The Journey

DARIO's POV

The conversation with Diane from early this morning had me dizzy and I had started to sport a slight migraine.

The conversation hadn't exactly gone down as I'd expected but in the same light, I had no clue what those said expectations were.

I walked into 24hr Coffee shop to find Diane in an oversized sweater and jeans seated at the far right of the shop by the window sipping on what was obviously coffee.

She broke into a smile as she waved me over to where she was sat and called the waiter to take my order .

"Same thing the lady's having... But with sugar, lots of it".

I passed my order to the waiter and turned to face Diane as the waiter walked back to the counter .

"So, how are you?, You look great"

Diane said placing both her hands on the table and giving me a quick once over.

"Well I'm good and I've been great, thanks for noticing".

I replied.

She went on to talk about what she'd been up to for the period she'd been away..

The people she'd met and an ex she'd caught up with.

She looked different, happier and prettier than the night we'd first met and I felt my heart get a little bruised as my mind concluded reconnecting with her ex might be the reason.

"So why did you call me early this morning, was it to talk about your ex?"

That came out way bitter than I'd intended.

"Oh, of course not. I got carried away with how much had happened and how much I wanted to tell you. The reason I called you here was to apologize for leaving the way I did. I had gotten an early morning call from the office and it was crazy urgent so I just had to go.. didn't wanna wake you up seeing as you had looked after me and I figured you were exhausted from everything that morning so I just wanted to cut you some slack you know?"

Diane answered in one breath and I could sense the sincerity from her voice and her countenance.

I eased my palms that I'd been clutching tight the entire conversation and let the blood flow to my fingers as I sat up straight and assured her that there'd been no harm done from her absence and I didn't mind that she'd left that early on that fateful day.

And yes, I saw the hurt in her eyes even if it was for a brief second cause she regained her composure as fast as she'd lost it .

"Well I have to leave now, I have an appointment with someone and it's not something I can miss"

Diane said as she stood up and made her way to the counter.

Taking out a few notes from her purse, she paid the cashier, turned to me and said

"don't worry about the Coffee, it's on me"

With one last wave, she made for the door and walked out of the café and I watched her leave until she disappeared into the crowd of people that were headed somewhere that morning.

Back at the office, my mind was in a mess as I wondered what her appointment was all about.

An appointment in a sweater and Jeans?.

Doesn't look professional to me.

And she has her hair packed in a bun.

But I mean, atleast she's not wearing too much makeup and revealing clothes. That could give her company a bad image.

It's good she's all covered up!

But it kind of feels like she's going over to visit her boyfriend or something.

"What in heaven's name am I even thinking?!"

I said out loud as I bury my face in my palms.

This was going to be a long day I just knew it.

The hours passed by in a blur as I stood in my red Room hanging pictures that I'd developed through the week... And subconsciously cursing under my breath anytime the thought of Diane laughing and brushing her hair behind her ears in front of another man crossed my mind.

I wasn't the jealous type, hell I'd never had a reason to be jealous but then sharing Diane's attention didn't seem like an ideal thing that I wanted to do so for the most part it was frustrating.

I thought about texting her to hang out after work but at the same time I didn't want to come off as clingy. So I put off that thought and just settled for Rachel instead.

she was still around and very willing to hang anytime, anyday.

atleast I could feed my ego with her unwavering want for me. And so I reached for my phone and sent a really short text to Rachel hoping she'd understand what I meant by my unnecessary cryptic text.

Reaching for my leather jacket I'd carelessly thrown on a table in my workroom, I opened the door that led to my office, locking it behind me and turning off my computer before heading for my office door and exiting the cream coloured space and locking that door as well.

I inhaled with a smile on my face as the chill evening breeze blew across my face and turned the corner for walking the few steps it took to get to the company's parking lot.

Turning on my car, I jump in, start the car and put on the radio at full blast as the sound of Conan Grey's Generation why fills my car and has me singing along to the song.

speeding off the parking lot, I head for Rachel's hotel to pick her up and take her back to my apartment.