Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(49)
Author: K.A. Linde

"Jason’s Coffee Shop," Amber muttered. "We’ll have to see you in the morning."

"Wait Jason’s?" Lexi asked nearly falling over herself to look up at the sign.

"Yeah why?" Amber questioned looking at Lexi strangely.

"This isn’t Jason’s," she murmured.

"It says so right here," Bekah pointed out.

"But it’s been Corner Cafe forever," she moaned. "How could it be Jason’s?"

"That’s just business honey," Amber told her patting her on the arm tentatively.

"Did you used to come here a lot?" Maddie asked interpreting her overreaction.

Lexi stopped and looked at the four girls before her. How could she even begin to explain? It didn’t even really make sense to her. A small part of her wanted Corner Cafe to still be there. It had to to still be there. It was the only part of the Jack she had once known that she had left. Without even this was he still out there?

She knew it was irrational to even contemplate him in this manor. After everything he had done to her, she shouldn’t care for him with one bone in her body. But she knew him better, no, unlike anyone else in the world. She knew what he had been to begin with. She knew how sweet, kind, and caring he had once been. She knew him before he had hardened to the outside world, and before Bekah had used that hardness to her advantage and turned him cold.

But now even Corner was gone. The place they met. The place they spent hours together. The place it all started.

Without this place, she would have been someone else. She would have never met Jack Howard. She would have never led the life that she had lived. So on one hand, she was terribly sad to see the place go. Jack had meant so much to her for so long and it had all started right here…at that table.

But still she was happy. Perhaps this was just another way to close a chapter. If even their beginning together no longer existed, then as much as she had been pushing away from him…maybe this was good. The Jack that worked at this coffee shop no longer existed. It was only fitting that it also be closed…renamed…changed.

"Lexi?" Maddie asked waving her hands in front of her face.

"Uh yeah?" she asked snapping out of it.

"I asked if you used to come here a lot," Maddie told her.

"Right. Yeah sometimes," she said eyeing her study table through the glass.

"Is this where Jack worked?" Bekah asked pursing her lips. Her expression showed she was judging the establishment.

"No another friend of mine did," she stated wearily. "He moved away though and now is a really different person…"

* * *

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K.A. Linde

Surprise, Surprise

When you want it the most there’s no easy way out

When you’re ready to go and your heart’s left in doubt

Don’t give up on your faith

Love comes to those who believe it

And that’s the way it is

-Celine Dion "That’s The Way It Is"

* * *

Chapter 16:May Three Months Earlier

"Yes I’m sure I’m making the right decision," Lexi said into the cell phone just as the taxi pulled over onto the curb. "You’ve tried to convince me not to leave New York since I got the summer associate position."

"Why would I want my best friend to leave me when she’s finally out of school?" Chyna pouted.

"I don’t expect you to want me to leave, but I would like you to be happy for me," Lexi said opening her purse and pulling out cash. "Keep the change," she said to the cabbie as she popped open the door and stepped out.

"I’m happy for you darling. You’re going to make a fortune which will be a nice change to you making nothing. I’m just going to miss my bestie. Perhaps I’m a little selfish," Chyna said adding a giggle in for good effect.

"You selfish? No," Lexi gasped sarcastically.

"Oh shut it!"

Lexi walked around to the back of the car and pulled open the trunk. "Well you’ll have to come visit."

Chyna scoffed. "If I’m flying that far south, then I’m going to the Caribbean."

"Well make a pit stop and take me with you," Lexi told her lugging her bags out of the trunk and depositing them on the sidewalk. She stared down at the two bags before her. It didn’t seem like enough for the next two months…maybe three if she worked her ass off. Her roommate, Rachelle, swore that she would mail her anything else she needed, but Lexi wasn’t going to count on it. And anyway, she was going to be in California in less than three weeks. So if Lexi forgot something now, she would just have to do without it. Not to mention, the only other person who had a key to her place, Chyna was going to Milan for much of the summer for a photo shoot. Lexi couldn’t be more jealous.

Lexi shuffled the bags to the foot of the stairs and decided that she would move them upstairs once she got the door open. No use hurting her back in the process. She figured the law firm she would be working for all summer would do enough damage.

"Maybe I will," Chyna said temporarily giving into Lexi’s demands that she whisk her away to beaches far removed from the Atlanta smog.

"That’ll be the day," Lexi sneered. "If I ever get

you into Atlanta again, it will have to be for something really special." Lexi didn’t think she would ever get her here honestly. After what a catastrophe it was the last time she was here, Chyna had sworn off Atlanta. Too much drama in one place.

