Welcome Back, Cohen

“I'm sorry I didn't believe you”

Sarah hung her head in shame as we walked past a news stand displaying Poppy's face. Just last night she'd been arrested for drug possession. Once the media's attention was on her the domino effect began. Anonymous tips began pouring into the police offices and more of Poppy's shady past was revealed. She'd quickly gone from the girl everyone loved to the next socialite version of Amanda Bynes.

“Honestly, if I was in your position, I probably wouldn't believe me either.” I knew she genuinely felt horrible. She was the type of friend that trusted people a little too much. Her expectations were unrealistically high and her naivety was low. She only meant good and well, and for that I couldn't be upset.

“I just, I feel so...vulnerable” Her eyes were glued to the pavement. We were walking back to class after our mid afternoon break. “Like a part of me has been stolen by lies.”

“Sarah” I gave her a side hug. “You should be happy you know the truth. She was a toxic person. You don't need that in your life.”

We spotted Emma and Corey across the auditorium sized class room and shuffled our way over. Henry didn't come into class today. According to Sarah, he “wasn't feeling too well.”

Our classes were ending in the next week, so the four of us decided to extend our study hours to ensure we had the basis of our curriculum covered. By the time we walked out of the library the busy streets were vacant with an occasional cab driving by. Sarah offered her driver to drop me off, but my apartment was on the opposite side of town. She looked like she could use some sleep, so I hailed a cab instead.

I walked into my apartment surprised to not see Kadie. I figured she decided to move back into her apartment, but then I saw her things neatly put away behind the couch rather than sprawled out in the living room. A few seconds later she came walking out of her old room.

“Hey” She greeted me as I put my things down on the breakfast table.

“Hey” I managed to reply back despite how exhausted I was.

“Long day?” Kadie asked as she made her way back to the couch. I nodded my head and walked into the kitchen to grab something to drink.

I  noticed some dishes out in the sink. It looked like Kadie had a guest over. She saw me examining the kitchen and answered my question, “Oh, Adam came over for dinner. I'm about to clean up. Don't worry.” She went back to tapping away on her phone.

“Adam came over?” I was confused as to why she would have him stop by, but not move back into her apartment.

“Yeah, we talked about everything, again.” she sighed.

“So, are things not looking good?” Kadie didn't look up from her phone. “Is that why you haven't moved back in?”

She put her phone down on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch. “It's not that. It's just, I have to build my trust with him again. I mean, it was so easy for him to hid this from me. Who knows what else he would've hid?” She raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes as she spoke. “And until I do I can't see myself over there.”

“Kadie” I sighed. “I think you're bringing up issues that you good and well know have nothing to do with Adam.” Growing up Kadie was really close with her dad. The older she got the more he began lying to her. The more he lied the less she'd see him. Until eventually he wasn't a part of her life anymore. It took a huge toll on her dating life. She would never date anyone long enough to form an attachment. And now that she'd found herself in love with Adam, she was blowing tiny things out of proportion. “Adam didn't lie to you. He was trying to protect you. Huge difference.”

Kadie sat quietly and thought about what I'd said. “Regardless, I still need my space.”

I shrugged my shoulders and picked up my things. As I was about to get up from the couch, Kadie's phone began vibrating. She picked it up off the table and her eyes widened as she read the name.

“Lynn! Lynn! It's Eva!” Kadie slapped my arm repeatedly as she held up her phone. She'd only been waiting for this moment for the last 24 hours.

She answered the call and began talking to Eva. I decided to give her some space and took my things into my room. I unpacked my bags and repacked for the next day before I started getting ready for bed. Once I was done brushing my teeth and washing my face, Kadie came walking into my room. Her expression wasn't what I was expecting. “What happened?”

Kadie sat down on my bed. “Eva profusely apologized for everything that happened.”

“Good!” I nudged her shoulder. “Did she say what happened to Poppy?”

