Taste (Sense Series Book 2) (3 page)

I laid my head on his shoulder, “So I’ve heard.”

“I really am happy to see you,” he said, “It’s been too long since we’ve been in the same room. We don’t talk nearly enough.”

“I know dad, and you’re right. I just don’t know what to do most of the time. You and mom don’t like my life choices, and you make it really hard for me sometimes.”

“It’s not our intention to get you upset. We just would like to have you home with us. You don’t have to move in. I just think that you’re used to what home was like before you went to college. You’re almost 30 now, you’re an adult and we would treat you like one.”

“You mean that you would treat me like one. Mom would still treat me as if I’m 12. There is a reason that I’m paying you back for my loans. I don’t want her to hold anything over my head anymore.”

“We haven’t spent any of that money. It’s all sitting in an account that we plan to give back to you. I just want you to reconsider, we miss you.”

“At this point, I’m just not interested. I love my life here, and it’s where I belong. You know that I never fit in there. I was always odd, and here I’m normal.”

“That’s important to me, and I’m happy that you’re happy,” he kissed the top of my head and turned on the television.

It was at that moment I realized just how much I missed my dad. I snuggled up to him and enjoyed the moment of closeness. He and I shared a wonderful bond before I became a teenager. My mom and I bumped heads a lot once I reached high school, and he never stood up for me. So that led to a lot of tension between everyone in the household. He was so afraid of offending my mom that he would let her walk all over me. I’ve missed dances, dates, and many other things from my childhood because of her tantrums. I was so frustrated with her during my senior year that I opted out of my own prom. Choosing a dress and the rest of the details with her was enough to make me want to pull my hair out.

When I get married she won’t be helping me with the details. I’m won’t been a bridezilla, but she’s a momzilla to the tenth power. Everything would have to be her way and she’ll have a fit if she can’t have exactly what she wants. I would need a straitjacket after she got finished with me and so would everyone else.

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Surprisingly enough, the weekend wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed the company of my mom and dad. I was a little sad to see them leave but more relieved. It was great to have a pleasant experience with them both. My kitchen was stocked with more groceries than I could ever consume on my own, and I would probably donate them to the local shelter after work on Monday.

I’d spent a huge chunk of time missing Adam, and we exchanged texts frequently and I went over to see him after my parents were sleeping on Saturday. I couldn’t stay away from him even when I was the one that put the stipulation in place. He didn’t mind that I came over even though he seemed to be a little irritable with me.

I’d changed my linens again and silently hoped that my parents didn’t have sex in my bed. If I ever found out that they did, then I would have to burn my mattress and get a new one. Some things a kid just doesn’t want to visualize no matter how old that they are. That’s just freaking disgusting, and I suddenly felt like I should wear gloves. My imagination took me to places that I should have never visited.

I heard a knock on my door as I tried to shrug off my invasive thoughts. I walked to my door and saw that it was Adam. I opened the door and threw myself into his arms.

“We made it,” I said in excitement.

“Yeah we did,” he said hesitantly.

“Is everything okay?”

He was acting strangely, and it put me on the edge. Something was bothering him, and I wanted to know what it was.

“Yeah, things are fine. Can I come in?”

“Of course, come in.”

He walked into my apartment and sat in my kitchen. He never sat in my kitchen unless we were eating. His posture was straight, and his hands were folded on top of my glass breakfast table. I walked and sat across from him.

“Okay, just let it out. Whatever it is, I can take it.”

“I guess I just want to have a serious talk with you about where we are.”

“Okay,” I said cautiously.

“I didn’t want to say anything while your parents were here because it’s not my style to cause a scene. I just want to know if we’re more than friends.”

“You know that we’re more than friends. We’re so much more friends.”

“Then why did you introduce me to your parents as your friend,” he said with hurt lacing his voice.

“I’m so sorry about that, but I didn’t want it to cause any trouble. I hadn’t told them about my breakup with Michael, and I didn’t want to reveal the news about us dating in a hallway,” I responded.

“You could have invited me in, you could have told them, and then let them know about me yesterday, or today. Instead you chose to keep us a secret. I thought that I would be able to take it, but it’s been eating me alive,” he admitted.

My chest tightened when I heard his admission. I didn’t want to hurt him at all. He loved me, and I was sure that the feeling was mutual. I stood to my feet and wiggled my way onto his lap.

“I’m so sorry about how messy it all got. I was trying to diffuse the situation before it possibly got out of hand. I should have considered your feelings, but I was way too self-absorbed. I’m sorry. Do you forgive me?” I tried to put on my best sad face and caressed his face with my hand.

He gently grabbed my hand and removed it.

“So that means that we’re not in a relationship?” He asked.

“Right, we’re dating exclusively.” I responded.

Adam took a deep breath and went silent for a few moments.

“You’re not able to do this anymore?” I asked sadly.

“It’s not that,” he responded.

“What is it?” I asked. 

 “An old friend stopped by today.”

“Friend?”

“An old girlfriend,” he clarified.

“Okay.”

“I haven’t spoken to her in quite some time and we haven’t been together in over 4 years. We’ve remained friends.”

“Is that what you’re worried about? I’m not a jealous person; I understand that you had a life before me and that you’re going to have friends from your past. So calm down, we’re okay.”

“That’s only a part of what I wanted to tell you.”

