a vase filled with water.
“Morning.” Jen muttered to both Zac and
Becky.
Zac grunted, shoveling more food into his mouth.
Becky turned around and smiled. “How are you this morning?”
“It’s nine am, I’m fucking exhausted. You?”
Becky laughed at that. “Same boat, practically. But these came for
you.” She held up a card.
Jen took the small envelope from Becky and flipped it over in her
hand. She didn’t recognize the writing, but her name was on the front.
“I was going to wait for you, but I wasn’t sure when you were
going to come down and I didn’t want the flowers to dehydrate.”
“They’re beautiful.” Jen observed.
“I know. They smell wonderful.” Becky placed the bouquet in the middle
of the kitchen table. “Don’t they?”
Zac replied with another grunt.
Becky laughed.
Jen turned the card over, and slipped her fingers beneath the flap
of the envelope.
She removed a small card and scanned the words.
She sighed heavily. “They’re from Luke.”
“That’s sweet.” Becky said. “It’s thoughtful that he sent you
flowers as an apology.”
“No, he sent me flowers because he knows I won’t talk to him and
this is his only option to get me to forgive him.” Jen clarified.
“How does he know you wont talk to him
if… you won’t talk to him?” Zac asked.
“
“He had no business doing that.” Jen rolled her eyes. “I just
don’t want to have this conversation right now. I’m going for a walk.”
“I’ll come with you-“ Becky began.
“No, I want to go by myself.” Jen held up her hands defensively.
“I’ll be fine. I just need to clear my head, okay?”