Always and Forever Read Free

those two words. The first words he’s spoken to me in over a year. A year!
    And they involve a fucking fish.
    “What about her?” I inquire cautiously knowing it can’t be good if he’s here, but
     I’m still stuck on the fact that this is the first time he’s talked to me in months
     and I’m starting to get even angrier.
    I watch as he purses his lips then mumbles as he looks at the floor, “I found her
     floating at the top of the tank when I ran home after lunch just now.”
    I can’t help but stare at him, entirely at a loss for words. I mean, I haven’t even
     thought about the stupid fish since we broke up. I know she represented something
     between us at the time, but with all he’s put me through, I just can’t find it in
     me right now to be upset over it. I’ve had a year of being upset and I’m sick of it.
    I take a deep breath and as nicely as I can offer, “I’m sorry.”
    His head comes up and his eyes look directly into mine. I haven’t had his eyes on
     me like this in forever and it feels as if my heart’s being squeezed by some invisible
     hand inside my chest. “I-I’m gonna miss her… I…” he clears his throat, “miss… you…”
    Wow.
    Of course, this is something I’ve been dying to hear from him for a long time, but
     now that I have, it just seems anticlimactic.
    As in, big fat wow.
    So all I can do is keep staring at him as the thoughts inside my head start pinging
     off the walls of my skull like a pinball stuck between a bumper and the side of the
     machine as it racks up a gazillion points.
    He misses me.
    Because a fish died.
    He misses me.
    Because now I guess he’s realizing he’s truly alone.
    Just like I’ve been for the past year.
    And he hasn’t talked to me in such a long time.
    But he finally comes to me because of an idiotic fish.
    He’s ignored me when we’ve passed each other on the street, seemingly content in not
     even acknowledging my presence even though I’ve caught him staring at me every other
     time but always from a distance.
    And now he says he misses me. And he says it on the day I didn’t tear up when I saw
     him and hoped it meant I was finally getting over him.
    And now I’m chewing on my thumbnail, damn it.
    I lower my arm and feel my hands ball into fists at my sides gritting my teeth because
     I want to bash his friggin’ face in then yell at him or vice versa. Either works.
     But then I remember myself, remember that I’m in my store and that anyone could come
     through the door at any time and I wouldn’t want to lose business because I’ve turned
     into a raging bitch. I breathe in deeply through my nose and let it out trying to
     calm myself which works for the moment. “You miss me…” I state quietly, my eyes narrowed
     as they remain locked on his.
    I see his jaw muscles jump as he stares back at me. Then he nods slowly.
    Well, this is just too much.
    I huff out a laugh, putting my hands on my hips. “I think it might be too late, Brody,”
     I state a little snottily, seeing his eyes go hard upon hearing that. Whatever.
    “What’re you saying, Piper?”
    I shrug nonchalantly although every muscle in my body is tight. “I saw you walking
     to Mags’ earlier and to be honest, I felt nothing. After more than a year of wanting
     to cry every time I saw you, today that didn’t happen.” I shrug again to get the point
     across even as my heart’s beating a hundred miles an hour in my chest.
    “Huh.” I see his eyes flash with anger but whoop-ti-doo. I’m angry too. Then he throws
     me a zinger. “Is it because you’re in love with that guy?”
    I want to roll my eyes so badly it’s all I can do to keep them still in their sockets.
    I’d gone out exactly two times with Alex Troxell who I’d met on a trip to an antique
     show last October. He was from Richmond and made Shaker style furniture that he sold
     in a shop he owned. We’d immediately hit it off but when he’d asked me out I’d been
     hesitant.