Chapter 28 - Part 1

                                    

                                          
"It isn't you, it's me," Jessica said, knowing how it sounded even though it was the truth. Now she wished she had put more time and thought into what she was going to say, but it was too late now.
There was silence on the other side of the phone and she waited for Terrence to respond while she held her breath. She wasn't comfortable in the position of shutting down any hope that something more would develop between them but she had to be true to herself.
After what she had done to Charlie, there was no way she was going to allow herself to do that to someone else. Even if it was hard, she knew she was doing the right thing and that was what counted.
"Was it something I said?" he asked softly.
"No , not at all. Honestly, you're an awesome guy, and I had fun. It's just..." She didn't feel like she was handling this well at all, but she didn't have a lot of experience with this.
"There is someone else?" he questioned. He'd hit the nail on the head and there was no point in denying it. He deserved the truth.
"Yes," she breathed, hating to admit she still couldn't move on from Myles.
"The quiet guy at the bar. The one with the girl."
She frowned. That had been Myles. "How did you know?"
"I could tell there was something going on."
She held on to her phone tighter. "Really?"
He had seemed cold and indifferent to her, but maybe her observation had been skewed by the emotions she'd been faced with. 
"Trust me." He was quiet. "It's him, isn't it?"
There were a few moments of silence.
"Yeah."
She shrugged. It didn't really matter anyway. Myles had made his choice and she had to live with it no matter how she felt.
"I'm sorry. I'm still hung up on him." She sighed. She hated being in the position she was, but she was at least being honest with him and herself. 
"Thanks for at least telling me the truth."
That lifted her heart slightly. It was confirmation that she had done the right thing, even if it had been hard.
The spring in her step was gone, along with the hope that she was on her way to getting over Myles. When the hope disappeared, a heaviness settled in her chest, making it harder for her to believe she could move past it. 
Seeing him with the girl had only intensified her heartache. She wished she was strong enough not to let it replay in her mind over and over again, driving her nuts.
She was thankful she had to go to work, because she knew if she didn't have something to keep her mind busy she would allow herself to fixate on Myles and the hurt of seeing him with someone else.
"Bad night?" Macy asked when she walked in, proving she wasn't good at hiding her feelings. She wore them on her sleeve for everyone to see.
"Something like that," she mumbled, not wanting to go into all the details. Terrence had been great. It had been seeing Myles that had ruined everything—that, and the kiss she had shared with Terrence.
"Was your date that bad?" Macy asked.
"No, it was nice, and Terrence was a gentleman." 
"Then what went wrong?" her colleague prompted.
"I ran into my ex and realized I'm still not over him." It was tough admitting it out loud.
Macy gave her a sympathetic pat to the shoulder. "Time will make it easier."