"True. The smog is killer and the traffic sounds are all wrong," Chyna said giggling.

"Well thanks for the support," Lexi said rolling her eyes.

"Alexa, I support you doll. I know you’ll succeed at whatever you put your mind to," Chyna reassured her. "I just think you’re picking the wrong town to succeed in. What happened to that amazing internship you had last summer in New York," she reasoned. "Ouch!"

"What was that?" Lexi asked bewildered.

"Nothing," she snapped quickly. "Sorry."

"Is everything alright up there?"

"Yes yes everything is fine," she said trying to sound convincing.

"Alright," she began hesitantly, "well that last internship didn’t pay. I can’t believe I found one that did. It’s kind of amazing," Lexi told her.

"Yes well, at least you’ll be close to home."

"True. But, hey, I’m finally here and I have a good deal of luggage to haul up these stairs so I’m going to let you go. I’ll call you later chica," Lexi said hanging up the phone and stuffing it into her khaki shorts.

She pulled out the shiny key she had received in the mail only a few days earlier and slid it into the hole. Her heart fluttered as she realized the enormity of what she was doing. She was taking a summer associate position at a major firm in Atlanta doing exactly what she had always wanted to do.

And…she was moving in with her boyfriend. Her, miss lack-of-commitment was actually moving in with Ramsey. It was the biggest step she had ever made. She still couldn’t believe that she was actually doing it. It was so unlike her. She could make rash decisions all day long when it came to Jack, but when it was really important she always hesitated. She knew Chyna thought it was too early for her to be moving in with Ramsey especially since they had only been together eight months. Lexi wasn’t sure how much of her motivation was the fact that Lexi was leaving and how much of it was her concerns about Lexi living with Ramsey. But since she was going to be in Atlanta for the summer, Lexi thought it just made sense.

She only had the position in Atlanta for a definite eight weeks. This meant that she would have to sublease an apartment in the city while paying rent in New York at the same time since her lease ran through August. Even though she was getting paid, her student loans were astronomical. She would have to pay them off on top of two apartments. It seriously didn’t make sense for her to get her own place.

When Ramsey offered for her to stay with him, she just couldn’t think of a good reason to say no to him. She wanted to be with him, and she didn’t have to pay a dime. It was the best of both worlds.

After all, she had spent eight months without him. The occasional time they had together when he could make it to New York or fly her down to Atlanta just wasn’t enough. She wanted to savor every moment she had with him. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck driving back and forth between their places. She knew that time was nothing compared to the distance they had endured since they had gotten together, but still if they were going to be in the same city, she wanted them to be together. That drive time could be used for something much better.

So Lexi took the big leap.

She twisted the door knob and pushed open the door to her new place…Ramsey’s place.

A chorus of congratulations and surprise assaulted her as soon as the door opened. Her hand flew to her chest and her mouth dropped open. Her eyes fluttered around the room quickly in astonishment. A banner hung across the room that read "Congrats Grad!" in large purple letters. She couldn’t believe it. A surprise graduation party had been thrown for her.

Graduation had been the weekend before at Madison Square Garden. Ramsey had only been able to stay long enough for the ceremony before jetting back home. Graduation weekend was one of the busiest for him. And he had the misfortune of having to fire two of his key managers the week before. He had needed all hands on deck that weekend, and hadn’t been able to celebrate with her in New York.

Now here he was surrounded by friends giving her the celebration he had missed. Ramsey stood at the front with a big cake that read "Congratulations Lexi" in purple letters to match the purple velvet she had walked in for graduation. He was smiling brightly at her and taking in her shell-shocked face. There was something about his face in that moment that was supremely adorable. It was like he was five years old again, and he was the one having the party not the one throwing it. The goofy grin on his face was priceless, and Lexi would remember his joy in this moment forever. He really did seem happiest making her happy.

Chyna stood next to him beaming like a school girl. She couldn’t believe that she had just been on the phone with her talking about how Chyna was never setting foot in the city again, and here she was. Adam stood at her side with his fingers interlaced with her own. They looked just like the perfect couple they were.

Lexi was just thankful they had worked everything out. After she had showed up in New York, she had let Chyna blabber on and on about her argument with Adam. He had refused to speak with her for nearly a week. Luckily, he had finally agreed to meet Lexi, mostly because she had badgered him endlessly until he had agreed. They had talked over a light dinner, and when she was finished with him, he admitted that he still wanted to see Chyna. That he had been missing her over the past week. Since then, they had worked things out and were better than ever. Sometimes they were sickeningly cute.