My stomach sank, and I knew that whatever he had to say was going to be a doozy. It was rare that he ever took this tone with me. My mind ran through all of the possibilities of what could have happened. Maybe he kissed her, or slept with her. I hoped that he hadn’t done anything like that, but that was the only thing that I could imagine. I stared at him and waited on him to finish what he had to say.

“She got put out by her roommates, and she needs a place to stay,” he said.

“So she’s staying with you?”

“I told her that she could stay tonight and that I would decide tomorrow what I was going to do.”

Anger inside of me bubbled up, and I was feeling a big dose of jealousy.

“Do you think that’s it’s appropriate for her to stay at your apartment?”

“What do you mean, do I think it’s appropriate. I’m a friend helping out another friend.”

“Yes, a friend that you’ve slept with. Why did she get put out by her roommate anyway/ What did she do?”

“She said that she came home this morning, and her things were sitting outside. She was absolutely distraught. I rented a truck and we got her things put into storage so that she wouldn’t lose any of it,” he said.

“Oh how nice of you,” I retorted.

“Are you really going to be upset with me?”

“Wouldn’t you be pretty pissed with me if the roles were reversed?”

“That’s why I asked you where we stood because I hadn’t made my mind up completely about what I was going to do,” he said adjusting in his seat and shifting our weight.

“Your decision was dependent upon if we are in an official relationship or not?”

“Yes it is. I think that it would be wrong to have an ex staying at my house if I’m in a relationship. I would have had to find her other arrangements until she can get back onto her feet.”

I warred with the feelings inside of myself. I wanted to cave and hop into a relationship with him so that he would go and kick the girl out of his home. I couldn’t allow myself to make a decision like that based off of pure emotion.

“I’m really at a loss for words right now,” I admitted as I stood up and leaned on the counter.

“I want to assure you that our arrangement still stands. She and I are only friends, and there is nothing going on with us. I won’t sleep with her, and I won’t date her. I’m still exclusively yours,” he smiled.

I gave him a weak smile as my mind raced a mile a minute. I couldn’t help but wonder how this would affect our relationship.

“How long will she be staying?”

“She has a pretty decent job so it will probably only be for a couple of months. She wasn’t prepared for this to happen and so she’ll have to do some saving before she can find other roommates.”

“And there’s nowhere else that she can stay?” I asked.

“She doesn’t have to stay anywhere else. She has me, I have an extra room, and I don’t mind,” he said sternly.

His tone stopped me in my tracks, and it was clear that I couldn’t change his mind. This is something that I would have to grin and bear if I didn’t want to lose him. It was worth it to stick it out and see what kind of person she was before I jumped to conclusions. Maybe she was really nice, and I had nothing to worry about. I knew one thing for sure, and that was my trust for Adam. He’d proven to be trust worthy time and time again.

Hopefully her staying over wouldn’t interrupt our relationship, and maybe he would just spend more time at my place instead. What he was doing was the very reason that I loved him. He genuinely cared about the people in his life and I couldn’t fault him for that. She probably really needed a place to stay, and he was nice enough to open his doors to her.

I didn’t have any ex-boyfriends like that. Michael wouldn’t let me stay with him unless we were going to be together. His generosity would have come with a lot of seedy stipulations. Adam made the world a much better place to be in.

“You’re so damned nice,” I said.

“You say that like it’s a problem,” he responded.

“It’s horribly inconvenient,” I grinned, ‘But what you’re doing for your friend is really special. She’s lucky to have you in her life.”

“Maybe you can meet her tomorrow after you get off of work,” he suggested.

“Yeah, I would like that,” I lied, “What’s her name?”

“Her name is Melanie,” he responded.

I had a really bad feeling about Melanie.

I walked back to my apartment with pep in my step. I loved being able to help others, and the manager of the shelter was so surprised when I showed up with 8 bags of groceries in my car. She then lets me know how much they benefit from contributions like mines. I’ve decided that my cab/shoe money would be put to better use by giving a bi-weekly contribution to their pantry.

I’m so fortunate, and I’ve never known real hunger. The only hunger I’ve known has been when Lizzie and I were too lazy to go to the cafeteria in college. I would do my best to maintain consistency in my new found commitment. Humans have to take care of one another, and you never know when you’ll have to be on the receiving end. I’m a firm believer in karma.

I passed Adam’s door on my way to my own. I would be meeting Melanie today, and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. I wanted to be optimistic about it, but I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that I had about the ordeal. As I put my key into my door I heard someone come up the stairs. It was a beautiful and petite strawberry blonde.

“Kerry?” She asked with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m guessing you’re Melanie?”

“Yes, I am. It’s great to meet you,” she said walking towards me. She extended her hand, and I took it into my own, I gave her a firmer handshake than I intended.

She flashed her 1000 watt smile at me, and I cringed on the inside. What in the hell was I supposed to say to her? Adam was supposed to introduce us, and now that was out of the window.

“Adam’s told me a lot about you,” she said, breaking the silence.

“I hope it was all good stuff,” I said.

“Most of it was,” she laughed.

I guess that was her idea of a joke. I was doing my best not to be a bitch to her, but I didn’t want her to live with Adam. What man would be able to resist her? I gave a strained laugh.

“Well he seems to be very fond of you,” I said.

A blush tinged her cheeks, and I wondered what that was about. Just the mention of him made her blush. This wasn’t good at all.

“Oh, he’s just nice. You know Adam, he never meets a stranger and everyone is friend.”

“That’s him for sure,” I said.

“I’m glad that I got to meet you before he introduced us. He can make things so awkward, he’s sweet but social situations aren’t really his strong suit.”