“Yeah, apparently she was deported back to France. Her family is admitting her into rehab.” Kadie was monotone as she spoke.

“God knows she needs it!” I laughed. But Kadie was still sitting emotionless.

“Lynn” she turned towards me “Eva didn't offer me my job back.”

“Did you ask her about it?”

“I waited for her to say something, but she didn't” Kadie looked down at the ground, confused.

“Well what did she say?”

“Just that she was sorry she didn't believe me and she was embarrassed that she let family interfere with business.” Kadie slowly stood up from the bed and walked towards the door.

“Maybe she was just calling to apologize. I'm sure once she gets back into the office tomorrow she'll call you to offer the job back.” I tried to make Kadie feel better.

She mumbled to herself trying to convince herself I was right. Once she'd left my room I was out like a light.

The next morning I'd gotten a text from Connor to go out to dinner that night. We'd both been so busy with school and work that it'd been days since we'd seen each other. I was tired from the drama and needed a night to escape with my man.

After classes were done and our study session was over I headed to Connor's place. He was still at the office so I let myself in.

Connor wanted to try out a new restaurant in uptown that had just opened. It was a fancy place that required you to dress nice in order to keep up the restaurant's appearance. When he'd told me about the plans this morning, I packed a change of clothes and began getting ready as I waited for him to get home.

An hour had passed by before I heard keys rustling against the door. “Hey!” Connor greeted me as he walked into his room. “You look beautiful” He smiled and took my hand to twirl me around. I was wearing a black long sleeved backless dress and my hair was curled and pulled over to one side.

“You know what would look even better?” Connor asked as he pulled out a jewelry box from behind his back.

I stood still with my mouth open and my eyes wide. He opened the box to reveal a diamond necklace. It had a single princess cut stone with smaller diamonds around it. It was gorgeous, but the simplicity of the necklace is what made it beautiful. I gasped and covered my mouth, “Connor, You shouldn't have.” I looked up at him as he laughed at my reaction. “Seriously, I can't accept this...”

Connor cut me off “I saw it on my way home and I thought it would look perfect on you. It's a small gift. Don't worry about it.” He took the necklace out of the box and stood behind me as he put it on. I was speechless, I couldn't figure out the right words to say, so I turned around and kissed him.

“I should probably freshen up” Connor kissed me again before he left to get ready.

We got to the restaurant half an hour later. The place was crowded. We stood outside as we waited for the hostess to get our table ready. A few minutes later she signaled for us to come inside. I walked in front of Connor as we squeezed past the crowded bar area.

I saw someone from the corner of my eye turn around and look at me, and then do a double take. I figured it was a drunk guy and continued to walk. Until I heard my name being called. I looked over to see Jonah.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Connor slammed in behind me. “What's wrong?” He asked. I stood quietly as Jonah approached me.

“I'm so glad you could make it!” He threw out his arms for a hug. He seemed like he was a drink away from having too many.

Connor looked at me confused. “I didn't know you were coming into town so soon” I shouted over the crowd.

“I texted you. I told you my friends were having a welcome back dinner.” I shook my head as he spoke. I hadn't received anything from him. “You look just as beautiful as I remember” Jonah smiled as he looked me up and down. I think his last drink was finally catching up to him.

Connor took a step forward so that he was standing next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist, in the instinctive way protective guys do. Jonah's face grew confused. “You know him?”

“Yeah” I felt my face flushing red. I knew I'd have to tell Jonah eventually when he came into town, but not like this. “This is my....boyfriend”

The drunk look wiped off of Jonah's face immediately. He straightened his posture and cleared his throat as we all stared at each other in an epic moment of awkward silence.



 ________________________________________

Hey guys, I've created a new blog! It's a little more personal. Thought it'd be a great way for me to stay connected with y'all outside of Lynn's world. Head on over and enjoy my daily ramblings :)

http://ramblingsofaserialrambler.blogspot.com/